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388 BURKE’S WEEKLY FOK BOYS AND GIRLS. MACON, GA., APRIL 6, 1868. Contents of No. 49. About Harry Twiggs—illustrated page i? BS Little Things Poetry —Good Night Marooner’s Island, by the Rev. F. R. Goulding Chapter XXVll.—original 386 Can’t Leave the Store 387 Our Darling Minnie Sowing Seed 3 s 1 Editorial— A New Volume; Missing Numbers.. 388 Grandpa's Philosophy for Young Folks—original 388 Poetry —Answer to Riddle —original ...■ 389 The Ventriloquist —original —two illustrations 389 But and No 389 Poetry— Now I Lay me Down to Sleep 390 Ellen Hunter: A Story of the War—Chap. XX., original 390 The watch and its Hour Verses—original 392 Our Chimney Corner, illustrated 392 A New Volume ! af the number for July 4, BURKE’S gHyl WEEKLY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS will enter upon its second year, and fthe publishers have peculiar pride in directing attention to certain contem plated improvements and additional attractions which will characterize the new volume. The Editorial Department will remain in the same hands as heretofore, and while its editor will continue to avail himself of every opportunity to secure the very best things from every possible source, the publishers are enabled to promise cer tainly the following attractive features : Mr. Goulding will conclude his admirable serial, “ Marooner's Island,” which is being read with the most intense interest by thousands of boys and girls from Maine to California. The Rev. Dr. Rice, of Mobile, pronounces Mr. Goul ding “the De Foe of our times,” a title which he has justly earned by his admirable story, the “Young Marooners” —a story equalled in interest only by “ Robinson Crusoe.” A well known gentleman, whose name we are not at liberty to mention, will contribute a thril ling story of Indian life , the scene of which is laid in the Northern and Northwestern portions of Georgia, in the time of the early settlement of the State. In this story will be recounted the adven tures of a boy who was captured by the Indians and held a prisoner among them for many months, making his escape from them at last, after endu ring almost incredible hardships. It will be fine ly illustrated, and the opening chapter will appear as soon as Marooner's Island is completed. The authoress of “ Florilla and the Dove” will contribute a serial fairy tale, entitled The En chanted Spring. “Byrd Lyttle,” whose Story of the War has been so popular in the columns of the Weekly , will contribute some of her excellent stories and poems. “ Clara LeClerc,” a favorite writer for chil dren, is engaged as a regular contributor, and will furnish several of her beautiful stories. Mrs. Mary Ware, whose sweet poems have al ready enriched our pages, will continue to write for us. “ Grandpa' s Philosophy for Young Folks ” will be continued. These papers are from the pen of BURKE’S WEEKLY. a talented scientific gentleman, who possesses the peculiar faculty of making his writings both useful and entertaining. Other writers, well known at the South, will contribute many choice articles for the new vol ume. The Illustrations will continue to be the very best that can be obtained, and it is the intention of the publishers to greatly increase their number in the coming volume. The children’s favorite department, —“ Our Chimney Corner,” —will receive more attention in future than the editor has been able to bestow on it in the past, and it is our intention to intro duce anew feature, —“ Oor Letter Bag,” in which he will, from time to time, converse fami liarly with his little readers and correspondents. Each page of the Weekly will contain four col umns, instead of three , as heretofore, thus giving our readers thirty-two columns of reading matter, instead of twenty-four. In spite, however, of this greatly increased expense, the publishers have de termined to continue the subscription price the same as heretofore, viz : One copy, one year, $2; three copies, $5; five copies, $8; ten copies, sls; twenty-one copies for S3O. Small amounts may be sent by mail, but sums of $5, or over, should be sent in registered letters, or in post office money orders. May we not hope that all of our present subscri bers will renew their subscriptions promptly, and interest themselves in extending our circulation ? Recollect what we have given you in the past twelve months. We venture the assertion that no juvenile publication in the LTnited States has fur nished to its subscribers three such stories as “Marooner’s Island,” “Jack Dobell’s Adven tures in Texas” and “Ellen Hunter,” to say no thing of all the other good things we have given you. Let us beg every little friend of the Weekly to work for it during the next four weeks as they never worked before, and we promise that they shall have, for the next twelve months, such a pa per as they wouldn’t be without for three times its price. Written for Burke’s Weekly. Guandpa’s Philosophy for Young Folks. NO. XII. —ATMOSPHERIC AIR. (Cjjp' BELIEVE I will now talk with you awhile about the gases. In doing this, I will have to go into the department of Chemistry. f Natural Philosophy considers the pheno mena and laws of matter, and the effects only, which are not attended by any change in the nature of matter. Chemistry deals with the nature and constitution of substances. Now. we propose to consider atmospheric air. But, before proceeding, let me say that the number of gases we are now acquainted with, is thirty-four. Os these, four are simple—that is, not made of com pounded elements. These four are oxygen, ni trogen, hydrogen and chlorine. Seven are found free in nature, viz: oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, light carbureted hydrogen, heavy carburet ed hydrogen, sulphurous acid, and ammonia. The air we breathe, called atmospheric air is a compound, surrounding the earth like a vast sea, and extending to the height of about forty-five miles. It is rather a mechanical mixture of its two elements, than a compound. Being a mix ture, the two elements retain their own peculiar character, and can be very easily separated. Y' ; hen two or more substances combine, there is a com plete change in the nature of their original ele ments. As, for instance, take a piece of lead— you know it is a soft, heavy metal, which will not dissolve in water—pour vinegar on the lead, and the acid disappears, and the lead also. Now. you have a substance differing entirely from these two elements. This is the well known salt— sugar of lead. The elements can be separated, and you ! recover the lead in metallic form, and the acid too, which is called acetic acid. The compound then, is properly the acetate of lead. Now. if the elements of the air were combined, you would have anew substance entirely. Nitric acid, one of the most important and strongest acids we have, is a compound of oxygen and nitrogen. It is said that, during severe thun der storms, where a great deal of electricity is liberated, the rain water is perceptibly sour. In this case, by the agency of the electrical fluid, the two gases are combined, and the result is a new substance, nitric acid. The proportions forming atmospheric air are about eighty parts nitrogen to twenty parts oxygen in the hundred. The oxygen is the vital element, the nitrogen acts simply as a dilutent. The oxygen in its pure state would be too stimulating. Essential as it is to life, yet it must be diluted. Nitrogen alone will not support life. It is a negative as to its character. Noth ing noxious about it, yet if you deprive the air of its proportion of oxygen, you would die immedi ately. The oxygen performs the part of a purifier to the blood, combining with the carbon, with which it goes loaded to the lungs. And right here let me answer a question which has been propounded, and which you perhaps are ready to ask. How does the oxygen get to the blood, which is shut up in tubes circulated through blood vessels? It is a well known fact if you fill two vessels, one with hydrogen and the other with oxygen, and place the hydrogen on the top of the other vessel, covering the lower one with a piece of bladder, that, notwithstanding the inter position of this dense membrane, the gases will in a short time mingle, forming an explosive mix ture. Here the gases pass freely through a dense membrane and intermingle. In the lungs, the air meets with a structure endowed witlx vitality and capable of absorbing the oxygen and bringing it in immediate contact, with the circulating blood, We may not explain by what process the air thus permeates a dense membrane, but with clear de monstration before us, we cannot ignore the fact. Missing Numbers. E have had a great many complaints, JIA-1 from all sections of the country, on ac count of irregularity in the receipt ot (f, fV-Y the Weekly. We can assure our reau ers that, the fault is not with us. 0 have used our utmost endeavors to in Sure accuracy in the mailing of our paper, and me confident that, in a large majority of cases, wbcie it has not reached subscribers, the fault is in 'ln mails. We are still enabled to supply ncail} all the back numbers to those who have not recei'" them—Nos. 27, 28 and 30 are entirely exhausted. Nos. 2 and 4 are nearly all out, but we can sti supply a limited number. Hereafter, we beg that subscribers will nod} us promptly when a number of the paper faib t 0 reach them. We are always ready to suppb 1111 sing numbers. — right in everything and you 11 be bap] l }'