The gas hydrogen is one of the constituents of water and is
highly inflammable in the presence of air or oxygen, while the other
component of ammonia, nitrogen, forms the bulk or about four-fifths of
the atmosphere. Nitrogen by itself is an inert gas, colorless and
uninflammable. Ammonia, although composed of more than three-fourths
its weight of hydrogen, is not inflammable in air, on account of its
combination with the nitrogen. This combination, it will be
understood, is not a simple mixture, but the two gases are chemically
combined, forming a new substance which has characteristics and
properties entirely different from either of the gases entering into
its composition when taken alone or when simply mixed together without
chemical combustion. Ammonia cannot be produced by the direct
combination of these elements, but it has been found that it is
sometimes made or produced in a very extraordinary manner, which goes
to show that there is yet considerable to be learned in regard to the
chemistry of ammonia. Animal or vegetable substances when putrefying
or suffering destructive distillation almost invariably give rise to
an abundant production of this substance.
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