1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:05,519
Speaker 1: A lesson in chemistry by Charles B. Cory. I took

2
00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:07,879
the powder as agreed, and sat down to read the

3
00:00:07,919 --> 00:00:11,400
evening paper before retiring, with the result that I did

4
00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:15,400
not retire at all. I became interested in an article

5
00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:19,719
on new explosives with which the government has been lately experimenting,

6
00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,879
and had nearly finished it when I heard a voice

7
00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:28,239
say to me, interesting subject, isn't it. I turned and

8
00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,960
saw seated on my lounge a peculiar looking man. His

9
00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,159
clothes seemed to be all run in together. You could

10
00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,560
make out the outlines of the man, but the figure

11
00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:45,200
was not clear, sort of foggy. You know. What surprised

12
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,880
me most was that I could look right through him

13
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,719
and see the back of the lounge. I said to myself,

14
00:00:53,439 --> 00:00:55,880
is this a dream or the effect of the powder

15
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,920
I had taken? And I pinched my leg and rubbed

16
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,960
my eyes. But although I seem to be perfectly wide awake,

17
00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,959
the shape did not disappear. What did you say, I asked.

18
00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,280
I remarked that the subject of high explosives was decidedly interesting,

19
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,200
answered the shape. I was a chemist when alive, but

20
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,599
it makes me sad to think how very little I

21
00:01:20,719 --> 00:01:25,760
really knew. Chemistry as well as the other branches of science,

22
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,359
has made great strides during the past generation since my day,

23
00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:36,319
but even now they really know very little. But I answered,

24
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,480
it seems to me the high explosives which we now

25
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,280
have are sufficiently powerful if we knew how to use

26
00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:48,920
them with safety. That's it, answered the shape. Now I

27
00:01:49,079 --> 00:01:51,840
have a couple of hours to spare, and if it

28
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,159
would interest you, and you care to come over to

29
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,159
my laboratory, I will be happy to give you one

30
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,079
or two points which may prove of value to you.

31
00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:04,519
I say my laboratory, but it really is not mine.

32
00:02:04,879 --> 00:02:08,479
I use any laboratory that is handiest, and I know

33
00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:11,479
most of the good ones in the city. You see,

34
00:02:11,599 --> 00:02:13,719
I do not need to have a key to enter

35
00:02:13,759 --> 00:02:17,080
a room. That is one of the great advantages we have,

36
00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,120
as you will discover one of these days. Just now,

37
00:02:22,199 --> 00:02:25,199
I can get you in very well. Because the owner

38
00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,759
of the laboratory to which we will go is out

39
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,680
of town. I will go in first and unlock the

40
00:02:30,719 --> 00:02:33,840
door for you. I told him that I should be

41
00:02:33,879 --> 00:02:37,520
most happy to accept his invitation. It seemed the most

42
00:02:37,599 --> 00:02:40,400
natural thing in the world to be conversing with a

43
00:02:40,439 --> 00:02:43,199
ghost and to have him invite me to go to

44
00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:48,120
somebody's laboratory and use up his chemicals. It never occurred

45
00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,439
to me that it might not be considered quite good form.

46
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,319
We went out of my room and downstairs, the shadow

47
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,960
floating alongside of me in the most friendly manner possible.

48
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,680
I could see by the position of his body that

49
00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,080
he had hold of my arm, but his fingers did

50
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,280
not show on my coat sleeve. We went uptown for

51
00:03:11,319 --> 00:03:14,560
perhaps half a mile and entered a large brick building

52
00:03:14,759 --> 00:03:18,960
in which I noted were various studios. It was dark,

53
00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:22,400
but going up three flights of stairs, my guide opened

54
00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,520
a door and ushered me into a large and expensively

55
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:30,520
furnished laboratory, evidently belonging to some scientific man of means

56
00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,719
and experience. The ghost turned the button on the electric light,

57
00:03:36,199 --> 00:03:40,800
and then motioned me to a seat. My time, he said,

58
00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:43,400
is somewhat limited, because I have an appointment with a

59
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,520
lady at twelve. But I'll show you what a high

60
00:03:46,599 --> 00:03:50,319
explosive really is, and then if we have time, we

61
00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,840
will talk of something else. The difficulty in high explosives

62
00:03:54,919 --> 00:03:57,400
is not in making them, but in using them. After

63
00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:01,639
they are made, you create a gigantic power which you

64
00:04:01,719 --> 00:04:05,560
do not know how to handle. The rather modern discovery

65
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,439
of how to make liquid air has simplified matters a

66
00:04:08,439 --> 00:04:12,800
good deal. When you can make liquid hydrogen in quantities,

67
00:04:13,039 --> 00:04:17,079
you will have a still better agent for many purposes. Now,

68
00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,399
let's take a little of this liquid air. You see,

69
00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:23,759
it pours like water. As I happen to know, our

70
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,319
absent host has nearly two gallons of it, or had

71
00:04:27,319 --> 00:04:31,439
this afternoon. Some of it has evaporated, but as you see,

72
00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,120
there is still more than a gallon left, and we

73
00:04:34,199 --> 00:04:37,519
will not steal much as all we want for our

74
00:04:37,639 --> 00:04:40,680
experiment to illustrate to you the greatest explosive which can

75
00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,160
be manufactured is about as much liquid air as you

76
00:04:44,199 --> 00:04:47,439
can hold in a thimble. How do you propose to

77
00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:52,040
try your explosive here? Mister I hesitated? By the way,

78
00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,920
what is your name? Oh call me any old name,

79
00:04:56,439 --> 00:05:01,360
It does not matter, mister spook. Shall we say ahem

80
00:05:02,079 --> 00:05:05,519
a little personal perhaps, but it will do as well

81
00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,879
as another. Now, as I was saying, I will show

82
00:05:08,879 --> 00:05:11,600
you how to make the most powerful explosive that has

83
00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:15,720
ever been invented. It is possible that I did not

84
00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,519
show as much interest and enthusiasm as he expected, and

85
00:05:19,639 --> 00:05:23,399
to tell the truth, I was a little nervous. Spooks

86
00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,879
do not have the same interest in being careful in

87
00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:30,079
their experiments. An accident or two is of little consequence

88
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:35,319
to them, but might be decidedly disagreeable to me. I

89
00:05:35,399 --> 00:05:37,680
may have shown something of what I was thinking in

90
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,759
my manner, for Spook looked at me keenly, what is

91
00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:46,439
the matter? You do not appear interested. On the contrary,

92
00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,040
I answered, I am deeply so. But do we not

93
00:05:50,199 --> 00:05:53,920
run considerable risk in trying such experiments in a laboratory

94
00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,800
without the consent of its owner. Not at all, Not

95
00:05:57,879 --> 00:06:00,800
at all. I will use a very very small amount

96
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,439
of the explosive and there will be no damage done.

97
00:06:05,439 --> 00:06:08,600
Have you attempted to make it before, mister Spook? I ventured,

98
00:06:09,519 --> 00:06:13,839
Oh yes, last week. That was a mistake, you see

99
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,160
now I know all about it. I didn't then. The

100
00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,800
explosive was something awful. It blew the building pretty much

101
00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,920
all to pieces. If I had been alive, I don't

102
00:06:24,959 --> 00:06:26,800
believe you could have found a piece of me as

103
00:06:26,879 --> 00:06:31,399
large as your finger. They call it spontaneous combustion. However,

104
00:06:31,759 --> 00:06:36,160
we won't have anything of that kind tonight. Please don't,

105
00:06:36,399 --> 00:06:41,120
I answered, no. I promise you. Now we will take

106
00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,279
a little of this red phosphorus ordinary phosphorus will not answer,

107
00:06:45,959 --> 00:06:48,959
and pour a little liquid air on it, stir it

108
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,120
gently as you see. Now, if I should let that dry,

109
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,240
it would explode at the slightest touch. But we do

110
00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,600
not want that, and we wish to increase its power.

111
00:07:01,079 --> 00:07:05,240
So we add a little chlorine of potassium. Now watch

112
00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:11,199
it dry. See the color change to a light red brown. There.

113
00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,160
If you should strike that or put fire to it,

114
00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,800
it would wreck this building as completely as if you'd

115
00:07:16,839 --> 00:07:21,120
exploded fifty pounds of dynamite in it. I drew away

116
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,240
from the table instinctively. Have no fear. I will not

117
00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,920
explode it. Now watch me closely. I will ignite a

118
00:07:28,959 --> 00:07:32,360
minute quantity, about as much as would make the head

119
00:07:32,399 --> 00:07:35,759
of a small black pin or a number four bird shot.

120
00:07:36,879 --> 00:07:41,279
See the rest we will put in a pail of water. There.

121
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,720
Now all is ready, Here goes He lit a match

122
00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:50,920
and touched the little brown dot. A tremendous explosion followed,

123
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,079
and the wooden table was split into pieces. The sound

124
00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:58,800
was so terrific and the shock so unexpected, that I

125
00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:04,240
was dizzy and frightened. Good heavens, I explained, you have

126
00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:10,120
broken everything in the laboratory, No, replied the ghost, rather shamefacedly.

127
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,560
Not so bad as all that. But I'm afraid that

128
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,600
I have ruined the table and cracked a few things. However,

129
00:08:17,879 --> 00:08:21,000
I will be more careful next time. It is even

130
00:08:21,079 --> 00:08:24,560
more powerful than I thought. What do you suppose will

131
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,120
be the effect on a warship if struck by a

132
00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,800
shell containing one hundred pounds of that stuff? I answered

133
00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,279
that she would be destroyed, destroyed, I should say she

134
00:08:36,399 --> 00:08:41,559
would the largest battleship would be blown to atoms. Thus

135
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,120
Bouch glanced up at the old fashioned Dutch clock in

136
00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:48,399
the corner of the laboratory. Fine clock, that glad I

137
00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,879
didn't break it with our little racket. Just now, I

138
00:08:51,919 --> 00:08:55,039
see I have nearly an hour to spare. Is there

139
00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:59,360
any experiment you would like to try? I said anything

140
00:08:59,399 --> 00:09:02,519
would interest me, but I didn't care for any more explosives.

141
00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:05,840
I suppose you know how to make diamonds, don't you?

142
00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,679
I answered that for years Ben had tried to manufacture diamonds,

143
00:09:10,919 --> 00:09:14,600
but practically without success. That as far as I was aware,

144
00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,279
they had only succeeded in making them so small as

145
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,919
to be practically of no use commercially, and the expense

146
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,679
of manufacture was far in excess of their value. That's

147
00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,080
all right, answered the spook. But really it is a

148
00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,039
very simple matter. Here I will make a diamond for you.

149
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,840
He walked across the room to the fireplace, and, taking

150
00:09:38,879 --> 00:09:41,120
from the grate a lump of coal about the size

151
00:09:41,159 --> 00:09:45,600
of a billiard ball, he laid it upon the table. This,

152
00:09:45,879 --> 00:09:49,320
he said, is nearly pure carbon, and as you are

153
00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,399
well aware, it is practically what a diamond is. Now

154
00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,919
I will illustrate to you how you may make a

155
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,799
diamond from this piece of coal, which will be as

156
00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,360
good as any diamond ever found in the mines. We

157
00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,360
will manufacture it instead of letting nature do it. We

158
00:10:06,399 --> 00:10:09,159
will first place it in this glass bowl and pour

159
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,240
over it sufficient liquid air to cover it completely. We

160
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,120
will let it remain until it is thoroughly cold, say

161
00:10:17,519 --> 00:10:22,039
at least two hundred below zero. There Now, all we

162
00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:24,919
have to do is to heat it and then subject

163
00:10:24,919 --> 00:10:30,200
it to a powerful gray g hosephad five minutes to twelve.

164
00:10:30,799 --> 00:10:34,879
I must go appointment with a lady at twelve. But

165
00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,639
I say, old fellow, just hold it under a blowpipe

166
00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,399
until it gets hot, just as hot as you can.

167
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:45,600
I will be back soon, Tadah, his last words, came

168
00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:49,159
to me faintly through the window he had already floated out.

169
00:10:50,879 --> 00:10:53,720
I took the queer colored piece of coal and began

170
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,919
heating it under the blowpipe. It did not burn as

171
00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,639
I thought it would, but turned red and then white.

172
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,240
Gradually it seemed to grow larger and larger, brighter and brighter,

173
00:11:06,799 --> 00:11:09,759
until I opened my eyes and found myself in bed,

174
00:11:09,799 --> 00:11:14,320
with the sun shining full upon me through the open window.

175
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,679
The end of a Lesson in Chemistry by Charles B.

176
00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:19,159
Cory