The air was taken at the
sea-shore, in the middle of the fields, on the level earth, during
harvests, in the forests, and in Paris. Under such varied conditions,
the quantity of carbonic acid varied but little; the numbers obtained
were between 2.94 and 3.1, which may be taken as a general average of
the carbonic acid in the air.
The quantity of carbonic acid in the free atmosphere is tolerably
constant, which must necessarily be the case according to Schloesing's
proposed relation between the bi-carbonate of lime in the sea and the
carbonic acid in the air. The only cause that seems at all competent to
change the geological quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere is
the formation of fog. As the aqueous vapors condense, they collect the
carbonic acid; and the foggy air, as a rule, is more heavily laden with
this gas than ordinary air.
It is not surprising that there is less carbonic acid in the air
collected on clear summer days, in the midst of clover, etc., that is in
an active reducing furnace; if anything is surprising, it is that the
quantity of carbonic acid does not sink below 2.8.
It is also a matter for surprise that in Paris, among so many sources of
carbonic acid, the furnace fires, the respiration of men and animals,
and the spontaneous decomposition and decay of organic substances, the
quantity of carbonic acid does not exceed 3.
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