It is well known that water dissolves many substances. Salt, sugar, alcohol, and a number of other substances, dissolve in water and form homogeneous liquids with it.
To demonstrate the solubility of gases in water, a gas should be taken which has a high co-efficient of solubility—for instance, ammonia. This is introduced into a bell jar (or cylinder, as in fig. 14), which is previously filled with mercury and stands in a mercury bath. If water be then introduced into the cylinder, the mercury will rise, owing to the water dissolving the ammonia gas. If the column of mercury be less than the barometric column, and if there be sufficient water to dissolve the gas, all the ammonia will be absorbed by the water. The water is introduced into the cylinder by a glass pipette, with a bent end. The bent end is put into water, and the air is sucked out from the upper end. When full of water, its upper end is closed with the finger, and the bent end placed in the mercury bath under the orifice of the cylinder. On blowing into the pipette the water will rise to the surface of the mercury in the cylinder owing to its lightness.