GARY, ELBERT HENRY, an Amer ican lawyer and capitalist, born near Wheaton, Ill. He was educated in the public schools and Wheaton College, and at the University of Chicago. After studying law at the latter institution, he was admitted to the bar in 1867. He was engaged in the general practice of law in Chicago for 25 years, but retired from law practice to become president of the Federal Steel Co. He was prom inently identified with the organization of the United States Steel Corporation, of which he became chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the finance committee. He was president of the American Iron and Steel Institute and, in 1893-1894, was president of the Chicago Bar Association.
GAS, in chemistry, a substance pos sessing the condition of perfect fluid elasticity, and presenting under a con stant pressure a uniform rate of ex pansion for equal increments of tem perature, but when reaching its maxi mum density behaving like a vapor. All gases can be condensed into liquids by cold and pressure. Some of the ele ments, as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine, and probably fluorine, are gases at ordinary temperatures. Atmos pheric air is a mechanical mixture of 77 parts by weight of nitrogen, and 23 of oxygen, or 79 volumes of nitrogen mixed with 21 volumes of oxygen. Gases are
formed by the dry distillation of animal and vegetable substances, which yield carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, am monia, nitrogen, hydrogen, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and hydro carbons.
The gas of commerce is carburetted hydrogen (CH,). Its frequent disen gagement in coal mines with resultant explosions, generally fatal to many lives, has caused the miners to give it the name of fire-damp. In parts of the world it issues from crevices or holes in the strata in so moderate and continuous a stream, as to burn with a huge jet in stead of exploding. It was discovered in the United States about 1845, and is known as natural gas. Gas wells abound in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the West. This natural gas serves the pur poses of illuminating and heating. The ignition of carburetted hydrogen may be seen in any coal fire. It has been covered that giant jets of apparently similar gas flames exist in the sun, and are one main source of its light and heat