燃烧的硫磺冒出的烟，可以“漂白”稻草、丝绸和其他的物品，让它们变得又白又干净。这种烟，还能杀死那些导致发烧和其他疾病的细菌。

　　Let us put some bits of roll sulphur in an iron spoon, and hold the spoon over a clear fire. The sulphur soon melts into a clear yellow liquid. If we let this melted sulphur get hotter, it will become thick, and nearly black in colour.

　　咱们把一根硫棒的一些碎屑，放进一个铁勺子里。把铁勺子举到明火上，硫很快就会熔化，变成一种清澈的黄色液体。要是继续加热这种熔化的硫，它就会变得粘稠，颜色也会几乎变成黑色。

　　With more heat still, the sulphur will become thin again; and if we then pour it into cold water, it will change into a soft brown mass almost like india-rubber. After a few days, this will become hard and yellow again. If the sulphur is made very hot indeed, it will turn into yellow sulphur vapour.

　　继续加热，硫会再次变稀；把它倒进冷水中，会变成一种棕色的软东西，差不多有点像天然橡胶。几天之后，这东西就会变回又硬又黄的状态。如果把硫磺加热到极高的温度，会化作黄色的硫蒸汽。

　　Sulphur is a mineral. It is found near volcanoes, and must have been brought up by them from a very great depth. It is also found in the earth joined with other elements, in the form of stony masses called ores.

　　硫是一种矿物，可以在火山附近找到，显然是火山从地球深处带上来的。在地下也可以找到跟其他元素混在一起的硫磺，形态是类似石头的东西，叫做“矿石”。

　　But sulphur is not a metal. It has qualities very different from those of the metals. A metal conducts heat well. If you put one end of a metal rod into the fire, the other end soon grows hot also. But sulphur conducts heat very badly.

　　但硫磺并不是金属，它的特性跟金属的特性很不一样。金属的“导热性”非常好，如果把一根金属棒的一头放到火中，另一头很快也会变热。但是硫磺的导热性却很差。

　　Metals have also a lustrous or shining surface, but sulphur has no lustre. For these reasons sulphur is said to be a non-metal—that is, an element which is not a metal.

　　金属也有一种“有光泽的”或是“亮闪闪的”表面，但硫却没有光泽。所以人们把硫磺叫做“非金属”，也就是“不是金属的元素”。