Stone Volume 11 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 Excerpt: ...to place absorbents under and around the cans. Dry plaster of paris forms one of the best absorbents, while dry sawdust is also a very good one. After the nitro glycerine has been used the empty cans and the absorbents should be destroyed by exploding a fulminate cap near them. Many very serious, and in some cases fatal accidents, have occurred through the neglect of this precaution. If the nitro-glycerine is not completely exploded in firing it gives off noxious fumes which produce when inhaled the so-called "nitro-glycerine" or "dynamite headache." One cannot realize the extent of the suffering caused a person by such a headache until he has experienced it himself. If anything it is worse than a severe toothache, and utterly unfits a person for work for at least twelve hours. The dynamites consist of nitro-glycerine absorbed by some material which is technically called the dope. There are a great many dynamites on the market under different trade names. Their power varies mainly with the percentage of nitro-glycerine that they contain, though it is also influenced by the nature of the dope, that is whether the dope is inert, partially explosive or fully explosive. The first dynamites made consisted of nitro-glycerine absorbed by infusorial earth. Afterwards other inert substances such as sawdust, mica, etc., were used. Most of the dynamites made at the present time contain a partially or fully explosive dope. In high-grade dynamites, or those containing over 50 per cent, of nitro-glycerine the dope is very absorbent, and frequently consists of wood pulp or fibre mixed with nitrate of potash or soda. In the second grade dynamites, or those containing from 30 to 50 per cent, of nitro-glycerine, the dope is not as a rule so absorbent. A ...