The Indianapolis daily herald., 1865-11-17
cs.mssis, ,@ 81 an. s.sass.e.

The accident n the Wyoming Hotel cn sun
day viii probably prove to b. the startling an
nouncemcnt Il the advent II new explosive
material. We have heard 80 much during the
war e torpedoes and ether internal machines.
that the community came naturally 20 the con-
clusion, on the nrst account that she mysteri-
Gus box 30 long neglected Ia the hotel. con-
tanned only one more q those destructive de-
vices 0f our enemies. hut the statement that
the box contained only specimens 81 . chemi-
cal oils" brought here with a view % make
money. and with no evil purpe~r. l. In all
likelihood true. \ man named Lcer~ brought
the box from Hamburg. which place he lett In
June. some months before that chemist Of
Hamburg. Mr.. ALFRED Nobel. announced The
discovery Of a new blasting oil, which he
claimed would supcr.cde gunpowder for all
ordinary explosive purposes. Nobcl's COM
pound produces on explosion i've times the
amount % gas produced by an equal weight of
gunpewder, and. ~ It's inventor claims, has
thirteen times the power. IL j. chemical
compound of thirty-seyen parts Of nitric acid
20 one 81 glycerine. This nitro-glycerine l.
ycllowish. oily fluid in appearance. IL l. not
soluble by water nor explosive by fire. IL de-
tonates under certain circumstances. The ac-
cident i'm Greenwich street answers In all re-
spects % an explosion of this material. e.
pecially m it, terrific power. IL J. evident
that the explosive material was huid; there
was some evolution Of gas just before the ex-
plosion. giving out an Odor that was mistaken
for hydrochloric acid, and when the box was
let fall ON the street there was sufficient blow
no doubt 10 explode a decorating compound.
Before the box was carried out, flames issued
from IL, and Nobels nitro-glyccrine will burn
without exploding.
Nobel's compound. though without the inn
mense force of chloride of nitrogen, has been
fonnd 10 possess great power I'm mining opera
tons. Had General Grant, at the time the
mine was run under the rebel works at Peters
burg, placed in IL a weight Of this material
equal 20 the weight Of gunpowder placed there,
the explosion would have simulated an earth
quake. lie would have shaken down every
fort that stood between the two armies and
every house in Petersburg, and would have
made himself felt throughout the territory
then held by the enemy. Ii j. difficult 10 say
what might have become Of the two armies.
This chemical discovery l. one more Of the Sc
crets Of nature secured by science: aud il l.
still safe 10 say that we are only on the TIRES
hold of discovery In this direction. Gun
powder. nitre glycerine and chloride Of nitro
gen, stand perhaps a. only A Ii { in the ascend
ing series Of explosive forces with which the
great operations Of nature have been wrought.
by their aid we may dmly guess at the powers
whose explosions piled up such ranges of
granite as the Rocky Mountains, the Andes and
the Alps; at the lesser powers that have torn
open the mountains through which great
rivers. as the Hudson, flow 10 the sea; that
have "dusted down the domes" of cities like
Lisbon, and that require such vast vent holes
and safety valves as Nesuyius and LEtna. BY
considering the earth as one grand chemical
laboratory, with forces Of unknown and UNI
imagined power operating within IL according
10 fixed laws, we can gain better conception
than in any other way Of the operations of ma
ture that have most astonished the world, that
they have been most regarded as impenetrable
mysteries, and that have been most used by
superstition to darken the human mind.
From purely chemical standpoint, also,
we can gain our only possible comprehension
OF the oldest Of traditiOns-the greatest puzzle
of philosophers of every age-the story OF
chaos. when the earth was without form and
void" Chemistry shows Us how, by the laws
of nature, the same body may exist i'm solid.
a fluid or gaseous form; how from solid il
may be ratified TO gas. and how again il may
from an expansion thatisounds almost fabulous
be condensed and restored to its solid form.
The application of this law Of condensation on
grand scale to matter expanded through
space in gaseous form might result in the FORM
alton Of planets-the chemical contact of the
various gases in the evolution OF heat-and
heat in motion. SO out of proportion are the
gaseous and solid forms of given body that
our own earth might perhaps be so rarified as
TO I'LL the whole of the space in our system
Science, while thus looking upon the visible
universe rs to the result OF fixed laws, vet sees
that the power which made and fixed those
laws is still incomprehensible though il
teaches us to regard that power with Infinitely
higher thought than Is possible to any blind
faith. We can best understand the history OF
the Universe and of the Earth by regarding
the succession of events as so many grand
chemical changes, by looking at them in the
light of a certained laws of Silence; and hence
the axiom of the faith of modern philosophy
Man the servant and Interpreter Of Nature
understands and performs so much as he has
gathered by observation or experience. nor
does his knowledge or power extend further
-Ne,c York Herald.