Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-12-14
From Good Health.l
Nitro erine.----Dynamite. - -hOn-
derfnl Inventions.

derful Inventions.
One recognizes with something Of a
feeling Of horror that many of the
terrible means in vogue for the
slaughter Of the human race have
their origin in investigations under
taken by scientific men with the view
Of increasing the knowledge, or
ameliorating the condition Of man
kind in general. This Is essentially
the case with the substance whose
name heads this article. Invented
originally for the purpose Of assisting
the peaceful labOrs Of the miner and
the engineer, it is now employed as
/ the explosive agent Of the tOrpedOes
which defend the rivers and harbOrs
Of Germany against the RggressiOns
Of the French fleet.
Every one knows what glyeerine is,
"A clear, syrupy liquid, sweet to the
taste, and somewhat greasy to the
touch. Its scope Of employment ram
ges from the surgeons dispensary to
/ the lady's bOudoir. Chemists term it
q triatomic alcohol, and it may be de-
rived from fat or tallOW by the action
Of lime and sulphuric acid. Its prop
critics are many and various, but as
they have no bearing upon the pres
ent subject, we shall abstain from no.
ticing them. II a quantity Of nitric
acid be added to twice its weight OF
Sulphuric acid, and glyeerine be pour
ed into this, and carefully stirTed-the
whole being surrounded by freezing
mixture-we obtain the wonderful
substance known as nitrO-glycerine,
-,-ls,1, H. av,,ora than tan tfu1aa the
[ explosive force Of gunpOwder. 1t
forms on the surface as an Oily-lOok-
ing liquid Of pale yellow color, IS
[ perfectly inodOrOus, and has a sweet,
/ aromatic taste. 1t is poisonous,
whether taken internally or absorbed
/ through the skim, and small doses Of
| it produce distressing headaches Al
though practically insoluble in water,
il dissolyes readily in ether, alcohol,
or woOd-spirit.
/ Nitro-giycerine was discovered in
/ the year lS47, by an Italian, named
Ascogne Sobero; but its practical ap-
plicatiOn is entirely due to the re-
Searches of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish
mining engineer. It does not explode
when brought into contact with fire,
and remains unchanged even when
raised to the temperature Of boiling
water; but at about forty degrees
I Fahrenheit, it becomes converted into
an icy mass, which merely requires
I friction to develop all its explosive
qualities. This peculiarity has been
I the cause Of many lamentable acci-
/ dents, when NJ. Nobel commenced a
series Of experiments with the view OF
rendering its employment eOmpara-
lively safe. After some time, he found
that mixing It with about ten per
cent. Of wOOd-spirit rendered il prac-
tically harmless, and this method Is
now generally adopted. When re-
quired for use, the wOOd-spirit can be
removed, and all the properties Of the
nitro-glycerine restored by the simple
addition OF water, which, mixing with
the spirit, sets free, as it were, the
nitrO-glycerine. The only drawbacks
to this plan is, that when the nitro
gIyeerine is recOnverted into its orig.
inal state, it is OF course quite as dan.
gerous as ever
To obviate this, NJ. Noble has in.
vented a new mixture, which he
terms dynamite. 1t consists Oi
tseventy-five per cent. Of nitrO-glycer'
inc, and twenty-five per cent. Of very
fine sand, and is a brOwnish looking
powder, something like sawdust, only
greasy TO the touch. 1t burns with
out explosion when placed in a fire, OF
brought into contact with q lighted
match. If struck with a hammer, on
an anvil, the portion struck takes fire
without infiaming the dynamite
around it. As a proof Of the perfect
I security with which it may be han
died, we NAV mention that NJ. Nobel
has placed a case containing about
eight pounds of il (equal to nearly
eighty pounds Of ordinary pOwder) on
a brisk fire, and that the dynamite
was consumed without noise or shock
while a similar case was flung from a
height of sixty-five feet on TO q hard
rock without producing the slightest
explosion. A weight of over two
hundred pounds was then let fall from
height Of twenty feet upon box Oi
dynamite the box was smashed, bu
again there was no explosion.
The usual method OF firing dyna'
mite is by means of q copper capsule
containing illuminate of silyer,-thC
latter being infIamed either by the or
binary slOw-match, or by the electric
spark. The employment of this cap
sule and decorating composition 10 ab
/ sOlutely essential for the explosion o
/, dynamite. In order to give some idei
/ Of the force developed by such an eX
plosioD, it may be mentioned that {
spoonful Of it placed upon a block o
quartz. covered with bricks, and fired
caused the quartz to be broken up int
pieces about the size Of a pea, aud re
dueed the bricks to powder. Likl
nitro-glycerine, dynamite eOngeals a
comparatively high temperature; bu
to restore Ii to its proper condition,
is only necessary to put it in warn
place, or, if it is contained in close,
} cartridges, to plunge it into warn
water.
In mining operations, dynamite pos
sesses many advantages over nitro
glycerine, besides those already men
toned. 1t has been usual, for in