American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-02-13

1
| COMBUSTION, in some form or other,
| co-existent with nature and animal lif
and, according to the popular acceptatioI
signifies burning or the process of q,
ton of fire in consuming any substance
! attended by both heat and fiame-as th
combustion of wood, coal or peat. Thi
definition, however, is very defective
Tor under certain circumstances the Opel
alton of combustion is not attended wit
fire or flame, as is daily Witnessed by til
rusting of metals which undergo a slo,
combustion, the rusted portions bein
burnt away or oxidized. Heat is ger
Grated to greater or less degree, accord
ing to the rapidity of the combustion
and If the rusting can be made sufficient
rapid the rise of temperature is stuff
GENTLY marked to be readily detected
Experiments to prove this may be mad
by taxing large mass of iron filings
and, after wethng them thoroughly, ex
posing them for a considerable time t,
the influence of the air. -. -
Modern chemistry describes cOmbus
ton as the union of an infiammable sub
stance with oxygen, attended usual,
vito light, heat and flame. According
to LavOisier, heat or caloric is disengaged
and oxygen is absorbed. IRE, who i
considered high authority, regards Lavoi
sier's theory as somewhat defective, anC
advances as q substitute the following
Combustion is the disengagement O
heat and light which accompanies chemi
cal combination.
r The human body may be compared to
a furnace where combustion is all the
while in progress, and, to supply the
waste, food is taken in sufficient quanti-
ties to keep up the necessary heat tC
enable the tissues to perform mans al
lotted work
The decay of all animal and vegetable
substances is nothing more than slow
oxidation, in which they lose their natu-
raj cohesion and unity Of parts, and are
either wholly or partially discomposed
by the natural operation of heat and air.
Combustion is only another name for
rOtting, or dissolving, and is either the
act of passing rapidly or gradually from
a sound and perfect state to one less
perfect.
Ordinary burning is nothing but rapid
oxidation, or the union of the cOmbusti-
BILE body with the oxygen of the air,
while decay is only a slow combustion
The log of wood which lies rotting in the
forest is destroyed by a process the
same in nature, and may be said to be as
truly burned up as if it were blazing in
the fire place. The products in both
cases are the same-carbOnic acid and
water. sa - .l
The chemist Brande says that COM
bustiOn cannot be regarded as dependent
ON any peculiar principle or form of
water, but must be considered as a gen.
eral result of intense chemical action.
Avery cdrious case OF combustion, or
the development of heat, occurred in
England during the manufacture of q
cable, and is related in the
" Natural Philosophy" of Rolfe and
Gillet. gf.f'
"The copper wire of the cable was COW
cred with gutta-Percha, tar, and hemp,
iron wire. The cable, as it was finished,
was coiled in tanks filed with water;
these tanks leaked and the water was
therefore drawn of, leaving about one
hundred and sixty three nautical miles
IF cable cOiled in a mass thirty feet in
with a space in the middle six
feet in diameter) and eight feet high. 1t
-usted SO rapidly that the temperature in
he center of the coil rose in four days
rom sixty-six to seventy-nine degrees,
,hOugh the temperature of the air did
not rise above sixty-six degrees during
he period and was as low as fifty nine
legrees part of the time. The mass
would have become even hotter had it
lot been cooled by pouring on water"
This action is precisely what takes
)lace in spontaneous combustion, which
s simply a very rapid oxidation devel-
ped gradually from slow combustion;
he circumstances or conditions neces-
AIRY to produce this being the result of
or the design of an lncendi-
Try who is acquainted with the mysteries
# chemical laws. Waste used for wiping
saw-dust, where oil has been
pilt. straw mixed with manure, tow, fax,
Temp, etc, in damp state are all liable
o ferment or ignite, and as the heat in
reases oxidation is rapidly developed
Until it destroys much valuable property
On this particular point the expert
nents of John Galletly are very con-
incing:
In one instance small quantity of
ottOn waste soaked in olive oil was
Dosely packed in a paper box, exposed
0 a temperature of about 14O deg. Fair.
Active combustion took place in little
nore than five hours, and a second ex-
'eriment yielded the same result in less
han six hours. Cotton soaked in rape
Ill and put in box subjected to a tenn
erature of about 40 deg. was found,
10th box and cotton, in ashes within ten
IOurs. CottOn-waste soaked in seal oil, |
With an applied temperature of 100 deg, |
ignition in 100 minutes. Some |
experiments were conducted with silk in |
tead of cotton, and although neither |
anne nor incandescence took place, yet |
he heat engendered was sufficient to ex-
lode gunpowder, and this temperature |
vas reduced more rapidly with silk than
With cotton. Hence Maj. Majendic gives |
he following conclusions as clearly es-
ablished:
First-That oiled waste, whether silk |
r cotton, should invariably be regarded |
nth suspicion as liable to spontaneous
ynition under moderately elevated tenn
eratures.
SecOnG-That silk waste is at least as
angerOus as cotton or even more SO in
uilding containing gunpowder or other |
Material which is capable of being ig-
tied or exploded without the actual ap- |
LEGATION of flame.
Perhaps the most singular of all the |
umerous observations Of this kind is |
he fact that pulverized charcoal, stored |
4 large heaps, but neither oily nor damp, |
as been known to ignite and burn with |
reat rapidity until it was all consumed. |
N. Y. Mercantile Journal