Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-03-29
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The following from tie New yesk
Spectator for March shoeid possess cum
siderable interest for sach persoas.as
have no knowledge ef the scssnoe sf
ehemissry. and who do not understand
that material substances eontainl stcre
Of lstsnt or uadevsloped heat. ,'sssf
| q Doublless there are msay lnstances
u apontaueoas -cumbuSiicn on record
which are ret unsolved, aud which ney-
| er viii Be solved 10 The satisfaction of
all concerned. We do not pretend 10
explain these mysteries, but simply 70
draw attention 10 . mistake We think
often made by those who imagine that
a high temperature, or vast amount OF
heat. Is essential to produce spontan.
rous combustion. We are apt to forget
that there is such thing as latent beat
discovered by DR.. Black, and described
as 'that portion Of the matter OF heat
which makes no sensible addition TO the
temperature Of the bodies i'm which il
exists" This latent or undeveloped
heat, unlike any other known substance.
lies hidden in everything around us;
it is stored up till We want 1t. when the
supply is forthcoming. II may seera
strange to those who have not thought
much about it when We say on good au-
thority that there is heat in everything.
even in ice. OF course the amount Of
latent heat in different substances is NOT
always the same. 10 .5..3 /. e
One or two familiar illustrations will
prove what We assert. Mix sulphuric
acid and water. both cold, in Certain
proportions; pour cold water on cold
lime, and in both cases you have in.
tense heat. We make nitrate Of irou
by combining nitric acid. water aud
iron, all cold, and in few seconds the
mixture will boil and continue TO boil
in open air for twenty or thirty minutes.
| A blacksmith beats or crsrprssses thu.
PARTICLES of iron by his hammer. bring
ing out the latent heat, and the iron is
red hot. Now where does all ,lii, hes;
come from If il was not in the acid, w:-
ter, lime and iron; before they came in
contact with other substances thu, heat
was hidden, or not perceptible TO our
senses, but was brought out when re-
CURED.
Many things have their chemical con-
stitution entirely changed bv comhina-
ton, and in this change evolve large
| ~ n. ar
bustion is the disengagement of heat
and light which accompanies chemical
combination Professor Seclcy savs ::
The temperature Of ignition varies
greatly for the different combustibics.
The combus.ible nature enf iron, lead,
copper, silver and gold was not even
suspected until recent daie. iieut al
WAYS accompanies the union of oxygcu
with another substance. In slow bmp.
ing (oxidationl the heat - simply dili-
ted in time or space" Three times
DR.. Jackson aihrms that he lIss set FEC
TO charcoal at temperatures below 1ha;
Of boiling water. Il once laid niece
Of fine round ch:-cc-!, but damp, on The
Top Of a column stove 10 div, directly
beside a tin pan containing cwatcr.
which was not boiling. and never did
boil there; took the rharcoal of The
stove and laid j, on The table; short
time afterwards l found that il was on
fire all through the piece: put h Asiar
and it burnt entirely to ashes 1Char-
coal. 1t is well known. w,ll-ignite II
stacked IN large heaps. A remarkable
case of spontaneous combustiop octdr.
red at bennington, England, in May,
1912. A hair mattress was supposedly
be OH fire. lit turned out on examina.
ton, that there was only Thin cover.
ing of hair. the interior OF The ma,trcs.
being made up, amongst other thing.
of yhly broken fax and oakum. -ssfs-
stances only requiring the. contact of
oil and grease to ignite BY themselves.
but which would be igntAi more quick
! ly by such an elevation N Temperature
as mere animal heat" Mr.. B!adderlv
IN his report OF The Fires in London
for 1883, reports ye. another remsfks-
BILE case at the residence OF Mr.. Fletch-
er, in Manchester, who, on entering h.-
room one afternoon, found the sofa en-
fire. Having dragged j, into the yara
and put out the fire that was buTning1,:
the interior he found the sofa bad bee.
filled with cap bottoms aud wollen m.-
teria!s, which, being somewhat grea4,
had at this low temperature ignited
We are told that tire temperature of e.
most any room is high enough 10 6 -
phosphorus spontaneously il ii is IN
finely powdered condition. Aftcr .i,..
great FIRE at the Custom House s:oress
Dublin, i'm 1888, a witness tessis;S
'that on the foor where the FIRE ",
FIRST seen there were stored tallow, 81.
mac. cork, wood, furniture, palm I'll.
cotton, wool, junk and hemp" allthc :.
were placed side BY side. without shy
regard TO their combustibility. .srhr
wool was near the oil, and fifteen ca.fs
Of tallow were near the cotton" shi
yet the authorities wondered why there
/ was a FIRE. Stores there must be, Ia
tent heat there always will be, eGas--
ton Of the RICH. kind there should b..
in order that those most concerned gav
understand the nature Of the matrria.s
handled. and not conclude that a, ~ l.
impossible because there Is, 10 theirt>-
hmation, no great amount Of seAsshle
heat -..
e5-The laws are gcueraliy equsfte.'i
/ rsrrum~s~nr~x II reI~- ssx ev~s ~.~,