Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-03-16

A |
known of its physiological effects s.
, far is what has been ascertained by ex
periments with chickens. 1t wa
found that a number of chickens tina
, had been within few feet of deton
alton like that OF a lyddite shell wer
= unwounded but dead, and on dissec
ton their blood vessels were found t,
be choked with clots of blood. From
this it has been deduced that the con
cussi0n produces such an effect upo
the nerves as suddenly to check tn,
action of the heart and blood vascula
system, with, of course, fatal effect.
"As to the wounding power of th'
scattering fragments, that will var,
with their size. The fragments of {
high explosive shell are generally mucl
smaller than those of a gunpowdel
shell, but their velocity is also gener
ally much higher. suppose that any
fragment of lyddite shell, except the
small ores, would kill up to a distance
of $50 feet from the point of explo
sion."
Referring to the statement that one
shot from one of these heavy nava
guns had wrecked heavy 40 poundel
on the Boer side, the same officer said
he did not believe that this effect
would haze been produced unless the
shell had struck either the gun itseli
or the carriage, or exploded in the
ground Immediately under the car
riage. ANY of these hits would be
remarkable, he thought, though not
by any means beyond belief in the
high state of perfection to which the
art of gunnery has been brought in
recent times.
This lyddite explosive, which has SO
suddenly and so sanguinarily burst
upon the notice of the general public,
is one of the four principal chemical
compounds that have been discovered
within the last ten or twelve years for
the promotion of peace and good will
among civilized nations. The others
are melinite, emmensite and thorite
Melinite is the pet of French artiller-
lists. Emmensite, which may be
roughly described as mixture of pic
ric acid and nitric acid, was discovered
in 1883 by DIR. Stephen II. Emmens
Of New York. Thorite is the inven.
ton OF DIR. Tuttle, oil Seattle, wasiI.,
and is now being tried at Sandy Hook,
with view to its possible adoption by
the United States Ordnance Depart
ment. Precisely for this reason, it is
impossible for any one not in the con.
fidence of the government or of DR..
Tuttle himself to learn anything about
its composition. "The Ordnance De-
partment," said an officer at army
headquarters, "is very strict in guard
ing the secrets OF an inventor who sub
mits his invention for its approval" 4"
This, Of course, is only fair to the in.
veutor in any case, and should the ex-
plosive be adopted for use, its COM
position would be secret OF serious
Importance to the efficiency OF the
nations military services.
What appears to be understood, how
ever, about thorite, is that, like the
other latest "ites," it is a modifica-
tion of what is called "German gun
powder" the general makeup Of which
is not, rs is commonly supposed, any.
thing like guncotton or any prepara-
tion of nitro glyccrine, but an affair of
"sugar and prussiate of potassium, or
of preparations OF tannin, nutgalls,
cream of tartar and some oxidizing
agent"
AS to the lyddite which has proved
itself such an effective agent of de-
struction, here again nothing can be
said further than what is written in
the textbooks on explosives. The
British military authorities are just as
secretive in their experiments at Sheer
ness, Woolwich and ON the Plumstead
Marshes as is the United States at
Sandy Hook. But the books say that
lyddite is some six or seven times as
powerful as gunpowder, and in its
composition akin to melinite, being a
picric acid compound of potassium
and ammonium. The picric acid in
question, otherwise called carbazotic
acid, is substance which crystallizes
in the form of yellowish flakes and
gives brown solution. 1t is formed
by the action Of nitric on cafbolic
acid.
This acid itself is not by any means
of modern origin, having been discov-
cred in 1888, but until recently it was
chiefly employed in the peaceful ca.
pacity of a dye for textile fabrics, and
the equally peaceful, though not quite
harmless, capacity of an adulterating
agent in beer. In its later use it has
had the recommendation OF an in
tensely bitter taste, which the unex.
perienced and the thirsty might easily
mistake for the flavor of hops, and so
picric acid may have been the undoing
of" many a good, tall fellow" long be.
fore it was called upon to help make
an explosive.
One of the chief recommendation oi
lyddite for practical use in war is the
comparative safety with which it can
be handled. To explode at all it must
be acted upen by O detonator, and a