Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu/233

Rh caustic potash. My assistant will pour some nitric acid into a solution of caustic potash, and you will soon see crystals of saltpetre appear, shooting out from the sides of the dish, whose image we have projected on the screen. In a similar way we can prepare nitro-glycerine, by pouring glycerine in a fine stream into very strong nitric acid, rendered more active by being mixed with sulphuric acid—oil of vitriol.

"We could easily make the experiment, but you could see nothing. There is no apparent change, and it is a remarkable fact that, when pure, nitro-glycerine resembles, externally, very closely glycerine itself, and, like it, is a colorless, oily fluid—the reddish-yellow color of the commercial article being due to impurities. As soon as the chemical change is ended, the nitro-glycerine must be very carefully washed with water, until all adhering acid has been removed. The material thus obtained has most singular qualities, and not the least unexpected of these is its stability under ordinary conditions. After the terrible accidents that have happened, it would, perhaps, be rash to say that it did not readily explode; but I can assure you that it is not an easy matter to explode pure nitro-glycerine. It is not nearly so explosive as gunpowder, and I am told that the flame of an ordinary match can be quenched in it without danger, although I confess that I should be unwilling to try the experiment. Still, there can be no doubt that, under ordinary circumstances, a small flame will not ignite it. My knowledge of the matter is derived from Prof. Hill, of the Torpedo Station, at Newport, who has studied very carefully the preparation and application of the material. He is of opinion that most of the accidents which have given to nitro-glycerine such an unfortunate notoriety have been caused by the use of an impure article, and that proper care in its preparation would greatly lessen the danger attending its use. Nitro-glycerine is usually exploded, not by the direct application of heat, but by a sudden and violent concussion, which is obtained by firing in contact with it a fuse of some fulminating powder. The effects of this explosion are as peculiar as the method by which it is obtained, and I can best illustrate the subject by describing an experiment with nitro-glycerine which I witnessed myself at the Torpedo Station a few months since.

"It is so inconvenient to handle liquid nitro-glycerine that it is now usual to mix it with some inert and impalpable powder, and the names dualine and dynamite have been given to different mixtures of this kind; but in both of these the powder merely acts as a sponge. In the experiment referred to, a canister holding less than a pound of dynamite, and only a few ounces of nitro-glycerine, was placed on the top of a large bowlder-rock, weighing two or three tons. In order that you may fully appreciate the conditions, I repeat that this tin case was simply laid on the top of the bowlder, and not confined in any way. The nitro-glycerine was then exploded by an appropriate fuse fired from a distance by electricity. The report was not louder