Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/380

 Defying ^ the Action of ^^kFire

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���A LIQUID that resists the action of fire and water and renders all in- flammable materials absolutely fire-proof has been ]:)erfected in the phar- maceutical laboratories of the University of Iowa. When wood, cloth, or paper are saturated with it and then dried, an in- soluble mineral material is left in the cells of the fiber which makes combustion impossible. The drying may be spon- taneous, or, in the case of wood, may be done in a kiln.

As a test, a block of wood which had been soaked in the new prcjiaration and afterward dried resisted the flame of a Bunsen burner for one hour, whereas a similar block of untreated wood was

��The Inventors Claim That All Building and Household Materials and Even Ordi- nary Paper Can Be Made Non-inflammable

l)urned to ashes in exactly nine minutes. The flame of a Bunsen burner gives a much greater heat than an ordinary fire — from 700 to 1,000 degrees Fahren- heit. The board was slightly charred o\'er the area struck by the flame and a hole about fi\'e-sixteenths of an inch in diameter was made, but at no time did a blaze appear. Ordinary paper, gun cotton, and other highly combustible stuffs, when similarly treated, failed to burn.

Rainfall, running water, climatic con- ditions and all sorts of weathering agents do not appear to affect the residue of the solution in the slightest degree. The pine board, which resisted the Bunsen burner for an hour, was placed under a heavy running stream of water for twenty-four hours after the solution had dried on it. Strips of ordinary toweling were treated with the liquid and then placed in windows and exposed to rain and dew, but this did not afTect their resistance lo Are. This is an improve- ment on fire-proofing materials now on the market, which are soluble and only serve to retard the destruction of fire.

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