for preserving the Body from Fire. 211 



numerous applications, and it is on this account that M. Aldini 

 has sought to substitute for it a woollen cloth. 



This cloth, even without sahne impregnation, is but slight- 

 ly inflammable, and on this account it ought to be used for 

 the winter dresses of children in place of cotton cloth, the in- 

 flammability of which has occasioned so many distressing ac- 

 cidents ; but when wool has been impregnated with sal am- 

 moniac and borax it no longer burns. It merely calcines 

 without propagating the combustion, and it is only penetrated 

 slowly by heat. In this last respect it has even the advantage 

 over amianthus, for when the finger is covered with amianthus 

 cloth and presented to the flame of a candle, it receives sooner 

 the impression of heat than when it is covered with the incom- 

 bustible woollen cloth of the same thickness as that of the 

 amianthus. Hence, in point of economy, in point of easy 

 preparation; of commodious application ; of greater lightness, 

 and of less conductibility of heat, wool has the advantage of 

 amianthus ; and its resistance to fire, though incomparably 

 less than that of this mineral, is still sufficiently great to sup- 

 port a high temperature, and to replace it in almost all the 

 circumstances which are presented in fires. 



The amianthus and woollen fabrics deserve particular atten- 

 tion, because they really form the most essential part of M. 

 Aldini's apparatus. When employed alone they can defend 

 the body in most cases from the action of flame and heat, 

 whilst the metallic gauze, in extinguishing flame, does not suf- 

 ficiently intercept the heat. This last material, by its great 

 stiffness, has the great inconvenience of fettering the motions 

 of the firemen, while it is of the greatest importance to them 

 to preserve all their agility, and to be able to direct it with 

 certainty. From these considerations we are of opinion that 

 the woollen cloth, when sufficiently thick and close, and pro- 

 perly impregnated with saline solutions, or what is perhaps 

 better still, when formed of several thinner fabrics superposed, 

 but always so close as not to allow the passage of air, will 

 alone have sufficient efficacy ; and we are also of opinion, that 

 it will be necessary in some circumstances to add moveable 

 pieces of metallic gauze to defend those parts of the body 

 which are the most exposed to sufffer from heat, taking care to 



