4 On preveni'ing AceideiH^ 



noxious gases ; for wherever they are suffered to accumu- 

 late, there is continual danger*. 



I do not know of any vehicle, neither do I think it pos- 

 sihle to devise one, at all comparable to that with wnich 

 Nature has wisely provided us, namely^ atmospheric air. 



This offers itself so abundantly, and requires such simple 

 arrangements to convey and apply it to the purpose, that we 

 raav be considered as extremely deficient in our duty, if we 

 do not make the best use of it, before weturnoqr attention 

 to matters of speculation. Tn fact, no contrivances can 

 supply its place. A salubrious atmosphere is so necessary 

 to the healthy action of the human system, that in mines 

 where a due proportion of its vital principle in a given 

 space is soiTietimes wanting, it is the cause of numbers 

 lingering out a life of diseasef. 



Every remedy which tends materially to increase the ex- 

 pense of working a mine, or which throws considerable 

 obstacles in the way oi getting and convey'mg the minerals 

 out of the mine, cannot on these accounts in the present 

 day be adopted. Of this kind we may reckon the schemes 

 for neutralizing or destroying the gases by chemical agency; 

 such, for instance, as the one of oxy-murialic acid for 

 destroy ing^re- Jaw//, proposed by Dr. Trotter J. The ex- 

 pense attending such a process would be enormous, the 

 mode of practice unmanageable, and thcrenaedy, if it could 

 be successfully employed, would be worse than the disease. 

 The quantity of hydrogen gas^orjire-damp, evolved during 

 one day in a mine subject to it, is almost incredible to 

 persons unacquainted with the fact ; and as we cannot rea- 

 sonably expect to procure chemical reagents at a much 

 cheaper rate than this gas may be obtained artificially, the 

 idea of applying them to this purpose must therefore be 

 entirely abandoned. 



There are also other modes which might be adopted, 

 such as procuring light accompanied by a heat below the 

 temperature requisite to fire the inflammable gas; or by 



• This requires no proof, because accidents can never happen but where 

 there is an accumulation of gas. 



The idea of preventing their formation is too ridiculous to deserve the 

 least notice. 



f Working in mines, vrhere Jtre-damp is very prevalent, is the occasion of 

 violent headachs, and sometimes of sore eyes. Choke-damp is considered 

 .as producing asthmas, headachs^ &c. 



\ '* A Proposal for destroying the Fire- and Choke-damps of Coal Mines, 

 &c., &c., on the Principles of modern Chemistry, by T. Trotter." N:w~ 

 castle. 



form in 



