318 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



" This may be a very wise, or it may be a hasty and false conclusion. 

 Gunpowder is a most dangerous article, and in the hands of the igno- 

 rant or imprudent, unacquainted with its properties and the precautions 

 necessary to its safe keeping and use, may cause the destruction of 

 human life ; and sometimes, from unforeseen causes, not attributable to 

 carelessness, it may unexpectedly ignite and cause great damage. Is 

 this a reason why we should come to a hasty conclusion, that gun- 

 powder ought never to be made and never to be used, notwithstanding 

 its vast utility in the arts of war and peace, — supplying the most effi- 

 cient arms in time of war, and acting as an indispensable agent in all 

 the processes of quarrying and mining ? No. But it is a reason why 

 all the causes of danger should be investigated, ascertained, and made 

 known, and why every precaution should be taken to guard against 

 these causes. 



" It is often suggested, I am aware, that, in using burning-fluid in 

 preference to oil, the only object is to save a little expense in the cost, 

 and this is an object too trifling and unimportant to warrant the running 

 of any risk. This, it strikes me, is a very narrow and superficial view 

 of the subject. It has been stated here this evening, that the light 

 from camphene is whiter and purer, and the use of it more cleanly 

 than that of oil, and the cost somewhat less. In answer to the latter 

 fact, however, it is suggested that spermaceti oil has been much higher 

 for a few years past than formerly, in consequence of its extensive 

 use in manufactures. This may be the cause of a temporary rise in 

 the price of an article, when the demand has increased faster than 

 the supply ; and that may be especially true in regard to an article 

 like sperm oil, when so long a time elapses between the outfit 

 and return, and when, of course, the increase of the supply is slow 

 in following the increase of demand. But in general, when there are 

 no intrinsic causes to cut off or diminish the supply, the supply will, 

 in the long run, be adequate to the demand, and then the price will be 

 regulated by the cost of production. But it appears to me that the 

 cause of the increased price of sperm oil lies much deeper than this. 

 It arises from the increased length and precariousness of sperm whale 

 voyages. I understand that voyages are greatly increased in length, 

 and in still greater proportion in expense, from the necessity of getting 

 supplies and repairs abroad ; and the chance of falling in with the sperm 

 whale is much rarer and more precarious; so that vessels, after a long 

 voyage, come home either not full, or filled with whale oil of inferior 



