*§0] 
fire troke out, there was found 
parcels of matting, tied together 
with packthread, in which the soot 
of burnt firewood had been mixed 
with oil, for the purpose of painting 
the ship’s bottom, it came into our 
mind, that, at the fire which hap- 
pened last year at the hemp-ware.- 
houses, the following cause, among 
others, was assigned, that the fire 
might have proceeded from the 
hemp being bound up in greasy 
mats, oreven from such mats having 
Jain near the hemp : therefore, neg- 
~ lect not to guide your father inqui- 
ries by this remark.’ 
As, upon juridical examination, 
as well as private enquiry, it was 
found that, in the ship’s cabin, 
‘where the smoke appeared, there 
lay a bundle of matting, containing 
Russian lamp-black, prepared from 
fir-soot, moistened with hemp-oil 
varnish, which was perceived to 
have sparks of fire in it at the time 
of the extinction, the Russian ad- 
miralty gave orders to make various 
experiments, in order to see whether 
a mixture of hemp-oil, varnish and 
the forementioned Russian black, 
folded up in a mat and bound to- 
gether, would kindle of itself. 
They shook furiy pounds of fir- 
wood soot into a tub, and poured 
about thirty-five pounds of hemp- 
oil varnish upon it; this they let 
stand for an hour, after which they 
poured off the oil. The remaining 
mixture they now wrapped up in a 
mat, and the bundle was laid close 
to the cabin, where the midshipmen 
had their birth. To avoid all sus- 
picion of treachery, two officers 
sealed both the mat and the door 
with their own seals, and stationed 
a watch, of four sea-officers, to take 
notice of aj] that passed the’ whole 
night through; and, as soon as any 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1795. 
smoke should appeat, immediately 
to give information to the coms 
mandant of the port. 
The experiment was made the 
26th of April, about eleven o’clock 
A. M. in pfesence of all the officers 
named in the commission. Early on 
the following day, about six o'clock 
A. M. a smoke appeared, of which 
the chief commandant was imme-~ 
diately informed by an officer; he 
came with all possible speed, and, 
through a small hole in the ‘dane 
saw the mat smoking. Without 
opening the door, he dispatched a 
messenger to the members of the 
commission ; but, as the smoke bes 
came stronger, and fire began to ap 
pear, the chief commandant found 
it necessary, without waiting for 
the members of the commission, 
to break the seals and open 
the door. No sooner was the air 
thus admitted, than the mat began 
to burn with greater force, and pre- 
sently it burst into a flame. 
The Russian Admiralty being 
now fully convinced of the self-en< 
kindling property of this composi- 
tion, transmitted their experiment 
to the Imperial Academy of Sci- 
ences ; who appointed my friend Mr. 
Georgi, a very. learned and able 
adjunct of the Academy, to make 
farther experiments on the subject, 
and to him I am chiefly indebted 
for this account; though, being my 
self at the time upon a visit to some 
of my old parishioners at Crons 
stadt, I made myselfacquainted with 
many of the circumstances on the 
spot. 
The experiments of this ingeni- 
ous chymist are of great importance, 
as they form a valuable addition to 
our knowledge on the subject ; and 
are very remarkable from the occa- 
sion that led to these discoveries. 
The 
