f(yr extinguishing accidental Fires in Ships. 105 



description, nor can Any fire-engine that has ever yet been 

 constructed be compared with it in point of simpUcity. 

 Still less will fire-engines bear comparison in point ot" effi- 

 cacy; for the gas that may be liberated by this simple ap- 

 paratus will infallibly extinguish fiames, but the water 

 thrown by a fire-engine seldom succeeds in doing so, and 

 often, as we have before proved on physical principles, in- 

 creases their fury*. 



With a view to the application of the means for extin- 

 guishing fires which we have pointed out, care ouojht to 

 be taken in future in the construction of ships, to iTll up, 

 at the decks, all the scams and joinings between the side 

 timbers, that an air-tight line of division may reach from 

 the decks even to the outside planks, to prevent all passage 

 of air behind the linings. But I shall not insist longer on 

 this. The principles I have laid down are sufficiently ob- 

 vious, and the only wonder is, that thcv have not been re- 

 sorted to before this time as a safeguard against fires below 

 and between decks. 



As the minor details are perfectly obvious, and cannot 

 fail to present themselves to the minds of those in whose 

 department it may lie to give efficacy to the plan we have 

 proposed, it would be carrying the present paper to an un- 

 necessary length to enter into them. There is one point, 

 however, that must not be overlooked, being connected 

 with the safety of the people: — 



After the fire has been extinguished bv the means that 

 have been recommended, the air which remains in the inte- 

 rior of the vessel will be found as unfit for m.aintaining ani- 

 mal life as for maintaining combustion. It would instantly 

 suffocate those who should descend into it ; and consists of 

 two non-respirable gases, azotic gas and fixed air. It would 

 be unsafe, therefore, to venture down till after the vessel 

 has been ventilated by opening the ports from the outside 

 of the ship, and by means of bellows and leathern hose 

 thrown down into the hold. In short, any or all the ways 

 now employed for ventilating ships mav be employed to re- 

 move the foul air, and make it safe for the people to go down. 



• It is possible tliat in some cases a vessel may not be nhle to afford 

 zoom for a sufficiency ot tticsi. materials to furnish a quantity of fixed 

 air ttjiiai in volume to htr hold, an<l there may he other objcciions to 

 taking so larj^e a supply which have not oauric<l to me ; but a> in a case 

 of fire it mHy be necessary to st:<vc the rum and brandy on board, as much 

 ail of vitiiol and chalk should always be provided as would furnish a 

 stratum of fixed air able to ri!>c a few inches at least over any 'piiits thai 

 nuy thus be staved into the hold. 



To 



