346 



NATURE 



[August ii, 1898 



phosphorus upon the health of the operatives, and 

 especially to its action in inducing necrosis of the upper 

 and lower jaw-bones. The workpeople who suffered 

 most were naturally those who came most in contact with 

 the fumes — such as the men engaged in mixing the com- 

 position, those employed in dipping the splints, or the 

 females who " boxed " the finished matches. 



Nowadays the mixing is done under such conditions 

 that the workmen are not much exposed to the fumes ; 

 but the dippers, who, when at work, stand over a heated 

 "stone" or plate coated with the composition, are 

 especially liable to be attacked. It does not seem to be 

 ■certainly established how the necrosis is actually brought 

 about. There is no doubt, however, that workers with 

 carious teeth are soonest affected. Phosphorus as such 

 would appear to have little action ; indeed, it is highly 

 improbable that the so-called "fume" can contain any 

 sensible quantity of the free element, and it has been 

 :surmised with good reason that it consists of the lower 

 oxides of phosphorus, and in particular of phosphorus 

 oxide, which, as shown by Thorpe and Tutton, is actually 

 more volatile than phosphorus itself. In "boxing" it 

 frequently happens that numbers of the matches ignite, 

 and the air of the boxing-factory is occasionally charged 

 with a considerable amount of these oxides of phosphorus, 

 mixed with phosphoric oxide. The evil effect of these 

 fumes may be minimised by efficient ventilation, and by 

 ■cleanliness on the part of the operatives, combined with 

 strict attention to the condition of the teeth. Whether, 

 however, it can be altogether obviated by such measures 

 remains to be seen. 



The discovery of red phosphorus, in 1845, by Schrotter, 

 ■of Vienna, led to many attempts to employ it in place of 

 the more volatile and more inflammable variety. Red, or, 

 as it sometimes is erroneously called, amorphous phos- 

 phorus, is a micro-crystalline powder of properties very 

 •dissimilar to those of ordinary or yellow phosphorus. It 

 ^ can be handled with impunity, is practically non-volatile, 

 •does not oxidise at ordinary temperatures, and therefore 

 ■emits no "fume." It is, moreover, non-poisonous, and 

 «o cases of necrosis have been known to attend its use. 

 Inasmuch as it confers ready inflammability upon the 

 igniting compositions with which splints may be tipped, 

 its general employment might, it was thought, obviate 

 all risk of the "lucifer disease." Igniting compositions 

 containing red phosphorus were first tried in Germany 

 in 1850, and about the same time in this country by 

 Dixon and Co., of Manchester, and by Bell and Black 

 •in London, but they were not altogether successful. The 

 matches were difficult to strike, and the ignition was 

 almost explosive in character. 



These disadvantages are not by any means insuper- 

 able ; excellent matches of the kind were seen in the 

 Paris Exhibition of 1867, and again in the Vienna 

 Exhibition of 1873. Hochstetter, of Frankfort, manu- 

 factures matches containing red phosphorus, which are 

 said to be cheaper than ordinary matches ; they burn 

 •quietly, and may be ignited even on a cloth surface. 



The "safety" matches which, in this country, are 

 usually associated with the names of Bryant and May, 

 ■were originally suggested by the late Prof. Bottger, and 

 ■were first made by Lundstrom, of Jonkoping, in 1855. 

 In this match the splint, according to Lundstrom's 

 original patent, was dipped in a composition consisting 

 •of antimony sulphide, potassium chlorate and glue, and 

 was ignited by rubbing against a specially prepared 

 isurface consisting of a mixture of red phosphorus, 

 •antimony sulphide and glue. Other varieties of the 

 same kind of match contain in addition potassium 

 bichromate, ferric oxide, minium, or manganese oxide. 

 The amount of the red phosphorus needed to ignite 

 these matches is extremely small, less than one five- 

 thousandth of a grain being, it is said, sufficient. In 

 fact it is possible to inflame many of them without any 

 NO. 1502, VOL. 58] 



phosphorus at all, especially when they are rubbed 

 against a smooth surface such as that of glass or paper. 

 These facts make it hopeful that before very long the 

 dreaded lucifer disease may be a thing of the past. 

 There is, indeed, no longer any valid reason why it 

 should be allowed to exist. Yellow phosphorus is not 

 essential to the manufacture of a lucifer match. If 

 phosphorus in any form is required, it need only be 

 in the form of the innocuous red variety— even for a 

 " strike anywhere" match. Red phosphorus matches 

 are rapidly gaining ground all over the Continent, and 

 the day will probably come when this country will range 

 itself with Denmark and Switzerland, and prohibit the 

 use of all matches containing ordinary phosphorus. 



GERMAN DEEP-SEA EXPEDITION IN THE 



STEAMSHIP " VALDIVIA:' 

 'X*HIS expedition was planned by Prof. Chun, 01 

 -*- Leipzig, and was originally intended to be exclu- 

 sively zoological, but, on the representation of Prof. 

 Ratzel, physical and chemical researches were included 

 in the programme. During last winter the German 

 Parliament voted a sum of 300,000 marks to cover the 

 expenses of the expedition, and further sums will prob- 

 ably be voted for the same purpose, and for the pub- 

 lication of the results. 



The steamship Valdivia was some time ago chartered 

 from the Hamburg-American Line, and has been fitted 

 up with bacteriological, chemical, and biological labora- 

 tories, as well as with instruments for sounding, taking 

 temperatures and samples of deep-sea waters, and for 

 dredging, trawling, and the working of plankton nets at 

 various depths. The Valdivia is a ship of 2600 tons 

 gross, has a length of 320 feet, a width of 43 feet, and an 

 indicated power of 1250 horses. She is thus as large as, 

 if not larger than, H.M.S. Challenger. Captain Krech, a 

 well-known commander of the Hamburg-American Line, 

 has been selected to take command of the expedition, 

 with eight officers and engineers and thirty-five of a 

 crew ; most of the officers have previously served under 

 Captain Krech. The Valdivia steams from ten to eleven 

 knots, and at the outset of the expedition had on board 

 2400 tons of coal, consisting chiefly of briquettes. 



The laboratories and workrooms on board the Valdivia 

 are more commodious and better fitted up with apparatus 

 for scientific investigation than in any previous expedition 

 of the kind, and the same may be said with respect to 

 the various deck appliances for carrying on the deep-sea 

 observations. Besides there is almost a superabundance 

 of room for the storage of all the specimens that may be 

 collected either at sea or on land. The cabins of the 

 scientific staff are handsome and roomy, and the large 

 cabin is supplied with a most magnificent scientific 

 library, including a complete set of the Reports on the 

 Scientific Results of the Challenger Expedition. Ac- 

 cording to arrangement, the ship is to be provisioned, 

 and all the other expenses of the expedition are to be 

 defrayed by the Company for the sum of 340,000 

 marks. The table of the scientific staff and officers is to 

 be supplied with wine at cost price. The members of 

 the scientific staff receive eight marks each per day from 

 Government, and their lives are insured for 30,000 marks 

 each in case of death. 



The scientific staff of the expedition is as follows : — 

 Official Members. 



(i) Prof. Carl Chun (Leipzig), Leader. 



(2) Prof. Schimper (Bonn a/Rh.), Botanist. 



(3) Dr. Apstein (Kiel), Zoologist. 



(4) Dr. Vanhoffen (Kiel), Zoologist. 



(5) Dr. Braem (Breslau), Zoologist. 



(6) Dr. G. Schott (Hamburg Seewarte), Oceanographer, 



(7) Dr. P. Schmidt (Leipzig), Chemist. 



(8) Officer Sachse (Hamb.-Amer. Line), Navigator. 



(9) Dr. Bachmann (Breslau), Physician and Bacteriologist. 



