82 EXPLOSION BY INFLUENCE. 



less easy to explain ; the shock produced by the former body 

 being more sudden by reason of the absence of all dissociation of 

 the product, which is no other than carbonic oxide ; this absence 

 should be opposed to the dissociation of carbonic acid which is 

 produced in the second case. Probably also the formation of 

 potassium chloride disseminated in the gases produced with the 

 aid of potassium chlorate serves to attenuate the shock, like the 

 silica in dynamite. 



11. All the effects observed with nitrogen iodide are explained 

 by the vibration of the supports, and by the effects of the 

 resulting friction, this substance being eminently susceptible to 

 friction. 



12. The experiment with the conjugate mirrors is accounted 

 for quite as fairly by the concentration of movements of the 

 air in the focus, and consequently by the mechanical effects 

 resulting therefrom. 



13. Lambert has further shown in experiments carried out on 

 behalf of the Commission des substances explosives that in the case 

 of the explosion of dynamite cartridges when produced in cast- 

 iron tubes of large diameter, there did not appear to be any 

 difference as far as regards detonations caused by influence 

 between the nodal and internodal parts of the tube. 



14. Being anxious to clear up the question altogether, by 

 eliminating the influence of the supports and the diversity of 

 cohesion and of the physical structure of solid explosive sub- 

 stances, the author has undertaken special tests on the chemical 

 stability of matter in sonorous vibration. A summary of the 

 result will now be given. 



3. CHEMICAL STABILITY OF MATTER IN SONOROUS VIBRATION. 



1. A large number of chemical transformations are now 

 attributed to the energy of ethereal matter, animated by these 

 vibratory and other movements which produce calorific, luminous, 

 and electric phenomena. This energy, when communicated to 

 ponderable matter, produces therein decompositions and combi- 

 nations. Is it the same with the ordinary vibrations of ponder- 

 able matter that is to say, with sonorous vibrations which are 

 transmitted according to the laws of acoustics ? The question 

 is a very interesting one, and touches especially on the study of 

 explosive substances. 



The ingenious experiments above recorded have been published 

 by Noble and Abel, as well as by Champion and Pellett, and 

 many authorities admit that explosive bodies may detonate 

 under the influence of certain musical notes, which would 

 cause them to vibrate in unison. However seductive the theory 

 may be, the results obtained so far do not, however, establish it 

 beyond dispute. Explosions of dynamite and gun-cotton by 



