No. 6. 



Spontaneniis Combvation. 



177 



was stated of one thousand two hundred chal- 

 drons of co;il " in a close compact nKi^i-azine" 

 in Riris, and a fifth of one thousand six hun- 

 dred tt/ns of tlie same article in the royal 

 ship-yard in ('openhaii-en, and all consumed, 

 together with one thousand tour hundred 

 houses. This happened in the year 1794.* 



Bituminous coal has on other occasions 

 tiken tire. In the year 1622, October and 

 November, three cases occurred of this in the 

 navy yards of Brooklyn, New Yorlc, Ports- 

 mouth, New Hampshire, and VVashin<)ton 

 city. The coal was from Virginia, and lay 

 exposed to the air and rain. 



In the year l'S2>*, one hundred chaldrons 

 of coal which had been placet! several weeks 

 before on wet ijround in Boston, took tire, 

 with a volume of sulphurous matter risinir in a 

 state of ebullition. It wa^ remarked that this 

 was the third instance of the kind within the 

 past year in that city. 



Another case was mentioned in the news- 

 papers as having taken place in Ridgley's 

 coal yard, Baltimore, some years since, in the 

 month of August. This coal also was doubtless 

 from Virginia. A similar accident has re- 

 cently occurred in the coal yard of Nutter & 

 Co., New York, to sixty tons of Virginia coal. 

 (July, 18:37.) 



In the month of October, 1837, two thou- 

 sand bushtds of Richmond Coal whicli had 

 been deposited for some time under a shed 

 on Mr. Lawrence's wharf, in New London, 

 Conn., became ignited. The coal surrounded i 

 a post which supprjrted the front part of an, 

 open shed. Smoke was discovered issuing! 

 from the mass, and on the removal of the; 

 coal, the post was found charred. The time-; 

 ly discovery of the fire prevented the exten-' 

 sive conflagration of contiguous wooden; 

 buildings. j 



Mr. Dupf)nt, the late extensive manufac-; 

 turer of gunpowder, informed Dr. Seybert, 

 that charcoal was also liable to spontaneous, 

 combustion when in powder and piled in a 

 heap. He had suffered loss from this cause, 

 and a similar accident had occurred near! 

 Paris. I 



The commissioners charged by the French! 

 government to examine into the causes of | 

 the explosions of powder factories, ascer- i 

 tained that charcoal in the lump, by attrition 

 took fire. Charcoal inflames according to 

 JM. Cauesisrni, by the pressure of millstones, 

 and has taken fire in the box of the bolter, in-; 

 to which it had been sifted; the coarse pow-; 

 der experiencfd no alteration. — Annales de 

 Ckimic, No. 35. 



Mr. Sage saw the roof of one of the low 



wings of the mint at Paris set on fire by the 

 spontjincous combustion of a large quantity 

 of charcoal that had lain in the ijarrets. 



'i'wo instances of spontaneous coinbastion 

 t(K)k place in the powdur manufactory of Es- 

 sone, in the year eight and ten of ilu! French 

 republic; the first in the box for siftiivg the 

 charcoal, and the second in the clmrcotd re- 

 pository. Burtholdi attribute.: tlieni to phos- 

 phorus in the charcoal. 



May not one or mxjre of the conflagrations 

 of powder mills, which have taken place iii 

 the United States during the two pa.st years, 

 have been caused in tiiis way? 



Linen, cotton, and woollen cloth, or the raw 

 materials of these tiibrics impregnated with 

 tlax-seed oil, or paint, or varnish, have fre- 

 quently proved the causes of spontaneous 

 inflammation. 



Several years since a piece of canvass, 

 forty yards in length, painted with white lead 

 and oil, and exposed to the sun tor some 

 hours, was rolled up and put under cover. 

 The next morning it was found smoking, and 

 the whole except a yard, burnt to cinder, 

 with a hole through the bottmn of a watron. 

 This happened at Mount Pleasant, Virginia. 

 A large piece of coarse muslin, thoroughly 

 oiled fur the purpose of making covers tor 

 boxes, was left over night, llilded loosely in 

 a shed in a yard in Market street, Boston ; in 

 the morning, it was found burnt entirely 

 through, and about to blaze. (1831.) 



A quantity of wool prepared with the 

 usual proportion of oil for carding, and thrown 

 into a heap in the evening, was found the 

 next morning ignited, and the floor to a con- 

 siderable extent on fire. This happened at 

 Hamlin & Bates' factory; and anotiier in- 

 stance occurred at the establishment of War- 

 ner & W'hetton.'*- Lamp oil was used. (lN'31.) 

 A quantity of cotton clothing for seamen's 

 suits, had been oiled and hung up at Dux- 

 bury, Massachusetts, tor a fortnight to dry, 

 and were then taken down, rolled together, 

 and placed in a shed ; the next day they 

 were found on fire. (1831.) 



The Sclir. Hiram, laden with wool, when on 

 a voyage from Bilboa to New York, in March, 

 1825, was set on fire, in consequence of some 

 linseed oil having been spilt on the cabir 

 floor. 



Two pounds of wool orreased with flax-seed 

 oil, near Germantown, Pennsylvania, set fire 

 to the building next morninw. (1318 ) The 

 closet in which the paint and oil were kept at 

 Boshor's carriage factory, Kichmoml, Vir- 

 ginia, having been smeared with linseed oil, 

 burst out in a flame. (1832.) 



♦ Roth at Plainfielil, Mapsacliiisett?. .\nipli^ oxppri- 

 In my ailditions to the article " Inflammation." in I ence has tauyht lUiropuan iiianufarturers that tio oil 

 Wilich's DoniL'slic Encyc, I have given nine casei of 11 should be used for greasing wool, but that of rape 

 eponianeous combustion from various causes. seed. 



