20S 



NATURE 



[July 2, 1896 



|)er cent, of the whole, were killed by after-ilamp, the remainder 

 being killed instantaneously by violence. In nearly every case 

 of death from after-damp, the parts of the skin or mucous 

 membrane through which the colour of the blood could be 

 observed, had a red or pink colour, instead of being leaden-blue or 

 pale, as is the case in death from any other cause. This redden- 

 ing, as .seen in the face, hands, &c., often gave the bodies an 

 extraordinary appearance of life. There seemed to be only one 

 cause which could account for the carmine red colour of the 

 blood, namely, the presence of carbon monoxide. To make 

 certain. Dr. Haldane examined the blood from two of the bodies 

 on the spot, by means of a spectroscope, and he found that not 

 only was carbon monoxide present, but that the ha>moglobin 

 was nearly saturated with it. A quantitative determination 

 proved that in both bodies the hrenioglobin was 79 per cent, 

 saturated. This result is of special interest, as it shows, for the 

 first time, the percentage .saturation of the blood at the moment 

 of death from carbon monoxide poi.soning. 



The recognition of carbon monoxide in the air of mines is, 

 as Dr. Haldane points out, a matter of much practical import- 

 ance, and many lives have been lost through ignorance of the 

 fact that the lamps, to which miners trust for the recognition 

 of other gases, give no direct indication of carbon monoxide. A 

 simple test, which there is every reason to think might be succes.s- 

 fully introduced, is suggested : it is to observe the symptoms of a 

 mouse or other equally small warm-blooded animal, when 

 exposed to the doubtful atmosphere. In small animals the rate 

 at which the blood becomes saturated with carbon monoxide is 

 far more rapid than in man ; hence a small animal, such as a 

 mouse, shows the effects of the gas far more rapidly than a man. 

 Practically speaking, the condition of a mouse which has been 

 for a very short time in a poisonous percentage of carbon 

 monoxide, indicates what will be the condition of a man carry- 

 ing it after a much more prolonged stay in the same atmosphere. 

 With a man at rest it takes about twenty times as long for the 

 man as for the mouse to be distinctly affected by the gas. Dr. 

 Haldane's experiments show distinctly how valuable the indica- 

 tions given by a mouse, or other small animal, would be to men 

 exposed to danger from after-damp. It is therefore suggested 

 that a few white mice might easily be kept for this purpose in 

 the engine-room at the top of the downcast shaft, and be taken 

 down in small cages by the rescue party. 



Another point to which attention may briefly be directed is 

 the colour-test described by Dr. Haldane for use in post-mortem 

 examinations as a criterion for carbon monoxide poisoning. A 

 drop of the blood of the subject is diluted with about 100 times 

 its volume of water, and is compared with a solution of normal 

 blood, and with a similar solution saturated with coal-gas. 

 According to the jiercentage saturation of the sam[)le of blood 

 under examination, the tint of the first solution will approach to 

 that of the normal blood, or of the blood saturated with coal-gas 

 (that is, with carbon monoxide), and a rough estimate may be 

 made of the percentage saturations. The test is said to be more 

 delicate than that with the spectroscope. 



INDIVIDUALITY IN THE MINERAL 

 KINGDOM} 

 TT might be expected of a new Professor that in his inaugural 

 address he should avail himself of the ])ossibly unique 

 opportunity of an audience, and should give some account of 

 his science and of the manner in which he proposes to teach it. 

 In that case he would doubtless claim for his own subject that 

 it is the most fascinating and the most important of all branches of 

 human knowledge ; he would doubtless, also, proceed to prove, to 

 his own satisfaction, that it should be a necessary feature in any 

 system of educalitm. 



It is well known that every specialist has an exaggerated view 

 of the importance of his own subject ; a view which is no doubt 

 largely due to his ignorance of all others. I am deeply con- 

 scious of sharing this failing, and therefore do not propose to 

 give any laboured account of mineralogical science ; instead of 

 stating exactly what in my opinion should be taught in this 

 university, I will rather state presently what I think should not 

 be taught ; instead of attempting to prove that mineralogy 

 possesses a true educational value, I will assume that this may 

 be accepted without further argument from the very fact that it 

 is recognised by the University. 



i An inaugural lecture delivered at the University Museum, 0,\ford, 

 by Henry A. Miers, F.R.S., VVaynflete Professor of Mineralogy. 



NO. 1392, VOL. 54] 



Perhaps none of the sciences is more of a special subject than 

 mineralogy, in this sense— that it is familiar to few besides those 

 who have made it their particular study ; for this reason I may 

 be pardoned if I assume total ignorance on the part of my 

 hearers, and begin by removing a confusion which may possibly 

 exist in the minds of many. 



Mineralogy is not crystallography. Mineralogy is the study 

 of minerals in all their relations, and from every point of view ; 

 it is a branch of natural history ; the study of one class of 

 natural objects, namely, all the inorganic parts of the earth, 

 which we are accustomed to class together as the .Mineral 

 Kingdom. Crystallography, on the other hand, is a distinct 

 science, and is the study of matter in the crystalline state, not 

 being by any means confined to minerals ; it is, like physics, or 

 chemistry, or geology, one of the sciences whose aid is invoked 

 in the study of minerals. 



Since, however, the finest and most interesting examples of 

 crystals have been found in the mineral kingdom, this study 

 has been, by common consent, annexed by the mineralogist, 

 and instruction in crystallography has been left entirely to him. 

 The result has been in some ways disastrous ; crystallography 

 is in reality as essential to the student of chemistry or of physics 

 as it is to the mineralogist, and yet remains in general a sealed 

 book to them. They have been reluctant to go to the mineral- 

 ogist for inforiTiation, and consequently they have failed to make 

 the acquaintance of crystallography. In this connection I may 

 quote the forcible words of Mr. Lazarus Fletcher : " It seems 

 obvious," he says in an address delivered a few years ago, "that 

 in a satisfactory system of education every chemist should be 

 taught how to measure and describe the crystalline characters of 

 the products which it is his fate to call into existence. A know- 

 ledge of the elements of crystallography, including the mechanics 

 of cr)stal-measurement, ought to be made a sine i/iui iwii for a 

 degree in chemistry at every university." 



To this I would add that cry.stallography is not merely a 

 matter of theoretical interest to the chemist, but is absolutely 

 essential for the practical determination and description of any 

 compound. It will scarcely be believed that there is only one 

 teaching institution in the British Isles where crystallography 

 forms a necessary- part of the chemical student's course, namely 

 the Central Technical College in London, where I was invited 

 some years ago by Prof. Armstrong to foimd a class in the sub- 

 ject, and where excellent work is now being done by Mr. Pope. 

 That it is found necessary to insist upon this study in a 

 technical college of all places in the world is surely a remarkable 

 confession that this, like every pure science, is far from beitK; 

 devoid of practical application. 



If we turn now to mineralogy proper, the practical value ol 

 this science is obvious without any explanation. 



In mining and metallurgy we have subjects of vast commercial 

 importance in which a knowledge of scientific mineralogy is 

 most desirable. 



In particular it would be a great advantage to this coimtry if 

 all who are sent out to hold official positions in new or distant 

 lands, could receive some previous instruction in the study of 

 minerals which are of economic importance. We shoukl 

 not then hear of ruby coinpanies formed through sheer ignorance 

 to exploit what subsequently proved to be red garnets, neither 

 would valuable ore deposits be overlooked for years simply 

 because no one among the early settlers was familiar with the 

 aspect of the common metallic minerals. I have no doubt that a 

 course of lectures upon the detection of gold, silver, and precious 

 stones, would prove attractive even in Oxford in these days of 

 mining adventure and speculation, and I would not deny that 

 they might be of some service to those whose future work lies 

 in India or the colonies, or to tho.se who travel in little-known 

 regions. But I feel very strongly that our business here is with 

 general education, and that the later the date in any educational 

 system to which extreme specialisation or technical training can 

 be postponed the better it will be for the student. 



For this reason mining and metallurgy, which belong to 

 technical education, have in my opinion no more place in such a 

 university as this than any other branch of industrial or applied 

 science. We do not seek here in the matter of practical 

 engineering to compete with the great engineering worksho)*, 

 or in the matter of clinical in.struction with the great London 

 hospitals ; and in the same way, we should no more expect or 

 desire to compete here with mining or metallurgical schools than 

 to teach the jeweller's art. 



A university can best serve the cause of technical education 



