5 60 NITRO-GLYCERINE. 



explosion of a particulai' body by their detonation, and lie suggests 

 in explanation that " as a particular musical vibration -will establish 

 synchronous vibrations in particular bodies while it will not effect 

 others, and as a chemical change may be v/rought in a body by its 

 interception of only particular waves of light, so, certain explosions 

 may exert a disturbing influence over the chemical equilibrium of' 

 certain bodies, resulting in their sudden disintegration, which other 

 kinds of explosions, though developing greater mechanical force, are 

 powerless to exercise." 



Quite recently, M. L. L'Hote * investigated the gaseous products 

 of the explosion of nitro-glycerine. For this purpose he introduced 

 into Guy Lussac's eudiometer ten cubic centimetres of detonating 

 gas from the voltameter, and about six centigrammes of nitro- 

 glycerine. He anticipated that on firing the gaseous mixture, its 

 detonation would explode the nitro-glycerine. His expectations 

 proved to be well founded. On passing an electric spark through 

 the gases, the nitro-glycerine did explode, and reduced the eudio- 

 meter to powder. M. L'Hote then repeated his experiment in one of 

 Mitscherlich's eudiometers, with ten cubic centimetres of detonating 

 gas, and from five to six milligrammes of nitro-glycerine enclosed in 

 little beads of glass. With these quantities the eudiometer was able 

 to stand the shock of the explosion, and M. L'Hote was able to 

 examine the resulting gases. A number of experiments gave the 

 following as the composition of the gaseous products of the explosion 

 of nitro-glycei'ine, calculated for one gramme and reduced to 0° C 

 and 760™"^ barometer. 



One gramme of nitro-glycerine yields 284" gas, consisting of 



COj 45.72 % 

 NO 20.36 

 N 33.92 



100.00 

 The force with which nitro-glyceriiie explodes is very great. Th.e 

 explosive force of any compound depends upon two things, the 

 volume of gas produced and the quantity of heat disengaged. The 

 product of these two factors may be taken as a measure of the 

 explosive force. M. Berthelotf has compared a number of explosives 

 with regard to these two points, and has shewn that the explosive 



* Comptes Reud., Ixxiii, 1013. f Moniteur Scientiflque, siii, 40. 



