114 Protection of Persons fro7n Fire. 



tinue more than a few moments, from the activity which the fireman 

 must necessarily exert, 



JS''ote to Chap. VII. — In this note, the author states his belief that 

 amianthus (which he is aware may in most places be too scarce and 

 dear) is not indispensable to the preparation of good armor. Wool 

 rendered difficult of combustion by a chemical preparation, may be 

 used as a substitute. In this case, white stuff or blankets are prefer- 

 able, as being wo/se conductors than stuff dyed by some conducting 

 material. At Paris, the men equipped in dresses of prepared wool, 

 resisted the fire as well as those in amianthus. It is possible that in 

 time the metallic gauze may be dispensed with, but the author thinks 

 that until some further discoveries are made, an external covering of 

 this material will remain highly important in extensive fires. Its 

 properties are imchangeable and well known. Prepared woollen 

 stuffs have not been very long tried. In Italy they have been used 

 for two years, without any sensible deterioration. They must be 

 carefully preserved from moisture, which would cause the wool to 

 rot, and the iron to rust. 



It is important that the dress be made as much as possible of one 

 piece, for the heat penetrates at every crevice. The form given in 

 the plates is that which has been found best. 



The Appendix contains four official Reports on the plans of the 

 Chevalier Aldini, for the preservation of the body from flame. 



Theirs?; is that of Professsor Maurice on the experiments made 

 at Geneva. A summary of these experiments was given in our last 

 volume, page 177. They v;ere very similar to those performed in 

 Italy, and already described in Chap. IX. 



The second is a report made to the Academy of Sciences at Paris 

 by Gay-Lussac. The experiments here detailed, were chiefly a 

 repetition of those before described. One of the firemen carried a 

 child eight years old in an osier basket covered exteriorly with a me= 

 tallic tissue, while the child had only a mask of incombustible stuff. 

 The spectators witnessed this experiment with fright, but the result 

 was very satisfactory. 



The reporter states that M. D'Arcet and himself had proved, by 

 a great number of experiments, that whenever an oven sufficiently 

 heated emits smoke or flame, the air within this oven is entirely de- 

 prived of oxygen. It is therefore certain, he adds, that in flame, even 



