100 On Spontaneous Inflammations . 
the mat and the door with their own seals, and stationed 
a watch, of four sea-officers, to take notice of all that 
passed the whole night through ; and, as soon as any 
smoke should appear, immediately to give information to 
the commandant of the port. 
The experiment was made the 26th of April, about 11- 
o’elock A. M. in presence of all the officers named in the 
commission. Early on the following day, about 6 o 9 elock 
A. M. a smoke appeared, of which the chief command- 
ant was immediately informed by an officer ; he came 
with all possible speed, and, through a small hole in the 
door, saw the mat smoking. Without opening the door, 
lie dispatched a messenger to the members of the com- 
mission ; but, as the smoke became stronger, and fire 
began to appear, the chief commandant found it necessa- 
ry, without waiting for the members of the commission, to 
break the seals and open the door. No sooner was the 
air thus admitted, than the mat began to burn with great- 
er force, and presently it burst into a flame. 
The Russian Admiralty, being now fully convinced of 
the self-enkindling property of this composition, trans- 
mitted their experiment to the Imperial Academy of Sci- 
ences ; who appointed my friend Mr. Greorgi, a very 
learned and able adjunct of the Academy," to make -far- 
ther experiments on the subject, and to him I f in chiefly 
indebted for this account ; though, being myself at the 
time upon a visit to some of my old parishioners at Cron- 
stadt, I made myself acquainted with many of the cir- 
cumstances on the spot. 
The experiments of this ingenious chemist are of great 
importance, as they form a valuable addition to our know- 
ledge on the subject ; and are very remarkable from the 
occasion that led to these discoveries. 
Previous to the relation of the experiments, it is neces- 
sary to observe, that the Russian fir-black is three or four 
