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ORIGINAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
FATAL EXPLOSION OF NITRO-GLYCERINE AT NEWCASTLE. 
Our readers will have learnt from the newspapers the circumstances attending 
the melancholy death of a valued member of our Society, Mr. Mawson, of New¬ 
castle, and six other persons, from injuries caused by the explosion of nitro¬ 
glycerine. 
This dangerous substance has been extensively used for several years past as 
a substitute for gunpowder in mining operations. It was discovered by Sobrero, 
in 1847, and is produced by a similar process to that by which gun-cotton is 
made, glycerine being substituted for cotton. It attracted comparatively little 
attention for several years after its discovery, but was more prominently 
brought into notice by Dr. de Vry, of Rotterdam, by whom a specimen of it 
was exhibited and described at a meeting of the British Association in 1851. 
Some discussion afterwards arose with reference to its therapeutical action. By 
some it was considered to be poisonous, but this was denied by others. In some 
cases it has caused entire loss of consciousness, and other alarming symptoms 
of narcotic poisoning, when administered to the extent of not more than the 
fortieth of a grain ; while in other cases two or three grains have been given 
with little or no effect. As an explosive agent its power has never been ques¬ 
tioned. It is said to be about ten times more powerful than gunpowder, and this 
has led to its use in blasting rocks. It is generally exploded by percussion ; and 
when used in mining it is poured into a hole in the rock, and exploded by 
means of a fuse charged at its end with some detonating powder, by which the 
required concussion is produced. It is said that it also explodes when heated in 
a close vessel to about 360° F.; but it is a remarkable fact, that if a flame or a 
red-hot iron be applied to it, it ignites and burns quietly. It is made by adding 
glycerine, in small quantities at a time, to a cold mixture of equal measures of 
the strongest nitric and sulphuric acids. The solution which is thus formed is 
afterwards poured in a thin stream into a large quantity of water, when the 
nitro-glycerine separates in the form of a dense oily substance, having a specific 
gravity of about L6. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in ether and alcohol. 
For some years past it has been made on a large scale by Mr. Nobel, of Ham¬ 
burg, and sold under the name of Nobel’s Patent Blasting Oil. It was some of 
this oil, which is sometimes called Glonoine oil, or Glonoine, that caused the 
accident at Newcastle. It appears that several months ago, thirty canisters 
filled with this oil were deposited in a shed at the back of a public-house near 
the Branch Bank of England in Newcastle, no intimation being given of the 
dangerous nature of the substance, and, consequently, no precautions being 
adopted with reference to it. Part of it was disposed of and removed, but nine 
of the canisters still remained, when the police discovered what it really was, 
and the authorities ordered it to be immediately taken to some place of safety 
or destroyed. Nobody could be found willing to receive it, nor would the rail¬ 
way officials undertake its conveyance. Mr. Mawson, being sheriff of the 
town, was engaged with Mr. Bryson, the town surveyor, in superintending its 
removal to an open space outside the town, where it was poured into some 
open pits or crevices in the ground, when the explosion occurred. 
About two years ago a still more fatal accident occurred at Colon, where a 
quantity of Nobel’s oil, which had been sent by steamer from Liverpool, was 
being unshipped on its way to California. On that occasion the ship, the wharf, 
many of the houses of the town, and the lives of more than forty persons, were 
destroyed. 
A law was afterwards passed iu this country placing certain restrictions upon 
