INFLAMMATION. 
article PaTHOLOCY.—I f that bright Fpot flay in his place, 
jt is an inflammation of the burning. Lev. xiii. 8.—Fervour 
of mind.—Prayer kindleth our defire to behold God by 
Speculation, and the mind, delighted with that contem¬ 
plative fight of God, taketh every where new inflamma¬ 
tions to pray the riches of the myfteries of heavenly wif- 
dorri, continually ftirring up in us correfpondent defires 
towards them. Hooker. 
The properties and phenomena of inflammable bodies 
have been already explained under the word Combus¬ 
tion, vol. iv. and in the article Chemistry, in the fame 
Volume. But fome fubftances, and even the human body, 
are liable to enflame under circumftances which remain 
to be noticed. The fpontaneous inflammation of efl'en- 
tial oils, and that of fome fat oils, when mixed with ni¬ 
trous acid, are well known to philofophers ; fo alfo is that 
of powdered charcoal with the fame acid, (lately difeo- 
vered by M. Prouft,) and thofe of phofphorus, of pyro- 
phorus, and of fulminating gold. Thefe fubftances are ge¬ 
nerally to be found only in the laboratories of chemifts, who 
are perfectly well acquainted with the precautions which 
it is neceflary to take to prevent the unhappy accidents 
which may be occafioned by them. But there are other 
fubftances which occafionally burft into flame in a man¬ 
ner that has appeared extremely myfterious, whence un- 
juft fufpicions have been entertained, and very great da- 
; *mage has enfued. Some of the moft remarkable of thefe 
accidents we fhall here detail, by way of inltruftion and 
warning. * 
The burning of a ftore-houfe of fails, which happened 
•at Brett in the year 1757, was caufed by the fpontaneous 
inflammation of fome oiled cloths, which, after having 
been painted on one fide, 2nd dried in the fun, were 
. flowed away while yet warm; as was fliown by fubfe- 
■quent experiments. Mem. dc V Acad, de Paris, 1760. 
• Vegetables boiled in oil or fat, and left to themfelves, 
after having been prefled, inflame in the open air. This 
inflammation always takes place when the vegetable re¬ 
tain a certain degree of humidity; if they are firlt tho¬ 
roughly dried, they are reduced to afhes, without the ap¬ 
pearance of flame. We owe the obfervation of thefe 
facts to MM. Saladin and Carette. Journal de Phyfique , 
3784. • 
The heaps of linen rags which are thrown together in 
paper-manufadtories, the preparation of which is haftened 
by means of fermentation, often take fire, if not carefully 
-attended to. 
The fpontaneous inflammation of hay has been known 
for many centuries; by its means houfes, barns, &c. have 
been often reduced to afhes. When the hay is laid up 
damp, the inflammation often happens ; for the fermen¬ 
tation is then very great. This accident very feldom oc¬ 
curs to the firft hay (according to the obfervation of M. 
de Bomare), but is much more common to the fecond ; 
and if, through inattention, a piece of iron fhould be left 
in a ftalkof hay in fermentation, the inflammation of that 
ftalk is almoft a certain confequence. Corn heaped up 
has alfo fometimes produced inflammations of this nature. 
Dung alfo, under certain circumftances, inflames fponta- 
-neoully. 
In a paper, publifhed in the Repertory of Arts and Ma- 
nufaftures, by the Rev. William Tooke, F. R. S. Sec. we 
have the following remarkable inftances of fpontaneous 
inflammation. “ A perfon of the name of Riide, an apo¬ 
thecary at Bautzen, had prepared a pyrophorus from rye- 
•bran and alum. Not long after he had made the difeo- 
very, there broke out, in the next village of Nauflitz, a 
great fire, which did much mifehief, and was faid to have 
been occafioned by the treating of a lick cow in the cow- 
houfe. Mr. Riide knew, that the countrymen were ufed 
to lay an application of parched rye-bran to their cattle 
for curing the thick neck ; he knew alfo, that alum and 
rye-bran, by a proper procefs, yielded a pyrophorus; and 
mow he wilhed to try whether parched rye-bran alone 
^vould have the fame efFeft. Accordingly, he roafted a 
Vot. XI. No, 731. 
sr 
quantity of rve-bran by the fire, till it had acquired the 
colour of roafted coffee. This roafted bran he wrapped 
up in a linen cloth ; in the fpace of a few minutes there 
arofe a ftrong fmoke through the cloth, accompanied by 
a finell of burning. Not long afterwards the rag grew a’a 
black as tinder, and the bran, now become hot,fell through 
it on the ground in little balls. Mr. Kiide repeated the 
experiment at various times, and always with the fame re- 
fult. Who now will any longer doubt, that the frequency 
of fires in cow-houfes, which in thofe parts are tnoftiy 
wooden buildings, may not be occafioned by this common 
practice, of binding roafted bran about the necks of the 
cattle? The fire, after confuming the- cattleand the feed, 
communicates itfelf to the adjoining buildings ; great da¬ 
mage enfues ; and the ignorant look for the caufe in wilful 
and malicious firing, confequently in a capital crime,” 
- The lame author informs us, that, in the fpring of the 
year 1780, a fire was difeovered on-board a Ruffian frigate 
lying in the road of Cronftadt ; which, if it had not been 
timely extinguilhed, would have endangered the whole 
fleet. After the levereft ferutiny, no caufe of the fire was 
to he found ; and the matter was forced to remain with', 
out explanation, but with ftrong furmifes of fome wicked, 
incendiary being at the bottom of it. In the month of' 
Auguft, in the. fame year, a fire broke out at the hemp- 
magazine at St. Peterfburg, by which feveral hundred 
thoufand pounds of hemp and flax were conl'umed. The 
walls of the magazine are of brick, the floors of ftone, 
and the rafters and covering of iron ; it Hands- alone on. 
an illand in the Neva, on which, as well as on-board the 
Ihips lying in the Neva, no fire is permitted. In St. Pe- 
terfburgh, in the fame year, a fire was difeovered in the 
vaulted Ihop of a furrier. In thefe Ihops, which are all 
vaults, neither fire nor candle is allowed, and the doors 
of them are all of iron. At length the probable caulb 
was found to be, that the furrier, the evening before the 
fire, had got a roll of new cere-cloth, (much in ufe here 
for covering tables, counters, &c. being eafily wiped and 
kept clean,) and had left it in his vault, where it was 
■almoft confumed. 
In the night between the 20th and 21ft of April, 1781, 
a fire was l'een on-board the frigate Maria, which lay at 
anchor, with feveral other fhips, in the road off the ifland 
of Cronftadt; the fire was, however, foon extinguilhed ; 
and, by the levereft examination, little or nothing could 
be extorted concerning the manner in which it had ariferf. 
The garrifon was threatened with a ferutiny that fhould 
coft them dear; hut, while they were in this cruel ftate of 
fufpence, an order came from the fovereign, which-quiet¬ 
ed their minds, and gave rife to fome very fatisfafWy ex¬ 
periments. It having been found, upon juridical exami¬ 
nation, as well as private inquiry, that in the fliip’s cabin, 
when the fmoke appeared, there lay a bundle of matting-, 
containing Ruffian lamp-black prepared from fir-loot, 
moiftened with hemp-oil varnifh, which was perceived to 
have fparks of fire in it at the time of the extinction, the 
Ruffian admiralty gave orders, to make various experi¬ 
ments, in order to fee whether a mixture of hemp-oil var¬ 
nifh and the forementioned Ruffian black', folded up in a 
mat and bound together, would kindle of itfelf. They 
fliook forty pounds of fir-wood foot into a tub, and poured 
about thirty-five pounds of Jiemp-oil varnifh upon it; 
this they let Hand for an hour, after which they poured 
off the oil. The remaining mixture they now wrapped 
up in a mat, and the bundle was laid dole to the cabin, 
where the midfhipmen had their birth. To avoid all fuf- 
picion of treachery, two officers fealed both the mat and 
the door with their own feals, and ftationed a watch of 
four fea-ofticers, to take notice of all that parted the whole 
night through; and, as foon as any fmoke fhould appear, 
immediately to give information to the commandant of 
the port. The experiment was made on the 26th of April, 
about eleven o’clock A. M. in prefence of all the officers 
named in the commifiion. Early on the following day, 
about fix o’clock A.M. a fmoke appeared, of which the 
3 * chief 
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