EMPLOYMENT  OF  NITROGLYCERINE  IN  QUARRIES  523 
Post-mortem  examinations  revealed  changes  similar  to  those 
observed  by  the  author  when  iodate  of  potash  was  administered, 
especially  in  the  liver  and  intestines,  but  it  is  necessary  to  make 
a  series  of  comparative  experiments  with  the  iodate,  free  iodine, 
and  mixtures  of  the  two  salts. 
The  author  has  shown  in  previous  memoirs  that  the  iodate  of 
potash  acts  as  a  poison.  This  salt,  given  in  doses  of  one  or  two 
grammes  daily,  will  kill  a  small  dog  in  a  few  days.  A  mixture 
of  the  two  salts  cannot  be  so  active  as  the  iodate,  since  both  un- 
changed iodide  and  chlorate  may  be  found  in  the  urine.  The 
author  is  therefore  brought  to  the  conclusion  that  the  mutual 
action  of  the  two  salts  in  the  economy  takes  place  with  the  great- 
est facility.  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  acids  of  the  stomach 
and  the  electrolytic  actions  which  take  place  in  the  organism 
play  an  important  part  in  bringing  about  this  decomposition. 
But  beyond  all  hypothesis  it  is  necessary  to  admit  that  changes 
take  place  in  the  animal  system  which  cannot  be  realized  in  the 
laboratory  under  ordinary  conditions,  or  with  the  assistance  of  a 
high  temperature,  strong  acids,  or  even  the  electric  current. — 
Lond.  Chem.  News,  August  17,  1866,  from  Bulletin  de  la  Soc. 
Chim.  de  Paris,  July,  1866.  Abstract  from  the  Bull,  de  V Acad. 
Boy  ale  de  Belgique,  1866. 
ON  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  NITROGLYCERINE  IN  QUAR- 
RIES. 
By  M.  E.  Kopp. 
The  explosive  properties  of  nitroglycerine  C6H5(N04)306,  and 
the  accounts  of  experiments  made  with  it  in  different  parts  of 
Sweden,  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  determined  MM.  Schmitt 
and  Dietsch,  the  proprietors  of  the  great  quarries  of  sandstone 
in  the  valley  of  Zorn,  Lower  Rhine,  to  try  to  use  it  in  their 
works. 
The  trial  proved  so  successful,  both  as  regards  economy  and 
the  ease  and  rapidity  with  which  the  work  was  performed,  that, 
for  the  time  at  least,  they  have  abandoned  the  use  of  powder, 
and  the  quarries  have  been  entirely  worked  by  nitroglycerine  for 
six  weeks. 
