Abstract
II. THERE is no doubt whatever that a very considerable proportion of the accidents which occur to persons using petroleum lamps are really traceable to the erroneous belief, which is still so very prevalent, in the explosive character of these liquids. The fact that they and their vapours are simply inflammable, and that the latter requires to be mixed with a large volume of air before their ignition can be accompanied by explosive effects, is so slowly realised, that in public prints petroleum is still often spoken of as an explosive substance. The popular belief in the explosiveness of these simply inflammable liquids contrasts strangely with the fact that many explosions have been brought about by the careless employment of candles or other naked flames in premises where the volatile varieties have been stored, or where the operation of transferring the liquid from one vessel to another for purposes of sale is carried on, the result being the ignition of the explosive mixture produced by the volatilisation of the spirit and its diffusion through the air. This fact does indeed tend to discourage the hope that the proportion of accidental explosions of gunpowder which are apparently due to ignorance may become very greatly diminished by keeping its explosive properties before the minds of those using it.
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Accidental Explosions * . Nature 11, 477–478 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/011477a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011477a0