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bbartlog
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| Quote: | | determine why dead bodies smell of burnt gunpowder and vinegar |
That's 'burnt vinegar and gunpowder'. But in any case it seems to me you misapprehend the passage, as it sounds to me like vinegar and gunpowder were
used in an attempt to get rid of the smell - it does not sound as if the foul stench was itself that of vinegar and gunpowder, which after all don't
smell particularly bad. Perhaps the acidic vapours of the latter substances are effective in neutralizing some of the vaporous products of decay,
which after all should be substantially ammoniacal and basic...
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DJF90
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Well considering Cadaverine and Putresceine (foul smelling diamines) are known decomposition products, this would make good sense (at least the
vinegar anyway).
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The WiZard is In
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Quote: Originally posted by bbartlog  |
That's 'burnt vinegar and gunpowder'. But in any case it seems to me you misapprehend the passage, as it sounds to me like vinegar and gunpowder were
used in an attempt to get rid of the smell - it does not sound as if the foul stench was itself that of vinegar and gunpowder, which after all don't
smell particularly bad. Perhaps the acidic vapours of the latter substances are effective in neutralizing some of the vaporous products of decay,
which after all should be substantially ammoniacal and basic... |
The bodies of the other princes and princesses were in a state of liquid putrefaction, and gave forth
a black and thick vapour, the odour of which burnt vinegar and gunpowder hardly dissipated.
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The WiZard is In
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make chicken gizzard's that emit smoke
PULLETS ATE FIREWORKS
New York Times, June 17, 1928.
With Fatal Results, Says Department of Agriculture.
“Devil chasers” were convicted of the mysterious deaths of a dozen pullets
on a Virginia farm shortly after the Fourth of July last year when pathologists of
the Untied States Department of Agriculture made a laboratory examination of
one of the dead birds. Fireworks, therefore, are now listed among the numerous
causes of poultry losses against which the department urges precautionary
measures.
“Phosphorus poisoning was suspected when the examination of the
laboratory specimen disclosed a smoky vapour pouring out from among the
contents of the gizzard. The odor of phosphorus was very evident, and in a dark
room the escaping vapour was luminous,” says the department.
“Subsequent ‘detective’ work revealed the fact that on the Fourth of July the
farmer’s children had exploded a number of ‘devil chasers’ in the driveway
where the pullets were in the habit of picking up sharp gravel. The ‘devil chasers’
were flat, brownish cakes about the size of a twenty-five-cent piece and
contained phosphorus. The unexploded fragments of the fireworks were probably
swallowed by the pullets in the course of several days after the celebration. The
poisoning action was delayed somewhat by the fact that the phosphorus was
mixed with a hard substance that was not readily soluble.
“Veterinarians would do well to bear in mind the findings in this case when
called upon to make a diagnosis of the cause of death of poultry in cases
suggestive of poisoning particularly just after Independence Day celebrations.
/djh/
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
The melancholy Dane
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JohnWW
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Elemental white phosphorus is a powerful liver poison. Mixed as a dispersion into an attractant substance such as apple jam as bait, and suitably dyed
(preferably green to avoid the attention of most birds), the stuff is used to kill vermin, for example New Zealand's number one pest, the introduced
Australian brushtail opossum. However, it has been largely superseded for this purpose with jams containing KCN or NaCN, because use of white
phosphorus has been considered "inhumane" as it is not an instant poison and causes pain; and because cyanide kills almost instantly, which enables
the opossum bodies to be recovered for their valuable fur at or near the bait-stations.
[Edited on 23-4-10 by JohnWW]
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The WiZard is In
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| Quote: Originally posted by JohnWW | Elemental white phosphorus is a powerful liver poison. Mixed as a dispersion into an attractant substance such as apple jam as bait, and suitably dyed
(preferably green to avoid the attention of most birds), the stuff is used to kill vermin, for example New Zealand's number one pest, the introduced
Australian brushtail opossum. However, it has been largely superseded for this purpose with jams containing KCN or NaCN, because use of white
phosphorus has been considered "inhumane" as it is not an instant poison and causes pain; and because cyanide kills almost instantly, which enables
the opossum bodies to be recovered for their valuable fur at or near the bait-stations.
[Edited on 23-4-10 by JohnWW] |
I remember some 50+ years or so ago ... my father bought rat poison
containing white phosphorus! It came in a lead tube, you were instructed
to spread it out on bread or some such. It smoked! And had a curious
glow!! Rats loved it. Over wintering mice ate through the lead tube to have
ate it. Apparently the use of WP as rodent poison was common years back
-
--------------
William B Dick
Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes
ca 1870
#1899. Phosphorus Paste for Vermin. Introduce 1 drachm phosphorus into
a Florence flask and pour over it 1 ounce rectified spirit. immerse the flask
in hot water until the phosphorus is melted, thenput a well-fitting cork into
the mouth of the flask, and shake briskly until cold. The phosphorus is now
reduced to a finely divided state. This, after pouring off the spirit, is to be
mixed in a mortar with 1 1/2 ounces lard. 5 ounces flour and 1 1/2 ounces
brown sugar, previously mixed together, are now added, and the whole
made into a paste with a little water. Cheese may be substituted for sugar
when the paste is intended for rats or mice. There is said to be no danger
whatever of spontaneous ignition, either during or after. [Oh!]
Also in: verbatim in -WC Alpers & EJ Kennedy's The Era Formulary
D Haynes NY 1914
-----------
Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines
London 1878
PHOSPHORUS PASTE, for the Destruction of Rats and Mice. The
Prussian Government issued an ordonnance [sic] on April 27, 1843,
directing the following com- position to be substituted for arsenic, for
destroying rats and mice; enjoining the authorities of the different
provinces to communicate, at the expiration of a year, the results of the
trials made with it, with the view of framing a law on this subject.
The following is the formula for this paste:- Take of phosphorus 8
parts, liquefy it in 180 parts of lukewarm water; pour the whole into a
mortar, add immediately 180 parts of rye-meal; when cold, mix in 180
parts of butter melted, and 125 parts of sugar. If the phosphorus is in a
flnely-divided state, the ingredients may be all mixed at once without
melting them. This mixture will retain its efficacy for many years, for the
phosphorus is preserved by the butter, find only becomes oxidised on the
surface.
Rats and mice eat this mixture with avidity; after which hey swell out, and
soon die. Several similar preparations are now made in this country for the
destruction of vermin.
[Butter was to coat the phosphorus preventing contact with air.]
---------
Acute hepatotoxicity from ingestion of yellow phosphorus-containing fireworks.
Medline(r) Medlars UID 96064184
J Clin Gastroenterol Vol. 21 no. 2 pp. 139-42
Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE
DATE: 1995 Sep
Abstract
We reviewed 15 cases of poisoning from ingestion of yellow phosphorus-containing fireworks
and analyzed its associated acute hepatotoxic effects. Two patients ( 13%) had no clinical or
biochemical evidence of hepatic damage, four (27%) had subclinical hepatic injury, five (33%)
manifested varying degrees of hepatocellular necrosis and cholestasis, and four (27%) had
fulminant hepatic failure. Jaundice was not associated with mortality (p > 0.05), but it appeared
to predict the length of hospital confinement. Early elevations in transaminase and alkaline
phosphatase, a more than tenfold increase in alanine aminotransferase, and a severe
derangement in prothrombin time all indicate poor prognosis. Metabolic acidosis and
hypoglycemia were significantly associated with mortality (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively).
The use of intravenous N-acetylcysteine did not significantly alter disease outcome (p > 0.05).
Our mortality rate was 27%, confirming that yellow phosphorus is extremely lethal when ingested.
Its indiscriminate use in the manufacture of fireworks should be eliminated.
Fernandez OU Canizares LL
Department of Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
1995 960822
Medlars UID 96064184
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The WiZard is In
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| Quote: Originally posted by The WiZard is In | PULLETS ATE FIREWORKS
New York Times, June 17, 1928.
With Fatal Results, Says Department of Agriculture.
“Devil chasers” were convicted of the mysterious deaths of a dozen pullets
on a Virginia farm shortly after the Fourth of July last year when pathologists of
the Untied States Department of Agriculture made a laboratory examination of
one of the dead birds. Fireworks, therefore, are now listed among the numerous
causes of poultry losses against which the department urges precautionary
measures.
|
Attached dobe finding my fourth of four articles on the use of phosphorous in fireworks,
the first three describing Armstrong's red phosphorus mixture, this, white phosphorus. The first two articles
were [patting self on back] — referenced in Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards. 6th ed.
Attachment: Phosphorus devil 1.txt (10kB)
This file has been downloaded 1778 times
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The WiZard is In
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make picric acid from gum tree resin
The Chemical Gazette
London 1859
Some Observations on the Amount of Picric Acid obtained from Botany Bay Resin. By
Prof. BOLLEY.
The so-called Yellow gum, or Botany Bay resin (the resin of Xanthorrlueahaslilis)
[Xanthrorroea saxtilis] , was indicated by Stenhouse, and subsequently by Warington
and Bottger, as the most abundant source of picric acid. - It was said to furnish 50 per
cent, of picric acid, so that notwithstanding its high price, it was the most economical
substance from which to obtain picric acid.
The author has had numerous experiments made on this subject by his pupils in the
Pharmaceutical Laboratory at Zurich. In these the resin was treated with 10 times its
weight of nitric acid in a retort, and the distillate repeatedly poured back. At the
commencement strong effervescence and evolution of nitrous acid took place
without any application of heat; the action was afterwards assisted by heat, and this
was continued with return of the distillate until the mass in the retort was
completely dissolved to a reddishyellow fluid. This treatment furnished-
Experiment 1. 22-5 per cent, of picric acid (somewhat purified by combination with
potash and reprecipitation by muriatic acid).
Experiment 2. 25-6 per cent, of picric acid (obtained by crystallization from the acid
liquid).
Experiment 3. 15 per cent., and therewith a yellowish powder, consisting principally
of woody fibre, partly converted into pyroxyline.
By treating the resin with alcohol until nothing more dissolved, there was found to
be 16-68 per cent, of insoluble matter, of which 2-5 per cent. was ash. The portion
insoluble in alcohol consisted principally of small fragments of wood. In experiments
1 and 2, but little was to be detected in the residue left undissolved by nitric acid.
The difference in the results of these experiments and those made by others, may
rather be attributed to impurities or differences in the composition of the raw
material, than to differences in the mode of preparation. The statement that 50 per
cent, of picric acid may be obtained from the resin, can only be true in rare cases. -
Schweize- rische Polytechn. Zeitschrift, 1858, p. 125.
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The WiZard is In
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extract gold from sea water
Extraction of Gold from Sea-water {Amended Specifications]
HC Bull and A Watling, London.
English Patent 14,097, July 8,1899
In:— The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry
21[5] 379. March 15, 1902
A quantity of milk of lime sufficient to precipitate the gold is mixed with sea-water
as it flows into a tank ; this reacts upon the iodine of gold present in the sea-
water so as to form iodine of calcium and free gold. The gold settles in the sludge
formed by the reaction, which is removed from time to time for separate
treatment by amalgamation or other suitable means.
A Method of an Apparatus for obtaining Gold from Sea-Water.
H.C. Bull, Twickenham, England.
English Patent 10,303, May 28,1895.
In:— The Journal of The Society of Chemical Industry.
10 [14] 874-875. October 31, 1895.
Sea-water is caused to pass through a tube or conduit of wood or other suitable
non-conducting material. The tube contains anodes of carbon, iron, or other
suitable material connected to an electric cable passing along the length of the
tube. A strip of iron extending along the bottom constitutes the cathode, and is
electrically connected with a suitable conductor. The cathode is provided with a
number of cups or rings of insulation material for holding mercury. At the end of
the tube where the sea-water enters, cyanide of sodium or potassium, or
hydrochloric, oxalic, or other acid is caused to flow, which will decompose the
iodine of gold contained in the water. The gold is deposited on the mercury.
[One would suspect that Messrs Bull and Watling did not die rich!]
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hissingnoise
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Some made money and some lost. . .
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_gol...
You would though, need to process a lot of water for a single gram of gold.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12717242.800-science-g...
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JohnWW
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How on earth did they get patents for THAT in the 1890s? Au is present in sea water only in something like parts per BILLION. It, and other precious
metals, just MIGHT be extractable with some sort of ion-exchange material, through which in a column HUGE quantities would have to be passed to get
even a macroscopic trace of Au, or even Ag. However, I have not heard of any such ion-exchange material having been developed.
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densest
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Looking for Au is really a long shot - 0.4-0.8 PPT - yes, parts per 10^12. A cubic kilometer of seawater (more or less) for 1g Au. Going for U is 1000
times better, Cs is 10,000 more common, and Li @ 0.1 PPM is practically jumping out of the sea! Maybe some countercurrent membrane could give the
necessary 100,000:1 ratio against Na. Hydrated ionic radii actually favor the heavier ions, though. PGMs are (according to Sverdrup et al, "The
Oceans", Prentice-Hall, 1942) only present in marine organisms.
Any nuclear power plant using seawater for cooling is already pumping cubic kilometers of water. A desalinization plant has already filtered and
concentrated the raw materials. Something attached to the hull of a supertanker... Just a simple matter of engineering 
The principle of crown ethers binding metal ions and zeolites with specific sizes and charges in the cavities speculatively could point to a
computerized search for a high molecular weight or externally highly water-repellent molecule which could be either adhered to say, sand, or made into
a highly porous gel. A really externally-nonpolar liquid which could be effectively recovered to 99.999999% from seawater (ha!) would be very
useful for this.
There are such programs around for computing quantum-mechanical solutions to fields and distances of compounds - I have no idea if any would be
relevant. Just the thing to put 100,000 otherwise idle video card GPUs searching - and that's not a joke. Something like the SETI idle-computer
project but with $$$ attached.
A pipe dream... but in 10-20 years? Computer power keeps increasing and algorithms get better. Or, pay a cracker/virus writer/scum to sell you a
botnet with enough computers.  They're relatively inexpensive due to Microsoft
nonexistent security and user ignorance (insert rant here, I will write the book on how to write software that doesn't break Real
Soon Now))
[Edited on 28-4-2010 by densest]
[Edited on 28-4-2010 by densest]
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12AX7
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Howzabout tacking a sidechain onto EDTA, then bonding that to a larger substrate e.g. polymer beads, sand, etc.?
Tim
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The WiZard is In
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Explore the poisonous properties of brandy
Experiments on the Human Subject on the Poisonous Properties of the Impurities
in Potato-brandy.
Brockhaus. Central. f. öffentl. Gesundheitspfl. 146, 1882 ; Chem. Central. 669,
1882.
In:— The Journal of The Society of Chemical Industry
4 [2] 187. April 29, 1883.
The experiments were made with six of the substances constituting the chief
impurities of potato-brandy — aldehyde, paraldehyde, acetal, propyl-, isobutyl-,
and amylalcohols. The author took these substances in moderation, either in the
morning, mixed with water, or in the afternoon or evening, with wine or god old
cognac. The aldehyde acted, first, as a violent irritant on the mucus membrane,
and, secondly, upon the nervous system. The symptoms pass away quickly. The
slightly-intoxicating effect of young wine seems to the author to possibly arise
from the presence of aldehyde. The action of paraldehyde and acetal is of a
similar nature, but not so transitory. The effects are felt on the following day. The
above-mentioned alcohols caused a burning sensation in the mouth, heat in the
head, pain in the forehead, a suffocating sensation, sickness, and intoxication,
the intensity of the symptoms increasing with the molecular weight of the alcohol.
Amyl alcohol showed its self to be very violent poison,. Altogether the
conclusions was arrived that the impurities of potato-brandy exerted a much
more active influence on the human organism than ethyl alcohol. From his
experiments, and the arguments entered into fully in the original paper, the
author believe that the bad effects of the use of alcohol appear most intensely
and most quickly from the misuse of bad brandy, and that it is the impurities of
the latter which play the chief part ; but that at the same time solutions of ethyl
alcohol, such as we have in beer, wine, and good brandy, when taken in excess
during a considerable period, injure the human frame, and the more rapidly and
violently the stronger the solution. The practical lessons to be drawn from the
observations are that (1) the sale and retailing of impure brandies should be
forbidden. (2) Since the present known methods of purifying cheap brandies are
imperfect, and since, further, pure ethyl alcohol in a concentrated form is
injurious to human organism, the use of potato-brandy as an article of food or
luxury should be opposed.
--
d j h
-------------------------------
When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems
like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a
second seems like an hour. That's relativity.
AE
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The WiZard is In
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Demonstrate what the ancients knew — Gold amalgam
Kids Get Swift Lesson, In Power of Mercury
New York Newsday
21ix90
Not even a month back in school, and already, were fascinated
with the silver speck bouncing the class topics seemed to hold little
promise. around his hand as if it were alive.
"Density," Mr. Science told his eighth-graders.
"Today's class is on density." -
Mr. Science held up a tiny little bottle of mercury, which is very
dense indeed, but not the densest example of ordinary matter.
Gold is. And because Mr. Science teaches eighth-graders in a poor
neighborhood, there is plenty of gold around, all of it hanging from
the necks of his students or ringed around their fingers. No school
can afford to use gold as an example of density. In fact, at this
school, there is no money for test tubes.
"Density is a valuable tool used in identifying rocks and the
minerals in them," Mr. Science said.
He teaches earth science, Mr. Science does, so rocks and minerals
are never far from his heart.
"The densest common material available is gold, which has a
density of 19— that's 19 times the density of water. Mercury has a
density of 13, or 13 times the density of water. This is a bottle of
mercury."
Mr. Science handed the teeny little bottle of mercury to one of the
students, who gasped. It weighed about a pound because mercury
is so dense.
"Oooooh," said some students.
"Ahhhhh," said the others.
Mr. Science was pleased. The lesson plan had called for the
students to be amazed by the weight of such a tiny little bottle of
mercury. "Wait for students to oooooh and ahhhhh," said the
lesson plan.
Another note in the lesson plan said don't take the mercury out of
the bottle today, save it for another day, for the lesson on
amalgams. These amalgams are combinations of mercury with a
solid metal, when the mercury gets sopped up the way water is
soaked into a dry sponge. Say, mercury and gold. But that was for
another day. The class period was caming to an end.
"Mr. Science?" said one of the boys in the class. "Mr. Science,
could I hold some of the mercury.
Now about the only thing most people remember from earth
science class is that mercury is fun to play with, since it rolls around
in little balls and slides across the tables, frequently falling off and
shattering into even more little balls. Quicksilver is one of the
nicknames for mercury. It acts like water but stays in the
shape of a bead, not spreading on a sheet of paper or the floor.
Mr. Science gave the student a tiny drop of mercury. The others
crowded in for a look and were fascinated with the silver speck
bouncing around in his hand as if it were alive.
"I want some too, ple-e-e-ase Mr. Science?" said another.
How could he say no? How could he deny their thirst for
knowledge? As Mr. Science gave the kids the little tiny pieces of
mercury, the bell rang. Instead of stampeding out the door, the
young scholars played with the mercury. They held it in cupped
hands, pushed it along tables, rolled it along their books.
Then, as the next class was starting to arrive, the students
gathered the bits of mercury and put them back in the bottle for Mr.
Science's next lecture on density. Two classes came and went, and
these, too, wanted to play with the mercury. In all, Mr. Science was
very pleased. Everyone seemed to be grasping the concept.
Two hours after the first clam had ended, one of the girls from that
group returned to his classroom.
"Mr. Science? Look what the mercury did to my ring!"
The ring was in three pieces. Mr. Science was shocked, but
recovered quickly.
"Obviously, it was a very weak ring," said Mr. Science.
She was impressed but not comforted and perhaps she thought a
wicked thought or two about the boy who had given her such a
cheap ring that it fell apart when one little drop of mercury touched
it.
A moment later, another girl arrived with gold crumbs.
"Mr. Science, look at my ring, what the mercury did!"
Within a minute, his first-period students were rolling in the door of
the class fast as little ball's of mercury on the loose. They were
holding. rings, necklaces, jewelry of all twists and turns. A few had
fallen apart. In the rest, the mercury had plated what once had
been a gold surface. Mr. Science gulped and fretted that soon
parents would be knocking down his door in anger.
In the halls, though, the students were dazzled. Soon all the
eighth-graders in the school were clamoring for mercury.
No way, said Mr. Science, thinking about the upcoming lesson on
amalgams. The way water clings to a sponge. How the liquid
mercury joins, surprisingly, with a solid metal. The way gold jewelry
clings to the bodies of poor kids.
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The WiZard is In
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make your ---- explode
Fred Trager of Barberton, Ohio, says he put in about 30 years as a volunteer teacher of
a show-and-tell course, "Hazardous Chemicals." It was part of a public relations
program started by his employer, PPG Industries, after World War II. Trager, now
retired, taught the course to safety groups, paid and volunteer firemen, chemistry
teachers, and students all over Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. In due course, he
says, he picked up "hundreds of fantastic stories about chemical accidents told to me by
firemen and chemistry teachers."
A fireman who led a Boy Scout troop took the lads on a weekend camping trip. The
campground had an outdoor privy. After first using it, the Scoutmaster noticed a plastic
container labeled "Lime for Deodorizing"; he poured some of the white powder though
the hole and walked away. He hadn't gone more then 30 yards when he was arrested
abruptly by a loud report and, turning, saw that the outhouse had exploded and the
remains were burning merrily.
It turned out, Trages says, that somebody had mistakenly filled the lime container with
calcium hypochlorite, a very strong oxidizing agent "and one of the chemicals that give
firemen fits." All that was needed was an organic substrate and pow!
Chemical and Engineering News. September 19, 1988.
Attachment: T_BOWL.tif (137kB)
This file has been downloaded 803 times
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peach
Bon Vivant
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A personal favorite of mine, THE REVIGATOR!
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/quackcures/revigat.htm
"Hmmm, that's funny, the more I drink the more tired I feel, I guess I just need to drink more" 
[Edited on 1-5-2010 by peach]
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The WiZard is In
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Make explosives from cyanide
Very sensitive to impact and friction — violently
explosive potassium purpurate is prepared using
KCN and Picric acid.
Like picric acid purpurate was used as a dye.
K. Eiter & et al in a 1953 Austrian patent claim a
"safety explosive" using either 28% sodium
cyanide or 73% mercury cyanide.
PATR2700
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The WiZard is In
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Make diamonds
Diamonds in detonation soot
Nature Vol. 333 2 June 1988
N. Roy Greiner*, D. S. Phillips*, J. D. Johnson*
& Fred Volk
*Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos
New Mexico 87545, USA
Fraunhofer-lnstitut fur Treib- und Explosivstoffe,
D-7507 Pfinztal/Berghausen, FRG
The physical structure and chemical bonding of
the carbon in solid detonation products (soot)
are largely unknown. It is well established that
diamond can be manufactured by the
application of explosive shocks to graphite
loaded into the explosive, or in a fixture external
to the explosive. Here we report the formation
of diamonds as a chemical product of the
detonation process itself. The diamonds we
observe are =7 nm in diameter and make up 25
wt% of the soot; in size and infrared spectrum
they resemble diamonds similarly isolated from
meteorites.
TNT Explodes at Soviet Post
New York Times 8vii88
MOSCOW, July 2 (Reuters)—Eight tons of
TNT exploded at a Soviet anti-aircraft
installation near Khabarovsk in the Far East,
causing extensive damage and injuries but no
deaths, the press agency Tass reported today.
The explosives, which were stored in military
warehouses, blew up on Wednesday "in the
area of deployment of an anti-aircraft unit near
Khabarovsk," Tass said.
Largest Accidental Explosions
1950 South Amboy, N.J. USA. 1.0 million pounds "Mines, dynamite." 26 killed
400 inured.
1918 Morgan, N.J. USA. 1.0 million pounds ammonium nitrate. 64 killed 100
injured.
1944 Hastings, Neb. USA.. 1.1 million pounds Torpex bombs. 10 killed.
1926 Lake Denmark, N.J. USA. 1.6 million pounds TNT
1944 Port Chicago, California USA . 4.272 million pounds Torpex 300 killed.
1917 Halifax. N.S. Canada 5.2 million pounds TNT, picric acid, nitrocellulose. 1
800 killed 8 000 inured.
1917 Steinfield [Eddystone PA?] 5.5 million pounds Hi. X.
1947 Brest, France. 6.6 million pounds Ammonium nitrate. 12 killed.
1947 Texas City, Texas USA. 7.0 million pounds ammonium nitrate. 560+ killed;
3 000+ inured.
1923 Oppau, Germany. 9.0 million pounds ammonium nitrate. 1 100 killed; 1 500
injured.
1944. RAF Bomb Store Stonepit Hills - Hanbury, England. 8 000 000 pounds of "bombs." 68 killed.
Largest (?) Planned Explosion
1958 April 5th. Seymour Narrows, British Columbia. Ripple Rock is destroyed with
2,756,000 pounds of "Nitramex" 2H. (A Du Pont ammonium nitrate based
explosive.) Blasters Handbook 15th ed. 1969 pg. 13.
From: Hudson Maxim's -- Dynamite Stories (1916)
WHEN HE SHIRKED
A PROMINENT financier, who was a much better business man than he was
inventor, read of Moissan's experiments in making artificial diamonds. The
financier conceived the idea of converting anthracite coal directly into diamonds
by subjecting it to enormous pressure of gunpowder exploded in a strong steel
cylinder.
As he wished to market a larger quantity of his manufactured diamonds before
their artificial character should leak out, he determined to conduct his
experiments very secretly; consequently, he put the man-of-all-work at his
country place upon the job. This faithful and useful servant was to report the
progress of the work regularly at the city office of his employer.
After several trying experiments with black gunpowder, the man reported that the
scheme didn't work-that no diamonds were produced.
The financier then told the useful that he had evidently reached the limit of power
of black gunpowder.
"Now try dynamite," said he.
There was a break in the chain of reports, and he wrote the useful, asking him
why he did not report. Still no answer.
After waiting some days, the idea suddenly struck the financier that possibly the
process had proved successful and that the useful planned to betray him. He
accordingly sent a peremptory telegram to him to report at once on pain of
discharge.
The next day a vision, swathed and bandaged and perambulating on crutches,
entered his office.
"You infernal old scoundrel!" yelled the wreck, as he entered. "Blow a man up
with dynamite, and then threaten to discharge him for not reporting."
Department Of Commerce And Labor Bureau Of Manufactures Monthly
Consular And Trade Reports October, 1905 No. 301 Washington Government
Printing Office 1905
Bureau Of Manufactures 1905 October
Artificial Diamonds.
Interesting Experiments With Remarkable Results.
Consul-General Guenther, of Frankfort, writes concerning the most recent
efforts for the production of artificial diamonds, as follows:
Crystallized carbon, as chemistry has taught for a long time, occurs in nature in
two entirely different forms-as diamond and as graphite.
Anybody who can afford to do so can burn a diamond in oxygen and become
convinced that nothing remains except pure carbonic acid. The only
compensation, except this knowledge, for the costliness of the experiment is the
brilliant light colors under which the diamond, so to speak, gives up its life.
When the nature of the diamond was first discovered many chemists were full of
hope that they would succeed in producing artificial diamonds of considerable
size from carbon. This, however, has not been accomplished thus far, and to-
day it is assumed that the formation of large diamonds principally found in South
Africa has been under conditions which have not been possible to produce in the
laboratory. From time to time artificial diamonds have been made from carbon
under great pressure, but, these experiments were always more expensive than
the value of the diamonds obtained and besides were very dangerous. In one
instance the laboratory of the experimenter was completely destroyed.
A NEW METHOD.
The French chemist, Moissan, has shown a new method for producing artificial
diamonds by the employment of molten iron as a solvent for carbon, and using
the electric stove, invented by himself, for producing a degree of heat hitherto
not reached. Through the intense heat of this electric stove and by sudden
cooling of the molten metal the carbon is separated in the form of very small
diamond crystals. The London Lancet reports a further step in advance in the
production of crystallized carbon, through experiments of Doctor Burton, of
Cambridge. This scientist has proven that the diamond is a denser form of
carbon crystal than graphite, and that a lesser pressure is sufficient for
producing artificial diamonds than had been employed heretofore. Doctor Burton
in his experiments used a molten alloy of lead and some metallic calcium, which
can also hold a small quantity of carbon in solution.
WONDERFUL RESULTS.
If the calcium is separated from the molten mass, some of the carbon
crystallizes. The separation of calcium can, for instance, be accomplished
through steam. If the introduction of .steam is made during full red heat, then
small graphite crystals are found in the resulting crust of lime; if the steam is
introduced during a low red heat, no graphite is formed, but a number of
microscopical crystals are formed, the properties of which are entirely identical
with those of natural diamonds. These experiments, which may be continued,
strengthen the belief that it may be possible, some day, to produce in the
laboratory of the chemist diamonds of sufficient size and perfection to compete
with natural diamonds.
These experiments furnish a new theory with reference to the probable origin of
natural diamonds, which may not have been under an excessively high
temperature, but from a peculiar crystallization from a yet unknown solvent,
perhaps under high pressure. The artificial diamonds obtained by Doctor Burton
are pronounced to be the finest so far observed, because they possess an
unusually high power of refraction.
Sir William Brookes, in a lecture recently delivered at Kimberley before the British
Association, called attention to a peculiarity of diamonds, namely, that they are
especially transparent for X-rays, while imitation diamonds hardly let these rays
pass through, and he declared that this furnished an excellent means of
distinguishing genuine from imitation diamonds.
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JohnWW
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The technology for production of artificial diamonds, especially in thin layers, and also borazon, BN, which is equally hard and with similar optical
properties, has advanced considerably since 1905 or the time of Moissan, due to invention of means of obtaining much greater and more sustained
pressures, and thin-film deposition methods. Doped (with small amounts of either B or N) diamonds, and also borazon with a slight excess of either B
or N, are being researched as high-band-gap semiconductors for transistors, requiring higher voltages than other types.
| Quote: | | Sir William Brookes, in a lecture recently delivered at Kimberley before the British Association, called attention to a peculiarity of diamonds,
namely, that they are especially transparent for X-rays, while imitation diamonds hardly let these rays pass through, and he declared that this
furnished an excellent means of distinguishing genuine from imitation diamonds. |
I wonder if this could be
used for non-destructively distinguishing diamond from borazon and cubic zirconia, which have very similar optical properties, as well as from
silica-based glasses.
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The WiZard is In
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Build a pyrotechnic motor
James Taylor
Solid Propellent and Exothermic Compositions
Interscience Publishers, Inc.
New York 1959
Pp. 118
CHARGE TO OPERATE A RECIPROCATING ENGINE
A solid charge for actuating a " William and James " motor, which is a four cylinder reciprocating engine, has been described. The gas generator
device is shown in Fig. 15. It comprised a strong¬-walled steel tube 4 7 in. internal diameter and 5 in. external diameter closed at one end and
lined internally with a layer of " Hallite " steam jointing sheet material, into which was pressed a propellent composition in incremental charges
under a pressure of 5,550 lb. per sq. in. forming a continuous column. The weight of the charge was 15 lb. It comprised a ball milled powder of
composition:
Ammonium nitrate 78.5%
Potassium nitrate 9.0
Anhydrous ammonium oxalate 6.9
Ammonium bichromate 5.6
China clay 0.7
[Adds to 100% + 0.7]
For details/drawings see US Patent 2 637 274
P.80
THE NATURE OF THE CHROMATE INDUCED DECOMPOSITION
If an intimate mixture of ammonium nitrate and potassium chromate, in powder form, is heated at a point in it by a flame or hot wire the ammonium
nitrate begins to decompose at that point and this decomposition spreads slowly and smoothly throughout he mixture until all the ammonium nitrate has
been consumed. There is no flame or glow, but the decomposition of the ammonium nitrate produces volumes of gas coloured brown by nitrogen dioxide.
The potassium chromate remains at the end of the reaction, some of it having changed into potassium dichromate, the excess potassium being present as
nitrate. Essentially, however the potassium chromate obeys the criterion of a catalyst, of being unchanged by the reaction. By arranging the
experiment so that a column of ammonium nitrate has resting on it an ammonium nitrate/potassium chromate mixture, and causing this to react, the
potassium chromate will gradually pass down through the column of ammonium nitrate, causing it all to react. Thus the reaction is definitely one of
catalysis by the potassium chromate.
If ammonium dichromate is used instead of potassium chromate in admixture with ammonium nitrate, it not only brings about decomposition of the latter,
but as it itself decomposes in a self- sustained manner when locally initiated evolving nitrogen and steam and leaving a voluminous green mass of
chromic oxide, according to the reaction:
(NH4)2Cr207 -- 4H20 + N2 + Cr204
the heat released is considerable and this assists the reaction of the ammonium nitrate thermally, so that the reaction is not solely catalytic.
Nevertheless, this is not a case of thermal decomposition of the ammonium nitrate sustained by the heat of this reaction, since on the one hand the
proportion of ammonium dichromate need not be sufficient to supply the heat requisite even to melt all the ammon¬ium nitrate and, on the other hand,
if a mixture of potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate and ammonium dichromate is used, the chromium remains after the reaction in the form of potassium
chromate and dichromate, indicating that the reaction between potassium nitrate and ammonium dichromate has preference, as it were, over the
self-sustained thermal decomposition of the ammonium dichromate.
This catalytic aspect of the decomposition of ammonium nitrate differentiates it rather sharply from the combustion of cordite or blackpowder, which
are by comparison high temperature reactions, in which the energy released is sufficient to activate the molecules over the energy thresholds without
the assistance of a catalyst.
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Determine the average temperature of the spirit world
Daedalus
Spiritual matters
Nature 22 April 1999
The connection between matter and spirit has been debated for millennia. The
central mystery is that certain material objects (human beings) contrive to be
conscious and to possess a spiritual dimension. This implies that matter itself
has some rudimentary spiritual character.
Daedalus reckons that the spiritual world occupies the same space as the
material one, but at most points is very weakly coupled to it. Nonetheless, over
cosmological space and time, this weak coupling must have brought the two
realms into thermodynamic equilibrium. So the spirit world will have acquired the
average temperature of the physical universe - 3 K, the temperature of the
Creation, microwave background. (This explains why a ghost, an invasion of the
material world by the spirit one, tends to cool the room.)
So Daedalus is looking for the weak thermodynamic coupling between the two
worlds. A warm material object, even in a perfect vacuum and surrounded by a
perfect reflector, should slowly cool down by thermal leakage into the spiritual
world. The experiment will test modern thermometry and high-vacuum and
techniques to their limits; but success would open a whole new field
of discovery.
Daedalus is already planning his exploration of it. He hopes to discover whether
holy relics and ritual objects, imbued with spiritual significance, cooling faster
than more mundane ones. He expects that biological materials, especially the
neurotransmitters and proteins of brain chemistry; will cool faster still. They are
part of the secret of human consciousness, and should be quite tightly coupled to
the spiritual world. This coupling might take the form of strong spectroscopic
emission at the 3 K black body peak in the millimetre-wave region, or it might be
far more subtle. But detailed experiments, aided by such insights, should reveal
the spiritual capacity of a wide range of objects and substances.
Perhaps the most interesting objects for testing will be semiconductors, either as
bulk solids or in the form of integrated circuits and microprocessors. If they cool
no faster than common minerals, this will demonstrate their lack of a spiritual
dimension - in which case no computer, however powerful, could be conscious.
But if they turn out to cool as fast as the neurotransmitters, then conscious
technological monsters like Hal and Deep Thought should indeed be possible
David Jones
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Theological Prozac
Daedalus
Theological chemistry
Nature 29 April 1999
The most convincing evidence for religious belief is subjective. Many people
claim to sense the presence of God, to be able to communicate with Him in
prayer, or receive comfort from Him in trouble. But to others, praying simply feels
like talking into a dead telephone. Even devout believers sometimes suffer 'the
dark night of the soul' when the divine presence cannot be sensed.
One theory is that the religious sense is chemical. Many primitive religions use
psychotropic drugs and hallucinogens in their rituals. Nitrous oxide, ether and
LSD have also been claimed to open the user's mind to higher reality.
Daedalus disagrees. Such intoxicants, he reckons, merely stir up noise and
nonsense inside the brain. He wants to get past the 'earthquake, wind and fire' to
reach the 'still, small voice' of the authentic spiritual experience.
So he plans to conduct brain scans on monks and nuns at prayer, to identify the
active region of the brain. Successful prayers and 'dark night' failures should
show different patterns. With very good luck, an NMR scan might even be able to
identify the molecule metabolized in a successful religious experience.
Another way of identifying it depends on Daedalus's theory of last week, that the
spirit world shares the 3 K temperature of the cosmic microwave background,
and that spiritually important molecules radiate spontaneously into that world.
The black-body peak at 3 K is at 310 GHz, a frequency band in which molecular
rotational and librational resonance's occur. Isotopically substituted molecules
with shifted resonance's should therefore be spiritually less effective. By
synthesizing candidate substances enriched with 2-H, 13-C or 15-N, and
injecting them into the test monks and nuns, the crucial religious metabolite could
be identified. People in whom it is richly present will be believers, those without it
will be hard-boiled materialists. A simple tablet or injection will then enable the
latter to feel religious experience for themselves.
Daedalus's Theological Prozac will at last open the private, subjective claims of
religion and mysticism to scientific study. It will make spiritual experiences freely
accessible and reproducible, allowing them to be classified and their implications
understood. With luck, the resulting illumination will bestow spiritual comfort
on the users, unaccompanied by the stern orthodox convictions attached to it by
the more doctrinal aspects of religion.
David Jones
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Measure gas's produced by bean consumption
F. R. Steggerda
Department of Physiology and Biophysics University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.
In: Gastrointestinal Gas
Annals of the New York Academy of Science
Volume 150, Art. 1 Pages 1-190
February 26, 1968
Gas Production and Bean Products in Men
To establish the theory that when one ingests bean products he experiences
flatulence, a number of experiments were performed in which the effects of a
non-gas-producing basal diet were compared with those of a diet containing a
high concentration of beans. [4] The basal diet contained a total of 2,625
calories, with 246 g of carbohydrate, 88 g of fat, 152 g of protein and 7 g of crude
fiber. The subjects consumed this diet for seven consecutive days, following it
with a seven-day diet, 57% of which was a commercially-prepared pork and
bean product. The caloric intake and the distribution of carbohydrate, fat, and
protein were adjusted to be comparable to the basal diet. With this basic dietary
regime, substitutions could be made in the amounts of pork and beans
consumed, as well as in the variety of bean products to be studied. In more
recent experiments, the bean products were prepared from a ground meal or
flour made from the dried bean. This was consumed in the form of cooked mush
and muffins. This way of consuming the bean product was more accurate than
using the water-packed commercial product, and also served as a convenient
way for studying the gas producing ability of various products extracted from the
original bean meal.
The effects of various diets on the amount of gas produced were recorded by
inserting the end of a catheter into the rectum six to eight in beyond the anal
sphincter. The end inserted into the rectum was perforated with a number of
holes approximately 1 cm apart. The other end was attached to a graduated
cylinder containing an acidified sulphate solution. The volume of flatus passed
was recorded by measuring the displacement of the solution inches in the
cylinder. At the end of the collection period, a sample of the collected gas was
removed from the collection cylinder and introduced into a Fisher-Hamilton gas
partitioner, and the percentages Of C02, 02, CH4, N2, and H2 were recorded.
The collections were usually made on the fourth and seventh days of each
period. This lasted for two hr after lunch and again for two hr after the dinner
meal. Thus, with four hr of collections on two different days, the average hourly
results for each subject were made from eight hr of collection for a specific diet.
The results of this experimentation on five adult subjects on a number of different
experimental diets is given in TABLE 1. As will be noted, the average gas
volume collected per hour for the non-gas-producing diet was 15 cc, but when
the diet was 57 % pork and beans, the gas volume increased to 176 cc/ hour.
The data also show that pork and beans at the 27 % level of the total diet were
only half as effective as a similar amount of green lima beans. It was also
observed that the gas-producing ability of Boston baked beans was not
appreciably different from that of the pork and beans. Another notable
phenomenon brought out in these experiments was the marked increase in
carbon dioxide in the flatus produced by the pork and beans over that of the
basal diet; the increase was sixfold when the high concentration of pork and
beans was consumed.
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Simulate a nuclear explosion
Have American spy satellites detect it — start WW III.
Title: Evaluation of Large Pyrotechnic Arrays for Nuclear Burst Simulation.
Personal Author: Rittenhouse,C T
Corporate Author: UNIDYNAMICS/PHOENIX INC ARIZ
AD Number: ADA040339
Report Date: 28 JUN 1976
Distribution Code: 01 - APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
Report Classification: U - Unclassified
"... the best composition in this respect [high radiant flux levels] was
41/10/47/3 zirconium/thorium/molybdenum trioxide/fluorel." "However,
this composition is not usable in the HDL application because of its thorium
content, which is regarded as a serious health hazard due to its radioactivity.
The second ranked composition...."
When I tested an advanced version of this off the Coast of
South Africa on September 21, 1979, an American spy satellite
Vela 6911, detected it. I am told the Pentagon and State
Department were in a swivet.
In truth my contact at the Bulgarian embassy had provided the satellites orbit info to me......
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