Abstract
A REPORT, by Dr. John Haldane, on the causes of death in colliery explosions, with special reference to the Tylors-town, Brancepeth, and Micklefield explosions, was published in a Blue-book a few days ago. The report contains a vast amount of valuable information on the composition of after-damp, the action on men and lights of the gases present in, or mixed with, after-damp, the action of after-damp, heat and violence, along the track of an explosion, the distribution of after-damp and other gases in a mine after an explosion, the distribution of smoke in underground fires, the positions at which bodies are found after an explosion, and the means of saving life in colliery explosions and fires. To understand the dangers to life after a colliery explosion, and the possibilities of escaping these dangers, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the action,both on men and lamps, of the gases which are likely to be present in the air of the mine. These gases, so far as is known, are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, fire-damp, and sulphurous acid. Oxygen may be deficient or absent. Dr. Haldane discusses the effects of these gases seriatim, and the information he brings together, as well as his own careful observations, should be valued by colliery managers, while it will certainly interest chemists and physiologists.
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Causes of Death in Colliery Explosions. Nature 54, 207–208 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/054207b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/054207b0