Until the year 1845 “explosive” and “gun_Dangerous trades

purposes synonymous terms, and even now as an explosive of universal

application gunpowder stands unrivalled. In these days of specialism,

however, it is being rapidly ousted from the field of battle, by

cordite as a propellant, by lyddite as a burster for shells, and by

gun-cotton as a destructive agent; from the field of sport, by the

countless nitro-powders; from the quarry and railway tunnel, by the

gelatine dynamites; and lastly, from the coal mine, by the so-called

safety explosives. As a coal-getter pure and simple, irrespective of

the question of danger from fire-damp and dust, it still, however,

stands unequalled, and in view of the recent vast improvements in its

manufacture--the result, no doubt, of legislative action--it would be

exceedingly rash to state that its days are numbered.

The great epoch-marking events in the history of explosives may be

briefly stated as follows:--

_First_, the discovery of the deflagrating properties of saltpetre

in admixture with carbonaceous material, and its consequent utilisation

in the form of Greek fire and such like destructive compounds, date

unknown.

_Second_, the first use of gunpowder as a propellant, in or about

1320 A.D.

_Third_, the invention of gun-cotton, in 1845.

_Fourth_, the discovery by Alfred Nobel in 1875, that a variety

of gun-cotton, or rather nitro-cotton, could be dissolved in

nitro-glycerine to form the homogeneous jelly-like mass to which he

gave the name of blasting-gelatine. To these may perhaps be added

the discovery of the power of transmitting detonation possessed by

fulminate of mercury.

Although there are doubtless many other important discoveries connected

with the evolution of our multitudinous modern explosives, yet, without

belittling the genius of their inventors, they may all be regarded as

mere episodes, so to speak--the adaptation of existing principles.

Thus, nitro-glycerine and dynamite followed naturally in the wake of

nitro-cellulose, just as the gelatine dynamites and more recently

ballistite and cordite were merely modifications of blasting gelatine.

Perhaps the most important discovery in addition to those above

mentioned was Sir Frederick Abel’s process of pulping and cleaning

gun-cotton, or rather the principle underlying the process, viz., that

only by thorough cleansing can stability be assured to a nitro-compound.

About lyddite there is little to say which has not already appeared in

the daily papers, and of that little the greater part is confidential;

but as regards its effect on the enemy, I have it on the authority of

an artillery officer who was engaged in every action of the campaign

which terminated in the relief of Ladysmith, that it was quite

impossible to obtain reliable information. Even when a rout resulted

from its use, it is doubtful whether this was not due as much to the

steep angle of descent of the howitzer fire as to the explosive effect

of the lyddite. The stories as to the wholesale havoc wrought at

Omdurman, where entire ranks of horsemen are said to have been laid

low by a single lyddite shell without a mark being found on them,

must be accepted with caution. A shell filled with high explosive

naturally bursts into very much smaller fragments than when filled

with gunpowder, and the resulting wounds would in many cases no doubt

be difficult to discern at a cursory examination.

Of all branches of the explosives industry fireworks are perhaps the

most difficult to control. Not only is it a common custom at North of

England weddings to improvise amateur displays by filling iron pipes

with gunpowder and applying a light, but the actual manufacture of

squibs and rockets is regarded in most quarters as a praiseworthy and

legitimate occupation, provided there is no question of sale. That this

is entirely erroneous cannot be too strongly emphasised--the fine on

conviction being no less than £100 a day. Moreover, since the amateur

pyrotechnist invariably includes both chlorate of potash and sulphur

in his coloured fire composition, a mixture entailing grave risk from

spontaneous combustion, and one which is on this account prohibited by

Order in Council, a further offence is involved.

_Accidents in Manufacture and Use._

There is no industry possessing greater possibilities for sudden

death to its operatives than that connected with the manufacture,

storage, and conveyance of explosives; and there is no industry of

an admittedly dangerous nature demanding fewer victims. The reasons

for this happy result are not far to seek, and may be summarised

in two words--legislation and self-interest. The destruction of

property caused by an explosion in a factory is a mere fraction of

the actual loss; for days or even weeks the employés may not only

refuse to return to work, but may make use of the accident as a lever

to obtain a permanent rise in wages. Moreover, in gunpowder factories

particularly, where every trace is swept away, the cause of the

explosion is often impossible to determine, and the vague feeling of

unrest to which this uncertainty gives rise is by no means conducive to

efficient work. Thus, even the apathetic manufacturer is constrained

by motives of self-interest to enforce certain precautionary measures

(which, however, he is quite prepared to relax under the strain of

competition), while the conscientious trader who really has the

safety of his workpeople at heart is only too easily persuaded by the

additional incentive of personal profit to institute and maintain

a very high standard of discipline throughout his factory. It is,

however, extremely difficult for either of these individuals to

differentiate between what may be called essentials and refinements,

and the unscrupulous trader, in his anxiety to sail as near the wind

as possible, may neglect some obvious precaution, whereas his less

reckless rival may be seriously handicapped by a _too_ close

attention to details. Here, then, is where legislation steps in,

and by enforcing equal restrictions on all, prevents undue economy

at the expense of safety--and, moreover, the public are properly

protected. With the courteous assistance of the trade, I am able to

give some figures in support of this. The total quantity of explosives

manufactured per annum in the United Kingdom, exclusive of that which

is produced in Government factories, is approximately as follows[143]:--

Classes I. to IV. (_i.e._ gunpowder, other nitrate mixtures,

nitro-compounds, and chlorate mixtures), 32,115 tons.

Class V. Fulminate of mercury being the only explosive of

this class made in any quantity, and the manufacture being

practically in the hands of two firms, one of which is domiciled

in the Channel Islands, I must not for obvious reasons disclose

the total output.

Class VI. (Ammunition). Here again it is impossible to specify

with any degree of accuracy the number of the various natures

of explosive coming under this head. Fifty million detonators,

electric detonators and fuses, and an equal number of yards of

safety fuse will not be very wide of the mark, while about 500

million cartridges for small arms are turned out by licensed

factories during the year.

Class VII. (Fireworks). About 1788 tons.

In the actual operations of manufacture 4828 persons are employed, the

total number working within the licensed areas, and therefore more or

less exposed to the effects of an explosion, being 11,098. During the

year 1899, 54 accidents occurred in the manufacture of explosives,

causing the death of 3 persons and injuries to 24, the average for the

last ten years being 4.4 and 20.4 respectively. Of the 54 accidents no

less than 32 were unattended with loss of life or personal injury--a

fact that would be somewhat remarkable were it not that in many

operations in which the application of force is required, or where the

explosive is of an extra sensitive nature, accidents are unavoidable

and provided for accordingly. “Prevention,” in fact, being impossible,

a “cure” is applied. Among these specially dangerous processes may be

instanced the “milling” or “incorporation” of gunpowder, the “pressing”

of detonators, and the mixing of cap composition, during each of which

the operator is either directly or indirectly specially protected.

In the following table I have endeavoured, by collecting the results

of the last ten years, to show the relative risk attached to the

manufacture of various classes of explosives. The classification

is by no means in accordance with the Order in Council classifying

explosives, but is better suited to the particular purpose in view.

_TABLE A._

Showing the Number of Accidents causing Personal Injury, and the

Number of Killed and Injured in the Manufacture of the Various

Natures of Explosive during the decade 1890–99, and the Number

of Persons now Employed.

+--------------------------+---------------------------+------------------------------------+

| | Accidents causing Loss of | Number of Persons Employed in the |

| | Life or Personal Injury. | Manufacture of the various natures.|

| +----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+----------------+

| | +-------+--------+Buildings.| Area. +-------+--------+

+--------------------------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+--------+

|1. Gunpowder | 18 | 10 | 23 | 964 | 1,906 | .52 | 1.2 |

| Cellulose Explosives | 47 | 17 | 58 | 2034 | 4,021 | .42 | 1.4 |

| of Detonators | 39 | 5 | 43 } | | | | |

|4. Fulminate Compositions,| | | } | 1155 | 4,267 | .23 | 2.2 |

| in or out of | | | } | | | | |

| Detonators and Caps | 48 | 5 | 54 } | | | | |

|5. Fireworks | 23 | 7 | 26 | 675 | 904 | .77 | 2.9 |

+--------------------------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+--------+

| Totals | 175 | 44 | 204 | 4828 | 11,098 | .39 | 1.8 |

+--------------------------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+--------+

Under heading No. 2 are included the various smokeless powders for

sporting purposes, but as a matter of fact no accident causing personal

injury has occurred in their manufacture during the last ten years,

and the same may be said of safety fuse, which comes under heading

No. 3. The explosives of the ammonium-nitrate group also have a

stainless record up to the present, and they no doubt possess a very

high degree of safety in manufacture; but those of them which contain

dinitrobenzol present another kind of risk quite independent of their

explosive properties. This subject is, however, fully dealt with

elsewhere by Dr Prosser White, and will not be enlarged on here. As

regards their apparent safety in manufacture, too much stress must not

be laid on their immunity from accident in the past. They can most of

them be exploded by combined friction and percussion, and though as

a rule only the part affected will explode, this applies also in the

case of gun-cotton and many other admittedly sensitive compounds, and

it would be rash to predict the result under circumstances specially

favourable to the transmission of detonation.

To the accidents in actual manufacture, those occurring during the

storage and distribution of the finished product must also be added,

since they may be said to have taken place under conditions to which

the controlling provisions of the Act are intended to apply. Thus 69

accidents, causing 32 deaths and injuries to 81 persons, occurred under

these headings during the decade 1890–1899, making a grand total of 76

killed and 285 injured in the period named, or an average of 7.6 killed

and 28.5 injured per annum in that section of the industry which is

presumably controlled by experts supplemented by Government inspection.

Briefly, this result has been attained by (_a_) subdivision of risks,

_i.e._, the number of persons allowed in any one “danger” building is

strictly limited, and communication of explosion between buildings is

prevented by the erection of mounds of earth or masonry, and by making

the quantity of explosive in any building directly dependent on its

distance from others; (_b_) scrupulous attention to cleanliness; (_c_)

prevention of the introduction of matches and other dangerous articles,

by providing suitable clothing without pockets, and by a thorough

system of searching all those employed in danger buildings; and (_d_)

the provision of an adequate number of escape doors opening outwards,

and provided with safety latches so as to yield easily to a push from

the inside. Many manufacturers of their own initiative go far further

in these directions than is enjoined by statute, with the result that

in discipline, efficiency, and immunity from accident, their factories

compare most favourably with the Government establishments.

On turning to the question of risk in the _use_ of explosives, the

prospect is not so pleasing; the contempt bred of familiarity is

something appalling. It is not too much to say that 99 out of every

100 accidents would have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable

care and common sense. Scraping out detonators with pins, thawing

dynamite over the fire in tin dishes, driving gunpowder and dynamite

with metal rods into roughly drilled holes, and boring out misfires,

are only a few of the commonest examples of reckless folly. In mines

alone there were no less than 29 persons killed and 195 injured by

explosives during the year 1899, and this be it remembered in the

handling and use of the finished article, each nature of which is

thoroughly tested for purity and absence of extreme sensitiveness

before being authorised by the Home Office, whereas in the course of

manufacture many operations have to be undertaken which are known

to be dangerous, even with the exercise of the greatest care. Quite

recently a fatal accident was reported as follows:--“A. B. was charging

a bore-hole in rock with pellet gunpowder. Finding a difficulty in

inserting the charge, he was holding the tamping rod on the powder

while his mate drove it home with a sledge-hammer, when, _for no reason

whatever_, the charge exploded.” The italics are my own.

_TABLE B._

Showing the Number of Accidents in the handling and use of

the various Explosives during the decade 1890–99.

+----------------------------+----------+----------------+

| | | No. of Persons |

| Nature of Explosive. | No. of +-------+--------+

+----------------------------+----------+-------+--------+

|1. Gunpowder[144] | 244 | 94 | 294 |

|2. Nitro-glycerine Compounds| 376 | 135 | 440 |

|3. Ammonium Nitrates | 44 | 12 | 41 |

|4. Detonators | 143 | 3 | 193 |

|5. Fireworks | 41 | 19 | 96 |

+----------------------------+----------+-------+--------+

| Total | 848 | 263 | 1064 |

+----------------------------+----------+-------+--------+

| same period | 175[145]| 44 | 204 |

+----------------------------+----------+-------+--------+

In Table B, I have summarised the accidents which have occurred during

the ten years 1890–99, in order to give some idea of the relative risk

attached to the handling of the various explosives. It is, however,

somewhat misleading in view of the impracticability of forming even a

rough estimate of the quantity of each description used, and also of

the fact that ordinary mining accidents with gunpowder are not required

to be reported.

The accidents with ammunition other than detonators are so

insignificant in number and effect that I have omitted them from

the above table, but, on the other hand, the ammonium-nitrates now

contribute their quota of casualties. Whatever margin of safety they

may possess alone, it is nullified the moment the detonator is fitted,

and without this deadly little adjunct they are useless. The ideal

mining explosive is no doubt one which, while possessing the slow

action and consequent “coal-getting” properties of gunpowder, together

with its capacity for exploding without the use of a detonator, shall

at the same time be as safe to manufacture, store, convey, and use in

a “fiery” or dusty mine, as an ammonium-nitrate explosive. Moreover,

it should have the plasticity of gelignite with similar immunity from

injury by water, should require a bore-hole of but small diameter, and

lastly, should produce on combustion nothing more harmful than CO_{2}

and water. If to these advantages cheapness be added, and the inventor

has sufficient capital to properly exploit its capabilities, such an

explosive may possibly have a future before it--but the British miner

is very conservative, and has a deep-rooted affection for gunpowder.

I have already referred to the system by which the quantity of

explosive allowed in a licensed building is automatically regulated

by the distance that can be maintained between the building and the

nearest highway, dwelling-house, railway, etc., and from the social

aspect the application of this principle is of more importance in the

case of an isolated magazine or store (of which there are several

thousand in the United Kingdom) than when only the various buildings

of an individual factory are involved. Fortunately, owing to the care

with which explosives of questionable stability are excluded from

the authorised list, an explosion in a magazine or store is of the

rarest occurrence in this country (and as regards foreign explosions

figures are difficult to obtain), but in the following table I have

been at some pains to set forth the results, from a destructive point

of view, of a number of accidents with gunpowder and high explosives,

even though they may not have occurred in magazines or stores, so

as to enable the public to estimate for themselves the measure of

risk offered by the unavoidable establishment in their midst of

so great a quantity of “bottled energy.” I say unavoidable, since

modern engineering feats would be practically impossible without

high explosives, and admitting the necessity for their existence, it

is assuredly safer to keep them stored in specially constructed and

protected buildings, than to have them continually travelling about

the country. In Table C “destructive effect” may be taken to mean

structural damage to ordinary dwelling-houses due to the explosion

itself, but not to projected débris. Nor does it include broken

windows; to maintain a radius sufficient to prevent this would be

practically impossible; at Erith, for instance, in 1864, windows were

broken up to ten miles. In many cases much protection was no doubt

afforded by mounds of earth and clumps of trees specially erected and

planted for the purpose, interfering somewhat with the accuracy of

the figures, but the margin of safety is in general so ample that no

apprehension need be felt on this score.

As showing how circumstances alter cases, a comparison of the results

of the Regent’s Park explosion on 2nd October 1874, with that of

Craig, near Montrose, on 5th March 1880, is somewhat striking. In

the former case five tons of gunpowder exploded in the middle of

London, without injuring a soul outside the barge on which the

explosive was being conveyed; whereas at Craig, an ounce or two of

nitro-glycerine--possibly less than an ounce--killed no less than five

persons, and severely injured another.

To summarise, the explosives industry can scarcely be said to affect

the health of the operatives, as this word is generally understood,

although there is no doubt an ever-present risk of sudden mutilation or

death. I have endeavoured to show, however, that with the precautions

now universally adopted in this country, this risk is reduced to

a minimum, and that in all other respects the high standard of

cleanliness and smartness necessarily associated with the manufacture

introduces a condition of affairs which cannot be otherwise than

beneficial to those engaged.

Finally, the fact cannot be too strongly emphasised, that in dealing

with explosives a policy of pin-pricks is strongly to be deprecated,

unless the perpetrator is anxious to be translated to a higher sphere.

In the words of the late Colonel Cundill, “the function of an explosive

is to explode.”

_TABLE C._

Giving some particulars in connection with the Chief Explosions which

have occurred in this country.

KEY TO COLUMN HEADINGS:

A: Date of Accident.

B: Place.

C: Nature of Explosive involved.

D: Quantity of Explosive involved.

E: No. of Killed.

F: No. of Injured.

G: Radius of destructive effect in yards.

H: Distance in yards from nearest inhabited house, now rendered

obligatory for this quantity.

I: Cause so far as ascertained, and Remarks.

+--------+----------------+----------+------+----+-------+---------+----+-------------+

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |

+--------+----------------+----------+------+----+-------+---------+----+-------------+

|1/10/64 |Erith |Gunpowder | 51 | A large | 3080 |3500|Unknown. |

|11/8/71 |Stowmarket, |Gun-cotton| 12½ | 24 | over | 466 |1030|Malicious |

|2/10/74 |Barge on Canal |Gunpowder |5 tons| 3 | 1 | 400 | 525|Ignition by |

|21/4/76 |Cymmer, |Dynamite | 160 | 13 | 2 | 37 | 50|Probably due |

|12/5/76 |Herodsfoot, |Gunpowder | 4½ | 3 | | 150 | 470|Workman |

|30/6/77 |Floating |Detonators| 3300 | 3 | |No houses| 250|Probably due |

| 6/8/78 |Victoria |Gunpowder |1 ton | | 2 | do. | 150|Lightning. |

|29/11/78|Elterwater, |Gunpowder | 500 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 65|Unknown. |

| | Westmoreland | | lbs. | | | | | |

|21/2/79 |Hall’s |Gunpowder | 3½ | 1 | 8 | 300 | 360|Probably due |

| 5/3/80 |Craig, |Nitro- |about | 5 | 1 | | |In a kettle |

|19/3/81 |Blackbeck, |Gunpowder | 1800 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 148|Breaking down|

|21/7/81 |Gatebeck, near |Gunpowder | 1100 | 2 | |Under 50 | 100|Unknown, but |

|29/9/83 |Furness, |Gunpowder | 2½ | 1 | 3 | 240 | 255|Probably |

|17/11/83|Pembrey, near |Dynamite | 300 | 7 | 1 | Only a | 65|Blow on |

|26/7/84 |Blackbeck, |Gunpowder | 1400 | 4 | | 50 | 125|Lightning. |

| | Haverthwaite | | lbs. | | | | | |

| 3/5/87 |Hounslow |Gunpowder | 7600 | 1 | | 60 | 390|Probably |

| | | | lbs. | | | | | fracture of |

| | | | (but | | | | | machinery in|

| | | | not | | | | | glazing |

|22/6/87 |Cornbrook, |Picric | (?) | 1 |Several| 180 | (?)|Formation of |

|7/11/87 |Kennall Vale, |Gunpowder | 1050 | 2 | | 30 | 100|Spark in |

|22/1/90 |Roslin, near |Gunpowder |2 tons| 6 | 1 | 120 | 200|Probably |

|22/10/90|Roslin, near |Gunpowder | 2500 | 2 | | 150 | 160|Repairing |

|11/1/92 |Floating |Fireworks | 10 | | |No houses| 525|Friction |

| 3/9/92 |Barque |Gunpowder | 20 | | | Nearest |1525|Fire on |

|24/2/97 |Ardeer, |Nitro- |about | 6 | 8 | 200 | 200|Unknown. |

| | N.B. | | | | | | | to _wooden_ |

|19/1/98 |Blackbeck, |Gunpowder | 1¾ |None| None | 60 | 187|Fall of roof.|

|26/5/00 |Blackbeck, |Gunpowder | 1800 | 2 | |Building | 148|Probably |

| | Haverthwaite | | lbs. | | | at | | failure of |

|30/5/00 |Huddersfield |Picric | (?) |None| None | 140 | 400|Probably due |

+--------+----------------+----------+------+----+-------+---------+----+-------------+

II.

_Products of Combustion: Fumes._

All explosives in practical use contain carbon. If there be also

present a sufficiency or an excess of oxygen this carbon is generally

burnt on explosion to carbonic anhydride, CO_{2}. This is a poisonous

gas. If, on the other hand, there is a deficiency of oxygen the carbon

is only partially burnt and carbon monoxide (CO) is formed. This is a

vastly more poisonous gas. But in any event the products of combustion

are distinctly harmful, and it is misleading and mischievous to

assert of any explosive that it gives off “no noxious fumes.” Some

are, however, as already stated, worse than others in this respect.

Gunpowder, gun-cotton, and lyddite (picric acid) are all deficient

in oxygen. The two latter, being chemical compounds, are of constant

composition, viz.:--

C_{12}H_{14}O_{4}(O,}NO_{2})_{6} and C_{6}H_{2}(NO_{2})_{3}OH

respectively, and their lack of oxygen can be seen by inspection

of their formulæ; but the ingredients of gunpowder, being merely

mechanically mixed, may be varied at will so as to produce on

combustion the minimum of CO compatible with other requirements.

In blasting, for instance, where there is no outlet for the gases

formed except by disruption of the rock or coal, the production of

a large volume of gas at high temperature is in theory all that

is necessary--the time taken to attain maximum pressure is of

comparatively little importance. When there is a deficiency of oxygen

a proportion of the carbon is converted into CO, giving for equal

weights of oxygen double as much gas as is produced in the formation of

CO_{2}, and thus, although the heat evolved in conversion to CO_{2} is

more than half as much again as in conversion to CO, yet the maximum

pressure is theoretically about the same. Calculations of maximum

pressures are, however, somewhat unreliable, owing not only to the

fact that at the high temperature of explosion the complex potassium

salts found in the cooled residue undoubtedly undergo dissociation, but

also to the uncertainty which exists as to whether gases, especially

compound gases, obey, at very high temperature and pressure, the usual

law as to the relation of pressure to volume. Practical experience

would certainly seem to contradict the theory of equality in blasting

efficiency between high and low grade powder, since far better results

are undoubtedly obtained with the former. For use in fiery or dusty

coal mines or in confined spaces there is, of course, no comparison

between them. According to Noble and Abel the percentages of CO evolved

by Curtis’s and Harvey’s best sporting powder, containing 75 per

cent. of saltpetre, and by ordinary blasting powder, containing but

62 per cent. of this ingredient, are as 2.47 to 15.22; the hydrogen

sulphide, another poisonous gas, being also increased from .83 per

cent. in the case of the former to 3.89 per cent. in the latter. On

the occasion of the peculiar accident at Crarae Quarry, Lochfyne, in

September 1886, when no less than 40 persons were rendered insensible

(7 of whom succumbed) by the fumes from a monster blast, the powder

used contained 74 per cent. of saltpetre, and only yielded 3.6 per

cent. of CO on combustion. Since 150 persons were present, it is more

than probable that, had gunpowder of inferior quality been used, the

mortality would have been very much greater. Gun-cotton is an even

worse offender in this respect, yielding on detonation, according to

different authorities and according to the pressure under which it

is exploded, from 28 to 45 per cent. of CO. For mining purposes this

percentage has been much reduced by the admixture of a due proportion

of barium nitrate to supply the necessary oxygen for theoretically

complete conversion of the carbon to CO_{2}, and although this happy

consummation has not been fully attained, yet this explosive, under

the name of tonite or cotton powder, has been used in mines with

good results, the products of combustion, according to Sir F. Abel,

furnishing little or no carbonic oxide. Prior to the introduction of

this modification, several fatal accidents had already occurred in the

use of gun-cotton by itself. For instance, no less than 12 persons were

injured, one fatally, in April 1878, by the fumes from a gun-cotton

blast during the construction of a mine tunnel at Halkyn, Flintshire.

Lyddite, on the other hand, of whose fumes we have been hearing a

good deal of late, yields not only a large proportion of CO, but also

a notable percentage of free carbon, as is evidenced by the black

smoke arising on detonation. In small quantities, however, complete

detonation is somewhat difficult to achieve, a yellow deposit being

the result. This deposit, mingling with the black smoke tinged with

the blue-grey of the pulverised rock, may possibly have given rise to

the “green fumes” which were, according to eye-witnesses, a marked

feature at Paardeberg and elsewhere. The proportion of CO formed is

doubtless greatly in excess of that evolved by gunpowder--especially

of the good quality alone used by the War Department--but it is

difficult to believe that even in the most favourable circumstances

the atmosphere could be rendered unfit to breathe by the bursting of

lyddite shells. If this possibility existed half Huddersfield must

have been asphyxiated by the recent explosion of picric acid at the

works of Messrs Read, Holliday, & Sons. Owing to its exceedingly bitter

taste, the sifting of the dry acid gives rise in some cases to sore

throat and distressing cough, necessitating the use of a respirator

by those employed in this operation, but that these symptoms are mere

inconveniences not affecting in any way the general health of the

operator is shown by the fact that the workers complain that they

cannot keep themselves on account of the tonic and appetising effect of

the acid! It is also, in solution, an excellent cure for burns.

Into the question of the physiological effect of CO poisoning I do not

propose to enter, but would refer the reader to the reports and papers

on the subject by Dr Haldane, whose classical investigations in this

connection are unrivalled; but it is of importance to note that all

explosives, except nitro-glycerine (_i.e._ Kieselguhr dynamite),

and certain of the ammonium nitrates, produce on explosion a proportion

of this deadly gas. Nitro-glycerine, or glyceryl tri-nitrate, as it

might more properly be called, contains, as shown by its formula,

C_{3}H_{5}(O,NO_{2})_{3}, more oxygen than is required for complete

combustion. The manner in which it decomposes on detonation may be

expressed according to the majority of authorities by the equation:--

2C_{3}H_{5}(O,NO_{2})_{3} = 6CO_{2} + 5H_{2}O + 6N + O

giving the following percentages--

Carbonic acid 58.15

Steam 19.82

Nitrogen 18.50

Oxygen 3.52

-----

99.99

=====

the products thus contain nothing more deleterious than carbonic acid

gas. Even if, as is possible, the excess of oxygen combines with

nitrogen to form nitrous oxide, the proportion of NO formed can only

amount to 6.60 per cent., a quantity which, under no conceivable

circumstances, could produce fatal effects.

If; however, nitro-glycerine be decomposed by simple combustion, not

detonation, the nitrogen and oxygen in the NO_{2} molecules do not

appear to be dissevered, the result being that not only are highly

poisonous nitrous fumes given off, but the proportion of available

oxygen is also so much diminished that a considerable quantity of

CO is formed. Many instances are recorded of fatalities due to the

inhalation of these nitrous fumes, and there is also at least one case

(in September 1892) when the symptoms pointed to CO, or rather to a

combination of CO and CO_{2} as the cause of death, the two victims

being rendered unconscious on the spot, and dying before help could

arrive. In cases where death has resulted from breathing nitrous

fumes only, the end has generally been deferred for some considerable

time, amounting in one instance to no less than 40 hours after the

inhalation. The symptoms are identical with those observed in cases of

poisoning from nitric acid vapour, viz., very little inconvenience is

felt at the time,--in fact the person affected has generally partaken

of food, and in one recorded case, enjoyed a smoke, before noticing

anything wrong,--subsequently difficulty in breathing, accompanied by

violent coughing, is then experienced, which increases until death. An

accident from these fumes, which occurred in September 1879, during the

construction of the Severn Tunnel, by which two men lost their lives,

has been very fully reported on by Col. Ford, late Chief Inspector

of Explosives, in Special Report No. XXVI., dated 30th October 1879,

and he there quotes several other interesting cases brought to his

notice by Dr Dupré. Moreover, since the issue of that report, several

instances have occurred where dynamite has been accidentally ignited in

a mine gallery, and has caused fatal injuries, not by explosion, but by

the fumes given off.

The notorious “nitro-glycerine headache” must not be forgotten.

This is due to dilation of the capillary blood-vessels, or rather

of the arteries, by which means the circulation is largely and

suddenly increased. This effect is achieved either by inhalation of

nitro-glycerine vapour, or by absorption through the skin, so that it

results from handling the manufactured compound, as well as from being

present in a building in which the hot explosive is deposited. No one

can enter a cordite drying room or “stove” without experiencing a

peculiar sensation at the heart and at the back of the head, which, in

the absence of fresh air, soon develops into a headache which reduces

to insignificance all the other ills of life. Some suffer more than

others, but in no case, so far as I can gather, has any permanent harm

resulted from this cause, and on most people the fumes appear to lose

their effect after a few days. With certain individuals, on the other

hand, it is a matter of weeks before they become inured, and during

that period they are never free from sickness and headache; moreover, a

very few days’ absence from contact with the explosive causes a return

of the original susceptibility. The best remedies are strong coffee,

and a linseed poultice applied to the back of the neck. Like most

poisons, nitro-glycerine is used in medicine, and has undoubtedly been

the means of prolonging many lives in cases of angina pectoris. Its

freezing point is high, viz., about 40° F., and once frozen it cannot

be thawed below 50° F. Thus, nitro-glycerine compounds are frequently

found frozen hard in June; in fact, for a great part of the year they

have to be thawed before use, and this process, unless carefully

carried out in proper warming-pans, constitutes a very considerable

danger. The lesson is gradually being learnt that dynamite will explode

at temperatures below that required to ignite it, owing to the heat

produced by the chemical action set up by the decomposition, which

commences long before the point of ignition is reached. Three accidents

in thawing occurred during the year 1899, and between the years 1872

and 1898 no less than sixty-eight accidents due to this cause took

place, involving the death of 68 persons and injuries of a more or less

serious nature to 97 others.

Inasmuch as nitro-cotton contains too little oxygen for complete

combustion, and nitro-glycerine contains more than is necessary, it

may well be imagined that a very powerful explosive would result from

an admixture of the two in proper proportions. This was first effected

by Alfred Nobel in 1875, and the invention of blasting gelatine, as

the resulting compound was named by him, may be said to mark an epoch

in the history of explosives. Provided the nitro-cotton be in the

form of the penta-nitrate only, 100 parts of nitro-glycerine would

theoretically be required to satisfy 10 parts of nitro-cellulose, but

in actual practice it is impossible to ensure the absence of lower

nitrates, and as the degree of nitration of the cellulose decreases

the necessary proportion of nitro-glycerine increases. If, however,

the percentage of nitro-cotton is reduced too low, it is impossible

to comply with the Home Office conditions as to exudation. Thus, in

this country, where the usual proportion is 9 of nitro-cotton to 91 of

nitro-glycerine, a certain quantity of CO is invariably produced by

the explosion of even the best blasting gelatine; and cordite, which

contains 37 per cent. of cellulose hexa-nitrate to 58 per cent. of

nitro-glycerine, the balance consisting of vaseline, produces no less

than 32 per cent. of CO. The gelatine dynamites, a most popular class

of blasting explosive, and the majority of smokeless powders, may be

said to be based on blasting gelatine.

As regards those ammonium-nitrate explosives, of which dinitrobenzol

forms the combustible ingredient, several fatalities have occurred

in their manufacture, generally from neglecting to make use of the

respirators and gloves supplied to prevent introduction of the poison

into the system. In one recorded case, however, viz., on 6th June 1889,

at the Roburite Company’s Works, a workman was engaged in cleaning

out an air flue through which the fumes from three mixing pans were

discharged, and owing to the admittedly ultra-dangerous nature of

the work, wore a handkerchief over his respirator, and was entirely

clothed in indiarubber, but in spite of these precautions was fatally

injured by the fumes. According to the manufacturers, the injury to the

health of the workpeople in the ordinary process of manufacture is more

apparent than real, but the wish may possibly be father to the thought,

and the industry has not been in existence long enough to provide

reliable statistics.

III.

_Explosives in Coal Mines._

Reference has already been made to the dangers attending the use of

certain explosives in fiery and dusty coal-pits. In view of the vast

quantity used in coal-getting, and of the somewhat complex nature of

the problem presented, also having regard to the wholesale destruction

of life, and consequent widespread misery entailed by a pit explosion,

originating perhaps in quite an insignificant ignition of fire-damp

or even of coal-dust, the question as to what does or does not

constitute a “safety” explosive has been discussed in all its bearings

in every civilised country. The results obtained are, however, hardly

satisfactory--no two experts, or rather groups of experts, appear to

agree. The systems by which increased safety is sought to be obtained

may be dubbed for general purposes the French, German, and British.

It would be quite impossible in the space at my disposal to trace the

gradual development in each country of the researches, theoretical

and experimental, which have in each case culminated in legislative

action. Other countries have, so far as I can gather, adopted one or

other of the above systems, or modifications of them, but, so far as

general principles are concerned, the above classification may be

accepted as correct. Thus, in France, the criterion of safety is the

_calculated_ temperature of explosion, which must in no case

exceed 1500° C.; in Germany, increasing quantities of the explosive

under examination are fired unstemmed in a regulated mixture of

pit-gas, coal-dust, and air, and no charge may be fired in practice

exceeding the maximum weight shown to be safe under the above

conditions; lastly, in this country, an arbitrary but semi-practical

test has been established, and in the prescribed mines no explosive may

be used, until it has satisfied this test. Having been connected with

the Woolwich Testing Station since its inception, any comparison by me

of the merits or demerits of the three systems would be worthless, but

I venture to hope that it will be conceded that the _principle_

underlying our own method is sound, however defective the details may

be considered by rival investigators. The truth of the matter is,

that the whole question is most involved, safety depending not on one

condition but on many. The temperature, the time, and the products,

gaseous and solid, of the explosion, the weight of the charge, the

depth and diameter of the bore-hole, the quantity and quality of the

stemming, the position of the bore-hole with reference to surfaces or

obstacles on which the hot gases may impinge, the composition of the

atmosphere of the mine, the meteorological conditions, the structure

of the rock or coal in which the shot is fired, and last but not

least, the means of firing--all have their say in the matter; and it

is ridiculous to attribute to the inherent qualities of an explosive

a calamity really due to the negligent or reckless misuse of it. An

analysis of the official reports on mine explosions caused, or rather

probably caused, by shot firing during the last twenty years, is

somewhat instructive in this connection, and may be deemed worthy of

perusal, with this preface, however, that the information has been

obtained from the published reports only, and with no facilities for

reading between the lines (see pp. 617–618).

The natural inference to be drawn is, that if a “permitted” explosive

alone is used, and the charge properly stemmed with suitable material,

and if, moreover, a very moderate quantum of judgment and common sense

is used in selecting the position of the bore-hole and the weight of

explosive necessary to do the work, the risk of an accident under this

head is practically eliminated.[146]

_TABLE D._

A List of Explosions of Gas and Dust in Coal Mines caused

by Shot-firing, on which Reports have been published, with

Explanatory Extracts from these Reports.

+--------+------------+----------+----------------------------------------+

+--------+------------+----------+----------------------------------------+

| | | | |

| 8/9/80 |Seaham | (?) |160 killed. Cause of explosion doubtful,|

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| 8/4/85 |Great Fenton| (?) |8 killed, 5 injured. “The error of the |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | or | there being more than ⅜ inch of |

| | | | |

+--------+------------+----------+----------------------------------------+

In the year 1899, during which period an increased amount of attention

was paid to the above points, out of no less than 147 ignitions of

fire-damp or coal-dust only 6 were caused by the flame from explosives

used in shot-firing.

I will conclude with a very concise description of a few of the best

known explosives in common use, other than gunpowder.

(_a_) MILITARY.

_Cordite._--Nitro-glycerine, gun-cotton, and vaseline, reduced by

means of acetone to a gelatinous paste, which is then “squirted” into

cords through dies of varying diameter by hydraulic or screw pressure.

The rate of combustion depends on the diameter of the cords.

_Gun-cotton._--Cellulose hexa-nitrate--pure cotton or cellulose

steeped in a mixture of the strongest nitric and sulphuric acids, and

thoroughly washed.

_Lyddite._--Trinitrophenol or picric acid, a mixture of carbolic

acid (phenol), and concentrated sulphuric acid treated with strong

nitric acid, picric acid crystallising out.

(_b_) SPORTING.

The name of these is legion. The best known are _Amberite_,

_Ballistite_, _Cannonite_, _E.C._, _Schultze_, _S.S._, and _Walsrode_,

and the vast majority are based on nitro-cellulose. This is mixed

with other comparatively unimportant ingredients, and granulated,

gelatinised, and hardened in a suitable manner, the method of

manufacture varying according to the explosive.

(_c_) BLASTING.

_Ammonite_, _Amvis_, _Bellite_, _Electronite_, _Roburite_, and

_Westphalite_, form with a few others seldom met with in this country

a group of explosives derived from the admixture of ammonium-nitrate

with various carbonaceous substances, such as dinitronaphthalene,

dinitrobenzol, starch, and resin. They are comparatively safe to handle

and convey, but suffer in keeping from the hygroscopic nature of the

ammonium-nitrate, which necessitates their enclosure in absolutely

waterproof cases.

_Blasting Gelatine._--Nitro-cotton dissolved in nitro-glycerine to

form a jelly. This is probably the most powerful explosive in general

use.

_Carbonite._--About 27 per cent. of nitro-glycerine absorbed in a

“dope” of woodmeal and saltpetre or nitrate of barium.

_Dynamite._--75 per cent. of nitro-glycerine absorbed in 25 per

cent. of an infusorial silicious earth called “Kieselguhr.”

_Gelatine Dynamite._--Nitro-glycerine thickened by the addition of

nitro-cotton, and combined with woodmeal, charcoal, or certain other

non-explosive ingredients.

_Gelignite_, the most commonly used of all the high explosives, is

practically gelatine-dynamite with the addition of saltpetre.

_Tonite_ or _Cotton Powder_ is a mixture of equal parts of

gun-cotton and nitrate of barium.

_Fulminate of Mercury_, used for detonating nearly all high

explosives, is a grey precipitate obtained by treating with alcohol

a solution of mercury in nitric acid. It is extremely sensitive to

percussion or friction.

A. COOPER KEY.

CHAPTER XLII

ANTHRAX

_Hides and Horsehair._

The disease to which the term anthrax is at the present time usually

applied, in this country, is fortunately of rare occurrence in man,

mainly affecting, as it does, cattle, sheep, swine, and horses. In

1891, it may be noted, there was an outbreak among deer, and in certain

foreign countries attacks among goats and camels appear to be not

uncommon. The disease may be transmitted by direct inoculation of a

scratch or wound of the skin, by inhalation into the lungs, or by being

introduced into the alimentary canal with the food. The last-named

mode of infection is that which appears to be most common in the lower

animals, and the disease produced in them, accompanied as it is, as

a rule, by marked enlargement of the spleen, is sometimes referred

to as splenic fever. The infective property clings pertinaciously to

certain fields and pastures, so that in America, and on the continent

of Europe, the risk incurred by allowing animals to graze in particular

localities is definitely recognised, while a similar phenomenon has

also been observed in this country. The risk in question appears

to be greater at certain times of the year. In the Western States

of America it is said to be inseparably connected with the highest

temperatures of summer, and to occur only when the surface soil has

been thoroughly warmed; a certain degree of moisture is also believed

to be necessary. Power of transmitting infection is maintained in

these particular localities, and conveyed to others, by allowing the

discharges from infected animals, and the blood of such animals, if

they are slaughtered or cut up after death, to obtain access to the

soil. Hides, skins, hair, and wool, which have become smeared with

such blood or discharges, retain the property of conveying infection

after drying, and exposure to light and air for prolonged periods; even

after transportation for thousands of miles the manipulation of such

infected products is attended with serious danger.

In man the disease assumes generally what is known as the _external

form_, the poison obtaining access to the body through some abrasion

of the skin. At the site of inoculation a small vesicle may be detected

at the outset: this vesicle speedily develops into a _malignant

pustule_, _i.e._, an inflamed area presenting a dark centre,

surrounded by a ring of vesicles with a crenated margin. At this

stage, which is that in which attention is usually first drawn to the

disease, the appearances are generally quite characteristic, and if

skilled advice is obtained, and the nature of the mischief realised,

the pustule can be excised and there is comparatively little risk of

a fatal issue. The term pustule, it may be noted, is a misnomer, as

pus (_i.e._ matter) is not formed in the local manifestation of

anthrax as in the case of an ordinary boil or carbuncle. A variety of

external anthrax occasionally met with (erysipelatous or œdematous

anthrax) is referred to elsewhere. Again, in some instances, usually

in connection with the manipulation of wool, anthrax in man assumes

the _internal form_ (_vide_ Anthrax in relation to the wool

industry). This last-named form of the malady is also met with among

workers in horsehair, but is very uncommon in persons who manipulate

hides and skins.

_History of the Disease._--Little is known as regards the

prevalence of anthrax in man and in animals in past times. It has

been suggested that the grievous murrain which destroyed the cattle

of the Egyptians, and which was succeeded by a “breaking forth with

blains” upon men, and upon horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep, was

anthrax. Again, numerous instances of the concurrence of murrain in

cattle with pestilence in man have been recorded from time to time,

and some of these may conceivably admit of similar interpretation. At

the present day the name _anthrax_ is commonly given, in some

parts of the world, to what in England is known as carbuncle, and

there is room for difference of opinion as to the meaning of the word

when it occurs in old records. It may be sufficient to note in this

connection that it has been contended that in ancient Greece the term

was applied to smallpox. Towards the end of the last century, however,

the occurrence of what would now be termed in this country “anthrax”

seems to have been observed in the human subject, in association

with the manipulation of raw animal products. Thus Fournier of Dijon

in 1769 referred to the transmission of disease to men engaged in

handling hair and wool. Similar cases were recorded by Montfils in

1776; moreover, the subject of anthrax in animals was, it may be noted,

discussed by Chabert in a work published in Paris in 1780. It was not,

however, until the latter part of the nineteenth century that any

considerable amount of attention was attracted by the malady.

In 1847 cases of “malignant pustule” were described by Lawrence in

connection with a hair factory; a series of cases was collected and

published in 1852 by Mr Harvey Ludlow; and in 1862 the history of some

30 cases, one of which occurred in a tanner, and one in a person who

had been employed in loading hides, was given by Dr William Budd.

Growth of knowledge concerning anthrax was much stimulated by the

discovery of the anthrax bacillus. This organism had been observed

by Pollender in 1849; it was shown to be the actual cause of the

disease, however, by the researches of Davaine, and knowledge of

its life-history was subsequently greatly extended by Koch. The

discovery of the comparatively easily destructible bacillus, and its

ability to produce highly resistant spores, afforded explanation of

the pertinacity with which raw animal products retain the power of

transmitting infection, and led to appreciation of the difficulty

of dealing with contaminated material. The researches of Pasteur,

concerning attenuation of the anthrax organism and protective

inoculation, moreover, opened up a most interesting and important field

of inquiry.

_Anthrax Statistics._--It was not until 1863 that “malignant

pustule” began to appear as a cause of death in the Registrar-General’s

returns. During the fourteen years 1863–1876, three or four deaths on

an average were registered annually. Then, for a time, in addition

to the heading “Malignant Pustule,” the headings “Charbon” and

“Wool-sorters’ Disease” were officially recognised, and the number

of deaths registered under the three headings had, in the year 1880,

increased to eighteen. From 1881 onwards, all anthrax deaths have been

included by the Registrar-General under the heading “Splenic Fever,”

and the number registered was, it may be noted, as small as three

in the year 1891, as high as eighteen in 1884, 1897, and 1898, and

twenty-one in 1899.

Brief as has been the period in which records of the disease in man

have accumulated, and imperfect as these records doubtless still

are, anthrax statistics relating to other animals are, as might be

expected, still more imperfect. Returns for Great Britain, which are

only available from 1887 onwards, are given in the annexed table, taken

from the annual report on proceedings under the Diseases of Animals

Acts, compiled for the Board of Agriculture.

Number of Counties in Great Britain in which Anthrax was

reported by the Inspectors of the Local Authorities, with the

Number of Outbreaks reported, and the Number of each kind of

Animal returned as attacked in each year.

+------+---------+---------+-----------------------------------+

|Years.|Counties.|Outbreaks+-------+------+------+-------+-----+

+------+---------+---------+-------+------+------+-------+-----+

| 1887 | 51 | 236 | 415 | 37 | 184 | [147]| |

| 1888 | 49 | 180 | 280 | 45 | 76 | [147]| |

| 1889 | 45 | 167 | 236 | 4 | 69 | [147]| 461 |

| 1890 | 48 | 152 | 253 | 72 | 210 | [147]| |

| 1891 | 50 | 226 | 300 | 15 | 156 | [147]| |

| 1892 | 60 | 289 | 445 | 11 | 190 | [147]| |

| 1893 | 68 | 563 | 833 | 108 | 313 | 46 | |

| 1894 | 64 | 494 | 625 | 125 | 188 | 62 | |

| 1895 | 66 | 434 | 604 | 158 | 140 | 32 | |

| 1896 | 64 | 488 | 632 | 34 | 200 | 38 | |

| 1897 | 67 | 433 | 521 | 39 | 284 | 38 | |

| 1898 | 73 | 556 | 634 | 22 | 161 | 39 | |

| 1899 | 67 | 534 | 634 | 69 | 253 | 30 | |

+------+---------+---------+-------+------+------+-------+-----+

As time goes on the value of these returns will no doubt be enhanced.

At present veterinary opinion rather suggests that too absolute

reliance must not be placed upon the figures given. It may be taken

for granted, however, that the system of reporting outbreaks has led

to increased attention being devoted to anthrax in animals, and to an

appreciation of the fact that the disease is more prevalent in Great

Britain than had been supposed. The particulars collected, moreover,

show that those counties in which foreign animal products, hides,

hair, wool, etc., are manipulated, are specially prone to suffer from

outbreaks of anthrax in animals. It may be mentioned that an inquiry

was made a few years ago by Dr Ravenal of Pennsylvania as to the

influence of tanneries in spreading anthrax among cattle feeding on

pastures watered by streams contaminated by tannery refuse. The result

of this inquiry is given by Dr Legge in a report, which appears in the

Annual Report for 1899 (p. 325) of the Chief Inspector of Factories.

It seems that in 1897, 12 men and 60 head of cattle died of anthrax

near tanneries in the State of Pennsylvania.

Of the prevalence of anthrax in other parts of the world, it is

difficult at the present time to obtain precise knowledge. In some

parts of Europe (France, Germany, Russia, and Italy) the malady appears

to be more prevalent than it is in this country; the same remark may

perhaps be said to hold good for Persia, India, Siberia, China, and

parts of Africa, and North and South America. It is stated that in the

district of Novgorod, Russia, in the four years 1867–70, 56,000 horses,

cattle, and sheep perished from anthrax.

_Outbreaks Recorded during Recent Years._--During the last twenty-five

years several detailed reports on outbreaks of anthrax in man,

attributed to the handling of particular raw animal products, have

been made. Thus Dr Russell, in 1878, published the history of an

outbreak of this kind, which was attributed to the manipulation of

“raw Russian manes” in certain horsehair factories in Glasgow. In

his report (appended to the Annual Report of the Medical Officer of

the Local Government Board for 1878) Dr Russell discusses certain

previously recorded instances of anthrax in association with horsehair

manipulation in Paris, Metz, Leipzig, and Massachusetts. From 1878

to 1899 no further cases of the disease were noted in workers in the

horsehair industry in Glasgow; in 1900, however, three such cases were

reported, and similar cases have been observed in several instances in

London (_vide_ Annual Reports of the Medical Officer of Health of the

County of London and of H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories). Outbreaks

on a more extensive scale have been reported in Germany (_vide_ Report

of Dr Kubler in _Arbeiten a. d. Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte_, 15 Band,

3 Heft, 1899). It may be noted that raw Russian and China manes have

fallen especially under suspicion in connection with several of the

recorded outbreaks, and these kinds of raw material seem particularly

prone to be contaminated with dirt, and when combed or “willeyed,”

to give rise to dust, which it is presumed is the medium by which

infection is conveyed to workers in horsehair.

At about the time when the publication of Dr Russell’s report drew

attention to horsehair, the question of wool-sorters’ disease (_vide_

Anthrax--its relation to the Wool Industry) also came to the fore.

Again, in 1882–83, Mr Spear, on behalf of the Local Government Board,

carefully investigated the circumstances of an outbreak of anthrax

in connection with the hide and skin industry in London, affecting

persons who had manipulated certain bales of hides from China, either

at the warehouse in which they were in the first instance stored,

or subsequently at the tannery to which they were conveyed and in

which they underwent the process of conversion into leather. Mr Spear

published, in an appendix to his report, a table giving particulars

as to cases of anthrax which he had traced as having occurred in

London between 1873 and 1883. This table was subsequently extended,

and further cases have been recorded from time to time in the Annual

Reports of the Medical Officer of Health of the County of London. These

reports show that between 1873 and 1896 there were recognised, in the

metropolis and its neighbourhood, in all 148 cases of the disease. Of

these:--

108 occurred among persons engaged in the hide and skin trade;

5 occurred among persons engaged in slaughtering animals; 18

occurred among persons engaged in the manipulation of horsehair,

or in the manufacture of brushes; 1 occurred in a person

employed in a bacteriological laboratory; finally, 16 occurred

under circumstances in which the source of infection was not

traceable.

_Anthrax Notification._--Sect. 29 of the Factory and Workshop Act

of 1895 made notification of a case of anthrax occurring in a factory

or workshop compulsory, and under this section there have, during

recent years, been notified the following cases:--

In 1896, 13 cases.

In 1897, 23 cases, including 14 in connection with hides and

skins and 9 in connection with wool.

In 1898, 28 cases, including 8 in connection with hides and

skins; 16 in connection with wool; 3 in connection with

horsehair; and 1 in connection with other industries.

In 1899, 55 cases, including 16 in connection with hides and

skins; 18 in connection with wool; 17 in connection with

horsehair; and 4 in connection with other industries.

In 1900, 37 cases, including 9 in connection with hides and

skins; 9 in connection with wool; 12 in connection with

horsehair; and 7 in connection with other industries.

In 1897 an important report by a Departmental Committee appointed

by the Home Office to inquire into the “Conditions of Work in

Wool-sorting and other Kindred Trades” was issued. In this report

existing knowledge concerning the subject was summarised and special

consideration was devoted to the discussion of possible preventive

measures. Dr Whitelegge, now H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories, was

one of the members of this Committee, and since his appointment to his

present office he has, in his annual reports, published a summary

of the facts ascertained with regard to anthrax in each year since

1897. Dr Whitelegge’s more recent reports contain also the results of

the inquiries made by Dr Legge, the Medical Inspector of Factories.

This series of Home Office reports is from year to year, adding

materially to our knowledge of the disease and the methods which may be

advantageously used in checking its prevalence. In Germany, moreover,

the reports of the Imperial Health Office have of late years contained

frequent references to the subject, and a new era may thus be said to

have commenced as regards the study of the malady in its relation to

industry.

Having regard to the recent introduction of compulsory notification,

and to the larger measure of importance which is attached to anthrax,

it is now unlikely that cases of the disease will escape notice, as

they have doubtless in some instances done in the past, and as more

and more complete records of the circumstances of anthrax outbreaks

are obtained, there seems reason for hoping that it may be possible to

obtain fuller knowledge concerning the history and antecedents of the

material which has conveyed infection. If this proves to be the case,

preventive measures may be thus greatly facilitated.

_Grouping of Anthrax Cases._--That investigation of this kind

may prove of importance seems clear from the evidence of grouping of

cases which has been forthcoming, even from such inquiry as it was

possible to make in past years, and in the absence of the more precise

information which compulsory notification may, in future, be expected

to afford. The following instances observed in the metropolis and its

neighbourhood may be referred to in illustration of this point.

(1) In the year 1895 a number of cases of anthrax occurred among

persons employed in manipulating horsehair and in brushmaking. Thus

three cases occurred in Southwark, and in each instance the persons

attacked had manipulated horsehair, in connection, however, with

the establishments of three different brushmakers. A fourth case

occurred in a dresser of horsehair employed in St Luke’s. Two cases in

Shoreditch appeared to be traceable to a brushmaker’s at Tottenham,

and it was found, on making inquiry there, that two other cases had

occurred among employés at this particular workplace. Two further

cases occurred in East London affecting men who worked with horsehair

at a bass and fibre dresser’s in Mile End Old Town. In all, ten

cases occurred between May and December 1895, in association with

the manipulation of horsehair. The facts as to the distribution of

horsehair to the various establishments concerned could not be fully

ascertained; so far as the question could be followed up, it appeared

quite possible that some particular consignment of horsehair had been

handled by all the affected workers, and that this consignment had done

all the mischief. Having regard to the distribution of the cases in

time such an hypothesis seemed a likely one.

(2) On the last day of January and the first four days of February

1896, six men were admitted to Guy’s Hospital suffering from malignant

pustule. Five of the men had recently been engaged in manipulating

goatskins at a leather-dressing establishment, and the sixth man was

employed at a warehouse from which goatskins had been supplied to this

establishment. Every facility was given by the firm employing the

five men with a view to enabling the particular consignment of skins

implicated to be traced, but it was not found possible to ascertain

all the facts with regard to these skins. There was, however, evidence

pointing to two conclusions respecting them. In the first place, some

of them were “sea damaged,” and secondly, they were brought to England

by a vessel which had touched at certain Mediterranean ports.

On investigation of previous occurrences of anthrax in London it was

found that a case had occurred in December 1895, the patient being a

man employed in a tanyard. This man had on 29th November and succeeding

days handled goatskins, which, inasmuch as they were a salvage lot from

a ship on which a fire had broken out, had “been sold cheap.” Some of

these goatskins which were described as “sea damaged,” were regarded as

unfit for treatment, and were sent away; the others were converted into

leather. The ship by which they were brought to this country had come

from the Mediterranean. Again, a dock labourer who had unloaded goods,

among which were goatskins, in St Katherine’s Dock during the first

week of December, developed on 7th December a malignant pustule. The

skins concerned possibly came from the Mediterranean.

Thus within a period of a few weeks three distinct occurrences of

anthrax had been observed in London, apparently attributable to one

common cause, the manipulation of goatskins. On the information to

hand, the three consignments of goatskins could not be traced to one

and the same source--indeed a distinct ship was apparently implicated

in each instance, the only feature in common being that two of these

vessels were definitely stated to have come, and the third may have

come, from the Mediterranean. It was further noteworthy that several

cases of anthrax had occurred in recent years at the wharf from which

one of the consignments referred to above had been supplied. Thus a

case occurred at this wharf in September 1893, another in March 1894,

and in each of these cases the man who was attacked had manipulated

goatskins. In September 1894 another man working at this wharf was

attacked; there was, however, no information as to goatskins in this

instance. Again, in October 1895, two cases occurred in men who had

manipulated goatskins at the same wharf.

This series of events is suggestive of one or other of two

explanations. Either the wharf may have been supplied from time to

time with infected goatskins, and in that case the possibility of some

particular anthrax-infected locality being the source of supply and

the cause of all the trouble naturally suggests itself; or the wharf

premises, having themselves become infected, may have served as a

means of re-infecting from time to time batches of skins. The former

hypothesis seems to best fit in with the facts. That premises may,

however, at times become infected and again convey infection at a later

period seems not improbable. Such was indeed proved to be the case

by Professor Boyce (_vide_ Annual Report of the Medical Officer

of Health of Liverpool for 1899). It may be noted in this connection

with regard to the five cases of anthrax mentioned above, as having

occurred in January and February of 1896, that three further cases

developed which may possibly have been attributable to the same source

of infection. Two of the cases occurred in persons who may have been

brought in contact with the skins implicated in January and February;

a third case was that of a man who had worked at the leather-dressing

establishment, and on a part of the premises in which the skins

implicated in the earlier part of the year had been placed.

_Grouping of Cases considered in Relation to Preventive

Measures._--The occurrence of such groups of cases as those above

referred to merely repeats the experience of Glasgow in 1878, when

Russian manes were at fault, and that of Bermondsey in 1882, when

certain Shanghai hides fell under suspicion. If careful inquiry were

made concerning every case of anthrax, it appears not improbable that

all the cases occurring during a series of years could be referred to a

very limited number of consignments of raw material, and if the origin

of the goods were followed up in each instance, it might be found that

a considerable check could be placed upon the introduction of infected

raw products into this country. In some cases workmen have been led to

suspect that they were incurring special risk from something unusual

in the appearance of the hides, skins, or horsehair, with which they

were dealing. It has been already said that the hides suspected in

the historic outbreak in Bermondsey in 1882 came from Shanghai; a

considerable number of these were ascertained to have been “light,”

“dirty,” “stale,” and “much tainted,” “many were in fact ‘dead’ hides,”

_i.e._ those of animals that had not been slaughtered, but had

died, possibly, of course, of anthrax. In a particular instance, in

connection with a more recent occurrence of a case of the disease in

question in London, it was found that a small quantity of suspected

material had been retained at the broker’s warehouse, the bulk of the

consignment, of which the said material formed a portion, being sent

abroad. The small quantity in question, which consisted of scabbed

and worthless skins, was handed over, at the request of the Medical

Officer of Health in whose district the warehouse was situated, to

be destroyed; but that officer had no opportunity afforded him of

examining the bales which were not disposed of in London. There can

be no doubt that there would be less likelihood of suspected material

being placed upon the market, if it were definitely realised that the

source of infection would be traced in all cases of anthrax which

occur. Veterinary experts in this country have long insisted that “no

attempt should be made to utilise any part of the carcase of an animal

which has died of anthrax”; and M. Chauveau, in a paper read before

the seventh International Congress of Hygiene and Demography in 1891,

argued that only by convincing those concerned with the disposal of

raw material, to which suspicion attaches, that to destroy it is the

only course open to them in order to safeguard their own interests,

will it be practicable to exercise any really efficacious check upon

production of disease. M. Chauveau urged that effort should be made to

cause this fact to be generally appreciated, and he added, “L’effet de

cette propagande devrait être renforcé par une bonne organisation des

services de surveillance sanitaire, et par une application sévère des

pénalités contre les délinquants.”

Mr Spear, in his report in 1883, referred to the possibility of “the

establishment of an organisation by which this country may be warned of

the existence of the disease among cattle,” with a view to prohibiting

the import of suspected hides. He pointed out, moreover, that if the

practice of dealing separately with “dead” hides, from their first

shipment at the port of export, were to become established, such a

system would “result in the limitation of dangerous material mainly to

one class of goods, instead of its distribution throughout the entire

bulk.” These suggestions seemed, perhaps, when they were made, to be

“counsels of perfection,” but if the material conveying infection is

in the future traced in a growing proportion of cases, and if, armed

with knowledge of all cases of anthrax which occur, inquiry as to

the antecedents of implicated material is more and more sedulously

prosecuted, it seems probable that it will increasingly become the

practice of owners of diseased animals to destroy infected hides,

skins, hair, etc., instead of attempting to dispose of them.

Against the prospect of diminution of risk from the growth of a desire

on the part of dealers in raw animal products to safeguard their own

interests, it may be urged that anthrax is so common a disease that

the wholesale destruction of the skins, hides, hair, etc., of infected

animals would mean great loss; that in many instances the existence

of diseased conditions cannot be detected; that even with the best

intentions on the part of the dealer much dangerous material must

necessarily be placed on the market; and that in any event all that

is needful in the case of suspected raw products is that they should

be adequately disinfected. Further experience will no doubt throw

more light on these questions, but the history of cases in London and

elsewhere, so far as it is known, suggests that the amount of dangerous

material exported to this country is very small in proportion to the

total bulk, and that, with the devotion of an increasing amount of

attention to the matter, it will become more and more usual for the

origin of consignments of such dangerous material to be traced. If this

should prove to be the case, it may be that the prevention of anthrax

infection will be worked out very much upon the lines indicated by M.

Chauveau.

_Disinfection and Other Measures of Precaution._--As regards

disinfection it has been, until quite recently, assumed that exposure

to steam, or to reliable chemical disinfectants, was quite out of

the question. So far as the leather trade is concerned this doctrine

is still generally accepted, but, as regards the horsehair industry,

experiments have shown that disinfection is practicable under certain

conditions. It appears from a recent Report of the Medical Inspector

of Factories (Dr Legge), that in this country a steam disinfector

is in use in a particular establishment for dealing with mane hair

from Russia and China, and that in other establishments all mane

hair is boiled or dyed before being used for curling purposes. In

Germany careful experiments have been made with a view to determining

how disinfection can be carried out with a minimum of damage to raw

material, and an account of the results obtained is contained in the

_Arbeiten a. d. Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte_, 15 Band, 5 Heft,

1899. The principal conclusion would appear to be that the pressure

under which the steam is allowed to enter the disinfecting chamber

should not exceed 0.15 atmosphere (2 to 3 lbs. to the square inch).

Higher pressures, such as are commonly in use in steam disinfectors in

this country, tend to make the ends of the hair (especially of long

tail hair used for weaving purposes) brittle. A further objection

to steam is the yellow colour which it imparts to white hair. As

the outcome of these experiments, special rules dealing with the

disinfection of foreign horsehair and pigs’ bristles were formulated,

and came into force throughout Germany in 1899. A report as to their

operation appeared in 1901 (_loc. cit._, 18 Band, 1 Heft).

The use of steam disinfection in the horsehair industry may,

therefore, become considerably extended. Dr Legge points out, however,

that reliance must not be placed upon such disinfection as at

present practised for dealing with “unopened bales, especially when

hydraulically pressed.” The fact noted by Dr Legge that, in September

1899, “the principal horsehair manufacturers, at a meeting held in

London, passed unanimously a resolution binding themselves from that

date to buy no Russian, Siberian, or Chinese undyed mane hair, until

satisfactory guarantees had been given by the sellers that the hair has

been thoroughly disinfected,” is a significant one. Further, reference

may be made to a circular letter, addressed to occupiers of horsehair

works by H.M. Chief inspector of Factories, which deals with means of

diminishing risk of anthrax in the industry in question (_vide_

Annual Report of the Chief Inspector for 1900).

In connection with hides, Mr Spear first pointed out the desirability

of studying, in relation to the process of curing, the question of

the possibility of favouring the destruction of morbific germs. “It

might,” he said, “be possible so to treat the skins by a preliminary

process, as to cause any attached spores to germinate into the easily

destructible rods.”

Anthrax appears to be rarely, if ever, conveyed by wet hides, and there

is, therefore, some prospect that the increasing adoption of the “wet,”

as opposed to the “dry,” cure may prove an important means of obviating

the spread of infection. The dry cure is said to stand condemned from

the point of view of producing good leather, but, in places where

difficulty of transport makes weight an important consideration, it is

still largely adopted. As long ago as 1894, a writer in the _Leather

Trades Circular and Review_ urged the merchants engaged in the China

trade to “establish saladeros (as has been done in South America),

where all green hides shall, after slaughtering, go through a proper

system of brining, or arsenic curing, or salting, by which the pelt

will be preserved.” Arsenic curing, it may, however, be noted, might

become a source of danger. Experiments made with a view to determining

whether chemical disinfection of hides can be effected in a practicable

manner are being carried out in this country at the present time.

Pending the growth of knowledge as to sources of anthrax infection, and

increase in appreciation of the desirability of destroying infected

goods, something can be done by advocating cleanliness and enforcing

the provision of washing appliances, and by urging the great importance

of alertness as regards detecting the disease at the outset, with a

view to obtaining proper advice during the earliest stages of the

malady. In the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories for

1899 the special rules issued in 1899, and established in eighty-eight

works, are published _in extenso_. These rules define both the

duties of the occupier and the duties of persons employed. In 1899,

too, it was decided by the Home Office authorities to give facilities

for bacteriological examination, with a view to the verification

of doubtful cases of anthrax, and medical practitioners, on making

application to the Medical Inspector of Factories at the Home Office,

are now enabled to satisfactorily clear up the diagnosis in doubtful

cases. This in itself constitutes an important step in advance, and is

an indication of the growing amount of attention that is likely to be

accorded to anthrax prevention in the near future.

W. H. HAMER.

CHAPTER XLIII

ANTHRAX--ITS RELATION TO THE WOOL INDUSTRY

Wool has been woven into the industrial history of the world, and has

been an important factor in the progress of nations from savagery to

civilisation. In all ages, “flocks and herds” have represented peace

and prosperity, and only within recent years has it become known that

the fleeces, hides, flesh, and other products of animals which die from

anthrax sometimes convey the disease to man.

The word “wool” in its technical meaning comprises sheep or lamb’s

wool, goat’s wool or hair (mohair), camel’s wool or hair, alpaca, and

other allied textile fibres. The quantities and origins of these for

manufacturing purposes in the year 1900 were nearly as follow, in

million pounds weight:--

From the United Kingdom 141

„ British Possessions 448

„ Foreign Countries 105

„ „ Mohair 22

„ „ Alpaca 6

---

722

Exported in the “raw” state 220

---

Balance for home use 502

===

The “clip” of wool of the United Kingdom is practically what it

was fifty years ago. The total imports of wool, goat’s hair, and

alpaca, have increased fourfold during the same period. This increase

represents the growth of the wool industry in the West Riding, there

having been little increase in other parts of the Kingdom. It is

probable that “three-fourths of all the wool used in this country is

consumed within a radius of fifteen miles from Bradford.” The longer

and finer combing wools, including almost all the mohair and alpaca,

are manufactured into “worsteds”--stuffs--for which Bradford is the

commercial centre. The shorter and coarser felting wools are made into

“woollens”--cloths--of which Leeds and Huddersfield are the most

important producers; others are used at Halifax and Kidderminster for

carpets, and also at Leicester for hosiery.

Previous to 1837, when alpaca and mohair were imported from Peru and

Asia Minor respectively for use as textile fibres, no specific disease

had been associated with wool. Ten years afterwards, owing to recurring

deaths of sorters, a suspicion arose that these materials were in some

way or other the cause of the peculiar, rapid, and fatal illness which

became known as “wool-sorter’s disease.” When these sudden deaths

followed each other at several months’ interval they did not attract

much attention, but when sorters died within a few weeks from a similar

and unusual disease, the workpeople became alarmed, and their fears

were increased when no reasonable explanation could be given as to

the nature of the illness, its prevention or its cure. In the hope

of solving the mystery, many _post-mortem_ examinations of the

bodies of wool-sorters were made by leading medical men in the large

towns of the West-Riding, and the suspected materials and dust arising

from these were submitted to experts for microscopical examination and

chemical analysis. These investigations and reports extended over more

than thirty years without arriving at a satisfactory explanation. In

1877 a case of this disease came under the writer’s observation; the

man was apparently well in the morning on leaving home for work, and

died seventeen hours after the first feeling of illness. It was evident

that this fatal collapse without pain or distress was not from any

well-known disease. In 1879, when visiting such a patient--who died

twelve hours afterwards--he took some blood from the arm, and within

a few minutes two or three drops of it were injected under the lumbar

skin of a rabbit, a guinea-pig, and a mouse respectively. The animals

died within sixty hours, and the blood of each showed the presence

of bacilli. Another animal was inoculated with the blood from one of

these, and it died in a shorter time. The fluids from this animal were

found to be crowded with the _bacillus anthracis_, and the disease

was recognised to be anthrax. (_Lancet_, vol. ii., 1879, pp. 920,

959.)

Anthrax is a contagious disease, and of the widest distribution.

It readily attacks most wool-bearing animals, and is found in all

countries, being very prevalent on the Continent of Europe, in Asia,

South Africa, and South America, and occurring less commonly in the

United Kingdom, North Africa, North America, and Australasia. The

incidence of anthrax among animals in Great Britain varies very

much, some counties having no outbreak year after year, while from

others it is never absent. It is most prevalent in the West-Riding,

and the counties of Leicester, Northampton, and Norfolk, in all of

which foreign wool, hair, hides, or other animal products are used

in industrial processes. The number of sheep and lambs in Great

Britain in 1900 was 28,000,000, and the number reported to the Board

of Agriculture to have died from anthrax during the year was 40.

For 1899 the number of deaths was 69. The risk of infection from

home-grown and colonial wools is so slight that it may be disregarded.

The most noxious wools are those from foreign countries where anthrax

is prevalent, the wool being dry, dusty, of low quality, and having

very little “yolk.” (Yolk is a peculiar unctuous substance, chiefly

consisting of a potash soap which pervades the wool and protects the

animal from the effects of rain and cold; it also nourishes the wool,

rendering it soft, oily, and pliable.) It is equal in weight to 7 or 8

per cent. of the “raw” fleece. Alpaca, mohair, camel’s hair, Persian,

and inferior dry Eastern wools have very little yolk, and are dangerous

to handle if they contain “fallen fleeces.” The greater amount of yolk

or grease in South American and other foreign wools appears to fix the

anthrax spores, and renders the wool almost innocuous to the sorters.

The essential cause of anthrax is a micro-organism, the _Bacillus

anthracis_, the spores of which can only produce their specific

effect when they gain access to the circulating blood by way of the

skin, the lungs, or the stomach; hence there are three types of the

disease: the cutaneous, the pulmonary, and the intestinal.

1. _Cutaneous Anthrax._--This presents two varieties, viz.,

malignant pustule and erysipelatous anthrax. The malignant pustule was

first noticed in England in 1854, and recorded in 1863. It must have

occurred frequently in the Bradford Worsted District for more than

thirty years before it was diagnosed as anthrax in 1880. This form of

cutaneous anthrax in wool-workers is very much the same as that which

appears in hide-dressers and others.

_Erysipelatous anthrax_, of which _œdematous anthrax_ is a

milder manifestation, has, until recently, escaped recognition in this

country. It was first noticed by Bourgeois in Provence, France, in

1834, and his observations were published in 1843. He wrote afterwards

a very complete account of it in his book on _La Pustule Maligne et

L’Œdème Malin_, 1861. Subsequent writers have been almost entirely

indebted to this author for their statements.

_Symptoms._--Bourgeois says: “It begins as a pale swelling,

soft and without pain. It is only after several days, and when more

fully developed, that vesicles and eschars form, notably on the

eyelids, but at the onset the skin is smooth and has no trace of

a pimple.” The local symptoms are the extensive œdema, in slight

cases, without redness, vesication, or eschar; in severe cases, with

redness, vesication, and a gangrenous appearance of the skin. The

general symptoms are of a negative character; there may be no pain, no

distress, and no fever. Even in fatal cases these are not very marked.

_Diagnosis._--The appearance of the patient is so like that

of one with ordinary erysipelas that the differences might easily

be overlooked, were it not that there is so little constitutional

disturbance. The absence of injury, pain, and fever will distinguish

it from acute emphysematous gangrene. The only proof, however, is

the finding of the characteristic bacillus in the blood or fluids by

cultures and physiological tests.

_Prognosis._--This form of anthrax is stated to be much more fatal

than malignant pustule; of seven cases seen by the writer, three were

fatal.

CASE.--J. G., æt. 29, a willower of low class wools, had

been ailing several days when visited on 12th March 1899. The right

upper eyelid was greatly swollen, red, and hard, there were several

vesicles, nearly the size of kidney beans, which contained a clear

gelatinous, straw-coloured serum; pulse 88, temperature 100.5°. March

13th, neither eye could be opened, the right ear was doubled on itself,

the scalp pitted on pressure, and he was slightly delirious; pulse

76, temperature 101.8°. March 14th, other vesicles on the cheek, much

swelling of submaxillary glands and neck; pulse 88, temperature 101.8°.

After a few days, black eschars appeared on the eyelids, the swelling

subsided, and he was convalescent. March 17th, pulse 72, temperature

98.9°. Serum taken on 12th March for cultivation yielded positive

results.

2. _Pulmonary Anthrax._--“Wool-sorters’ Disease.”--From the year

1846, when this disease was first noticed in the neighbourhood of

Bradford, to 1877, it had not been known to attack other persons than

the sorters of alpaca and mohair. In subsequent years it was found that

camel’s hair, Persian, and other dry, dusty, low class foreign wools,

were also infective; and further, that any person might be attacked if

exposed to the inhalation of anthrax spores in dust arising from the

products of dead animals.

_Symptoms._--The absence of troublesome symptoms is very

remarkable. There may be no rigor, pain, cough, vomiting, purging, or

other distressful conditions. Even when dying, the patient may not

feel particularly ill. In ordinary cases, at the commencement, there

is a chilliness or slight shivering, the tongue is moist and thinly

coated, thirst is present, and the appetite indifferent, with some

nausea and uneasiness at the stomach; vomiting is common (if this is

only at the commencement it is not of much moment, but if persistent or

commencing after two or three days it is of serious import, indicating

the extension of the disease to the stomach and bowels.) The lungs are

always affected, although sometimes only slightly. Nearly all patients

have a feeling of tightness, weight, and oppression about the chest,

which embarrasses the breathing. Cough is generally present, but never

very troublesome; in one-third of the cases it was absent, or very

slight. In most there is no expectoration, but in mixed cases, which

continue over five days, there is some, which is occasionally rusty

coloured. The purer the infection, however, the less likely is there

to be any pneumonia. There is a dusky, leaden hue, with coldness of

face, ears, and fingers in the collapse stage. Percussion sounds are

generally clear; occasionally there is some dulness, mostly at the

base of the right lung; the respiratory sounds are feeble and almost

inaudible on this side, with some sibilant sounds; moist bronchial

râles may be present later on, but rarely crepitations. In cases where

no dulness on percussion was detected a few hours before death, not

unfrequently a considerable quantity of fluid has been found in the

pleural spaces at the _post-mortem_ examination. In the early

stage the pulse may not differ from the normal as regards frequency;

later it is small, feeble, irregular, uncountable, and out of keeping

with the apparent slight character of the illness. The heart’s sounds

are also very weak and may be inaudible. In most cases the mind keeps

clear to the end; in some with cerebral lesions, there are struggling,

convulsions, and coma. The skin is always moist and often bathed with

perspiration. The temperature seldom reaches 103°; when more than

this, the infection is mixed, causing septic pneumonia. Generally the

temperature is from 3° to 5° higher in the rectum than in the axilla.

As the illness advances, the temperature falls. The urine is scanty

and high-coloured. In one case the sp. gr. was 1040. In several cases

albumin was found, in one equal to two-thirds of the quantity of urine

in the test-tube. Sugar is also occasionally present.

The cases clinically arrange themselves into three classes: (1) Rapid,

in which death takes place within two days, from collapse without any

reaction. (2) Ordinary, in which the initial depression is followed

by reaction and death within four days. (3) Prolonged cases, in which

there is pneumonia from mixed infection, and death after the fourth day.

_Duration of Illness._--Number of cases fatal within--

1 day 2 days 3 days 4 days 5 days 10 days over 10 days Total

5 19 19 16 7 7 2 75

_Diagnosis._--In a rapid case this is easy; the patient when first

visited is seen to be dying from continued uncomplicated collapse,

which if there has been exposure to infection should not be mistaken

for any other disease. In ordinary cases during the first two days

diagnosis is impossible, the symptoms are not severe, and are such as

are met with in common ailments; it is only when the illness becomes

more pronounced by the patient’s strength and his heart failing without

other sufficient reason that a diagnosis may be made. In prolonged

cases the uncertainty is still greater; the pleuritic and pneumonic

conditions mask the purely anthrax symptoms so much, that it is only by

a _post-mortem_ examination that the true nature of the illness

can be known.

_Prognosis._--In all cases this is unfavourable; symptoms are

unreliable; what appears to be nothing more than ordinary catarrh

in a person who has been exposed to anthrax infection may suddenly

terminate fatally from heart failure. In the more prolonged cases,

which are mixed with septic pneumonia, death may occur unexpectedly. It

is probable that many cases of pulmonary infection recover; such cases

have been reported, but in none has the diagnosis been confirmed by

exact experimental methods.

_Incubation._--The period of incubation is uncertain. The exact

time of infection cannot be fixed as in cases of traumatic cutaneous

anthrax. No case of pulmonary anthrax has been recorded which was due

to only one exposure to infection. Sorters of noxious materials may

work exposed to the risk of infection almost daily for years without

any noticeable effect from it. It is only when the virus gains access

to the blood stream through some accidentally open gateway that serious

illness follows. Judging from what takes place in cutaneous cases

we may presume that when the spores pass the respiratory epithelial

barrier they will produce some local specific effect within twenty-four

hours. Infective material may be present on the skin or the mucous

membranes several days before it gains access to the blood and produces

any noticeable effect.

_Pathological Changes: External._--The appearance of the body

twenty-four hours after death varies considerably. The discoloration

of decomposition appears very soon, attended with more than the usual

lividity, which is not confined to the posterior surface of the body.

The face is sometimes very much swollen and discoloured. The cellular

tissue of the neck and upper part of the chest may be distended,

gangrenous-looking, and emphysematous. In many cases the cause of

death may be surmised from the external appearance of the body alone;

in other cases there is no unusual discoloration excepting that the

tips of the fingers are cyanosed. Between these two conditions there

is every gradation of external appearances. _Internal._--On

cutting the skin of the chest where it is much discoloured serum and

air bubbles escape. The muscles are dark coloured. On removing the

sternum the cellular tissue beneath is sometimes emphysematous; more

frequently there is much gelatinous œdema and occasionally it has been

seen infiltrated with blood. The pleural spaces almost invariably

contain a large quantity of clear straw-coloured serum, generally more

on the right side. Gelatinous infiltration under the serous covering of

the lungs and between the lobes may be one inch in thickness without

any plastic inflammatory exudation. On section the lungs are seen

to be engorged with dark-coloured blood, some portions being more

solid than others, and of a blacker red colour. It is not uncommon to

find infarcts of blood in the parenchyma of the lungs, and these in

prolonged cases may have broken down and become purulent. The bronchial

glands are enlarged, and more so on the right side; the mass may be

the size of a hen’s egg. The trachea and bronchial tubes contain

frothy blood-stained mucus; the mucous membrane is claret-coloured

and swollen, and beneath it are frequently small infarcts of blood.

The connective tissue at the root of the lungs and base of the heart

is sometimes œdematous and extensively infiltrated with blood. The

pericardium, epicardium, and endocardium frequently show subserous

petechial spots, and the pericardial fluid may be increased to five

or six ounces. The blood is nearly always fluid and of a dark, almost

black colour. The heart may be empty or contain fluid blood in all its

cavities. The colour of its lining membrane varies from a pale cherry

red to dark chocolate. The abdomen does not contain much fluid unless

the intestines have been involved, when the quantity may be from two to

four pints. The gelatinous œdema is sometimes very considerable in the

mesentery and the cellular tissue surrounding the kidneys. Extravasated

blood in small or large quantities is also seen in a few cases in the

mesentery or in the connective tissue around the kidneys. The stomach

and intestines frequently show numerous patches of extravasated

blood; if these are considerable in size they are seen on both the

mucous and serous surfaces. The spleen, like all other organs in this

disease, varies very much. It is generally larger than natural, but

not unfrequently it is unaltered in size and appearance. The liver

and kidneys are less frequently affected than other organs. The brain

is occasionally completely surrounded by blood extravasated between

the membranes. Small infarcts are sometimes seen in the cerebral

substance. The characteristic changes are: 1. The discoloration of the

skin, especially about the neck and upper part of the chest. 2. The

gelatinous œdema under the sternum, about the base of the heart, in

the mesentery, the omentum, and the adipose tissue around the kidneys.

3. The extravasations of blood, which may be extensive, in the chest,

the abdomen, or the head, with smaller hæmorrhagic areas and petechial

infarcts in any organ or any part of the body. 4. The serous effusions

into the pleura, pericardium, and peritoneum. 5. The dark colour and

fluid condition of the blood. Many coarse changes are present in every

case, but no single lesion is found in all cases. There may be no

unusual discoloration of the skin, no gelatinous œdema, no large or

numerous small extravasations of blood, or even serous effusions, but

one or more of these in various degrees is always present.

3. _Intestinal Anthrax._--Only one case of primary intestinal

anthrax has been observed in wool-workers, and that recently. A

wool-sorter, aged 29, on leaving work felt weak and as if he had a

lump at the stomach. The following day he was sick and restless; on

the third day the pulse was 86, temperature 99.2°; on the fourth day

brown-coloured blood was vomited, and several tar-like stools were

passed. Thirteen hours before death he was in a collapsed condition;

pulse 112, small and almost uncountable; respiration 26. The lungs were

not involved. Duration of illness, 4½ days.

_Distribution of the Bacilli._--These are found in the swollen

mucous membrane of the trachea and larger bronchi, being most numerous

in the neighbourhood of small hæmorrhages, and only a few in the lung

tissue. The gelatinous serum never contains large numbers. The serum

from the chest and abdomen, being a pure cultivation fluid, generally

contains large numbers of bacilli of shorter or longer lengths. Bacilli

are very unequally distributed throughout the body; they may not be

found in the spleen, but in the fluids and tissues near pathological

lesions.

Inoculations of rodents with blood taken from a patient twelve hours

before death does not always produce fatal anthrax, a result which is

inevitable if the blood be taken two or three hours before the event,

even if on microscopical examination it gives no evidence of containing

bacilli. Inoculations with gelatinous and pleural serum taken within

twenty-four hours after death may have no effect on rodents, but

generally they are fatal. All fluids and tissues which are fresh and

contain the characteristic bacilli give rise to anthrax when inoculated

into the blood stream of susceptible animals, but if not used for two

or three days this effect may not follow.

_Preventive Measures._--Noxious wools of foreign origin sometimes

include “fallen fleeces,” which are easily recognised; these should be

picked out, classed apart, and disinfected by steam.

_The Precautionary Regulations_ agreed upon at Bradford in 1884

were adopted by the Home Office in 1899, and have the force of legal

enactments. They provide that bales of alpaca, pelitan, cashmere,

Persian and camel’s hair, shall be opened over a dust-extracting fan,

so arranged that the current of air shall draw the dust away from any

workman in the room. Badly-damaged wool or hair, van mohair, “fallen

fleeces,” and foreign skin wool shall be damped with a disinfectant,

and then washed without being put through any dust-extracting machine.

The dust collected by the willows or other dust-extracting machine from

the open boards--wire-work--shall not be discharged into the open air;

it shall be removed weekly and afterwards burnt. No person having any

open cut or sore upon any part of the body shall be allowed to attend

to any willow or dust-extracting machine. No bale of wool or hair shall

be stored in a dust-extracting room. Requisites for slight wounds shall

be kept at hand. Appliances for washing shall be provided for the

workers in the warehouse and dust-extracting rooms. No meals shall be

taken in the willowing or carding room. These regulations have had a

beneficial effect in reducing the number of cases of anthrax, but they

are not sufficient to eradicate the disease. If bales of noxious wool

or hair were placed in steamers, and submitted to a steam pressure of

six pounds to the square inch--230° F.--for a few hours, all bacteria

would be destroyed. Such a regulation should be enforced wherever

noxious wools or hairs are used in the United Kingdom.

_Treatment._--It is to be regretted that in such a fatal disease

so little can be done in the way of treatment. The progress of the

illness is often so rapid that before a diagnosis can be determined the

patient is in a hopeless condition. If the patient is seen before any

signs of collapse are apparent, perhaps the inhalation of non-toxic

germicides in the form of spray, and the intravenous injections of

these may give the best chances of success. We may look forward with

confidence to the time when we shall be able to treat the disease more

successfully by antitoxines; hitherto these have been used only in

external cases.

JOHN HENRY BELL.

CHAPTER XLIV

RAGS AND THEIR PRODUCTS IN RELATION TO HEALTH

_Rag-Sorting, Rag-Grinding, Shoddy, Mungo, Flocks,

Carbonising or Wool-Extracting_

Rags may be roughly divided into two distinct kinds: (1) cotton and

linen rags; (2) woollen and partly woollen rags. The former are almost

entirely used by the paper-maker, the latter by the cloth manufacturer.

It is with the second section that I am here chiefly concerned. Rags,

as a matter of fact, seem to cause little or no infectious disease to

those who work among them, except in the case of cotton and linen rags

used in papermaking, which have been a frequent source of smallpox

infection. It may be stated that little or no infectious disease is

introduced among the workers by woollen rags. Woollen rags are of

two kinds: (1) soft rags, and (2) Mungo rags. Soft rags are largely

drawn from Scotland. Such rags as stockings, white flannels, stuffs,

carpets, etc., are included in the term “soft rags.” The “Mungo rag”

is of two sorts, the “old and the new”: the old, derived from coats,

vests, trousers, caps, etc., the “new” from clippings of army cloth,

and tailors’ shreds, etc. The wide world is laid under contribution by

the rag merchants. Walter White, in his _Month in Yorkshire_, says

of Batley:--“Hither were brought tatters from pediculous Poland, from

the gipsies of Hungary, from the peasants and scarecrows of Germany,

from the frowsy peasants of Muscovy, to say nothing of snips and

shreds of monks’ gowns and lawyers’ robes, from postillions’ jackets

and soldiers’ uniforms, from maidens’ bodices and noblemen’s cloaks.

A vast medley, truly, and all to be manufactured into broadcloth in

Yorkshire.” Sir George Head, in his _Home Tour_, also alludes to

Batley and the shoddy trade. This quotation gives one a good idea of

where rags come from. Rags are collected by travelling tinkers, etc.,

and by marine store dealers, and by them transmitted to rag merchants,

who sort them out into different lots according as they are (1) soft,

and (2) Mungo rags. All linings and seams are removed by the sorters.

All rags are sorted over what is called a riddle, through which the

dust falls, at least a part of it. Rag sorters only sit down when

seaming.

_Effects of Rag-Sorting on Health._--People who sort rags are

occasionally bronchitic and asthmatic from the dust which rises from

them, but I have seldom met with this condition in rag sorters,

although I have known individuals who had to wear respirators when

sorting. In the case of very dirty rags derived from dust heaps, rags

which have been exposed to rain in many cases, it is probable that

after drying, the dust would be of a septic character, and might induce

sore throat. Rags from surgical hospitals are decidedly dangerous.

Most persons who work as sorters are infested with fleas, which simply

swarm among the rags, especially the Mungo variety. Sorters are mostly

females, and they have sometimes to help to crane up bales of rags into

warehouses. This frequently produces prolapse of the womb and other

uterine displacements. It is certainly not suitable work for women. If

infection ever breaks out among rag-sorters, it generally attacks them

when a bale is first opened. It is a desideratum that all rags, whether

of foreign or home origin, should be subjected to disinfection by heat

before being opened, and this can be effectually accomplished, even in

the tightly packed bales from abroad. This would have the virtue of

destroying fleas, while disinfecting the bales.

_Rag-Grinding._--This process is accomplished by means of a swift

which is really a drum, studded with sharp teeth, which are set very

close for grinding cloth, and more openly for the transformation of

soft rags, such as stockings, flannels, etc. These swifts perform six

or seven hundred revolutions per minute, and the rags are metamorphosed

into a soft, fluffy, woolly mass. Oil is largely used in this process.

This prevents dust.

The dust which rises from rag machines consists of particles of wool

and also of filth adherent to the various kinds of rags. It is highly

irritating to all the respiratory passages, especially in those who are

novices at the trade, but older hands become inured to it, and tolerate

it well. A train of symptoms is developed, called “shoddy fever.” It is

accompanied by high fever, with nasal catarrh and frontal headache, and

a certain amount of bronchial catarrh. It is ushered in by shivering,

malaise, and general muscular pain. It is almost indistinguishable from

epidemic influenza, and if treated on similar lines, recovery is soon

secured. The only difference is, that the catarrhal symptoms are the

result of local irritation, and, consequently, when that is removed,

the febrile condition soon subsides. Shoddy fever is easily induced

in persons who have been out of the mill for a few weeks and return

to work, in persons suffering from general catarrh, or in habitual

drunkards.

What is known as shoddy is produced from soft rags, and Mungo from

cloth rags. Flocks of the commoner kind are manufactured from a variety

of raw material, the refuse of the shoddy trade, while the superior

qualities are manufactured from a better raw material. For the former,

the seams of woollen cloth rags, and heavy linsey (mixed wool and

cotton), such as old dresses, and a variety of other materials, are

used. The lowest class of flocks are made from old carpets with a

backing of hemp or other vegetable fibre. Flocks are used for stuffing

beds and articles of furniture. The raw material is separated in a

similar manner as in the manufacture of shoddy and Mungo, only in

flock-making the teeth are shorter and not so sharp. When a shoddy

machine is worn out, it is sometimes used for flock-making.

_Carbonising._--This process is applied to rags which have a

certain amount of cotton in them. The cotton is carbonised by means of

either sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. The former acid is used in a wet

process, the rags being steeped in a somewhat diluted sulphuric acid,

at a temperature of 160° to 190° F., then rinsed in water, and dried

in a stove. In the second or dry process, the rags are heated for some

hours in an atmosphere of hydrochloric acid gas. By these means the

cotton fibre is destroyed, and when the rags are beaten it flies off

as a powdery dust, probably glucose, which is very inflammable, and

often causes explosions. The above process is also styled “extracting,”

_i.e._ extracting the wool from fabrics composed of cotton warp,

and worsted or woollen weft.

Are these various processes inimical to health? Shoddy fever has been

already considered. Flock fever is also a condition of the flock

manufacture. Upholsterers, working with flocks, are occasionally

sufferers from the dust. A few of the workers in shoddy mills suffer

from bronchitis and emphysema of the lungs, but those who do so are the

older men who began to work before so much oil was used with the rags.

The dust is also apt to combine with the wax in the ears and plug them,

as is the case in any dusty occupation. Granular inflammation of the

eyelids is also occasionally seen among rag grinders. Acne is common

through plugging of the sebaceous ducts. Carbonising occasionally

causes bronchitis and emphysema. Workers in carbonising mills state

that it is quite the exception for men to be off ill. In one mill which

I visited, no worker had been off work for more than two days, and the

mills had been in existence upwards of five years. The glucose product

from carbonised rags subjected to the “shaking” process is highly

inflammable, and severe burns are occasioned by the explosion of it in

the air. These are generally due to carelessness.

_Recommendations._--Dr Parsons, in the Annual Report of the

Medical Officer of the Local Government Board (Dr George Buchanan) for

1885, recommends: (1) vaccination and re-vaccination of rag workers;

(2) ventilation, cleanliness, and avoidance of dust in rag factories;

(3) disinfection or purification of rags, preferably in the bale.

Disinfection of rags is at present not very satisfactory, as the steam

used for disinfection in the bale condenses and ruins the stock. Many

men in the trade say that no disinfection is necessary, as infection

seldom or never comes from woollen rags.

JOHN A. E. STUART.

CHAPTER XLV

BLANKET STOVING

The men who are employed in this branch of blanket making are a fine,

stalwart set of fellows, broad-set, muscular, and well-coloured in

complexion, the healthiest-looking workmen, apart from teamers, to

be seen in the Heavy Woollen District. It is a hereditary occupation

as a rule. Most of the men are connected by ties of kindred, for

intermarriage is prevalent. Blanket raisers are, as a rule, long lived,

the mean age at death of 28 workmen whom I attended in their last

illness was 64.1 years.

In winter-time, blankets are exposed in a stoving house to brimstone

fumes. This is intended to bleach the blanket. In summer-time, most

of the blankets are dried outside. The fixing of these on the tenter

posts involves an immense amount of stretching. There is considerable

exertion involved in the raising process, and getting the pile on the

fabric. In fine weather, the men are in the open a great part of the

day; but in winter, the stoved blankets are taken out to the tenters,

when the change from the close, sulphurous atmosphere to a cold and

damp tenter field is found to be trying even to a strong constitution.

At some mills, fans are inserted in the roofs of the drying houses to

take away the fumes; in others, the tenters in the drying house are

on wheels, and run on rails. These are ladened with blankets in the

open, and then run in to the sulphurous atmosphere, and after being

sufficiently dried, are again drawn out to the open, where the blankets

are taken off the frames without causing the irritating cough and

semi-suffocation which ensues when men have to enter the dry house

to remove them. I am informed that, under this last system, it is no

uncommon thing for a raiser to cough and sneeze until blood comes from

his mouth or lungs.

The question of whether blanket stoving with brimstone is a dangerous

trade or not was answered in the negative by the Commissioners

appointed by Mr Asquith, Home Secretary, before whom I gave evidence

about five years ago.

As there is a considerable number of these men living near me, and I

have often conversed with them about the brimstone and the healthiness

of their occupation, certain matters of interest have come to my

knowledge. Among these is the fact, that the men almost never die

from tuberculosis. They seldom, if ever, contract infectious disease.

As a rule, they imbibe beer very freely, owing to the dryness of the

mouth and throat produced in the drying house, and by the tremendous

sweating which results from the enormous loads which they take on their

shoulders to the tenter field.

Bronchitis and emphysema are the most common diseases among them.

Of the 28 deaths which I certified among raisers, 10 were due to

bronchitis; the mean age at death was 64 years. Heart disease

accounted for 4 deaths, at a mean age of 69.3 years. Three succumbed

to pneumonia, at a mean age of 49. Two died from phthisis, mean age

51.5 years. There were two deaths from senile decay, mean age 72 years.

Influenza claimed 2, mean age 68.5. Typhoid caused one death, at 60

years; as did prostatic disease, at 68 years. Apoplexy caused death in

two, mean age 75.5 years. Cerebral softening claimed one at 68 years.

The 28 deaths are as follows:--

Bronchitis 10

Heart Disease 4

Pneumonia 3

Senile Decay 2

Phthisis 2

Influenza 2

Apoplexy 2

Typhoid Fever 1

Prostatic Disease 1

Cerebral Softening 1

Seeing that the mean age at death at all ages in England is 29 years,

and that of blanket raisers is 64.1, one is scarcely justified in

regarding it as a trade which is injurious to health.

Efficient ventilation and the establishment of the running tenter

described above, and figured in the Blue Book issued by the Commission,

are all that is necessary.

JOHN A. E. STUART.

CHAPTER XLVI

JUTE

The commercial fibre jute is obtained from the following species of

Corchorus--_Corchorus Capsularis_, grown mostly in Northern, Central,

and Eastern Bengal, and _Corchorus Olitarus_, raised in the vicinity of

Calcutta. The great bulk of the fibre is obtained, however, from the

former variety.

The plant may be described as a long wand, from 8 to 10 feet in height,

and of the thickness of one’s finger at the bottom. The stem is smooth,

and more or less branched towards the top, bearing vivid green leaves

and yellow flowers. It possesses an outside covering of hard bark;

underneath this is the commercial fibre, and within the latter a pithy

stick.

Jute is an annual, and appears to be capable of cultivation in almost

any kind of soil, but is grown to best advantage upon that of a loamy

nature, or on rich clay and sand. The coarser and larger plants are

cultivated chiefly upon the “churs” or mud banks, and islands formed

by the rivers, while others are raised upon submerged lands and in

salt-impregnated soils. A hot, damp climate, such as is found in the

vast delta of the Ganges, and Brahmapootra, with annual heavy rains

and inundations, fulfils the conditions under which jute can be

successfully cultivated. In November or December the soil is ploughed

over five or six times, the clods broken up, pulverised, and at the

final ploughing the weeds are collected, dried, and burned. The seeds

are sown during the months of April, May, and June, according to the

district, and covered over with a thin sprinkling of earth. Germination

takes place in from three to seven days, and when the plants rise a

few inches above the ground, the cultivator weeds and thins them out,

ultimately leaving a space of, approximately, 6 inches between each.

The crop is considered to be in season for cutting when the flowers

appear during August and September. By this time the plants have

attained a height of from 8 to 10, or even in some instances, 17 feet.

The stems are cut with knives close to the ground, tied up in bundles,

and removed to the steeping or “retting” pond.

The system of “retting,” as practised by the natives of India, consists

in steeping the plants in stagnant pools or tanks for from two to

twenty-five days. Weights are placed above the bundles to ensure that

all the material may be submerged. The stagnant water thus used for

steeping purposes has a strong and somewhat offensive smell, which,

however, is not remarked in the fibre itself, and the fetid liquid is

valuable as a manure.

To ascertain that the process is complete, the cultivator has to

visit the tank daily, and test the fibre to see that it has begun

to separate from the stem or pith. In removing the fibre from the

woody portion the operator, standing waist deep in the tank, seizes

a bundle of stems in his left hand, beats the ends out flat, turning

the bundle deftly meantime, and then breaks the stems about eighteen

inches from the point, first one way and then another. A little more

manipulation, and the short sticks at the end fall out, leaving the

fibre clear. The remaining portion is separated in a somewhat similar

manner. The operator then, striking the surface repeatedly with the

fibre, and drawing it through towards him, relieves it of any remaining

impurities. By a dexterous throw he next spreads it on the surface of

the water, and picks off any remaining black spots or hard patches.

It is then wrung out and hung on bamboos to dry in the sun, when it is

ready for the market.

The fibre for exportation is bought by dealers, shipped to Calcutta,

and made up into hydraulically-compressed bales of about 400 pounds

weight, lashed round with ropes made of strong jute, the various

qualities being distinguished by different marks affixed to the bales.

Jute is now a source of considerable revenue to the Indian Government,

about 3,500,000 bales being exported annually to Europe and America,

and over 2,900,000 bales manufactured into cloth and sacks in and

around Calcutta. The distribution of the exported material is

approximately as follows:--

To the United Kingdom 1,900,000 bales.

To the Continent 1,000,000 „

To America 500,000 „

Dundee is the chief seat of jute manufacturing in the United Kingdom,

only a very small proportion of the material imported being operated

upon elsewhere. According to the latest procurable statistics there

are slightly over 43,000 persons employed in the industry, and of

this number quite 40,000 are engaged in and around Dundee, almost

three-fourths of these being women. The figures do not include several

hundreds who make up cloth into bags--a separate industry. Indirectly,

the staple trade gives employment to a considerable number of persons,

such as shuttle-makers, bobbin-turners, hackle-makers, yarn-bleachers,

etc., and practically supports about 1000 sack-sewers who are

out-workers.

Jute as imported consists of coils or bundles of fibre of a pale

yellowish colour, and possesses a faint yet not unpleasant, though

characteristic, smell. It cards and spins easily when properly treated

with oil and water, the yarn produced being relatively coarse, fairly

strong, and is much sold as twine, the output of this article amounting

to hundreds of tons per annum. The bulk of the yarn spun, however, is

woven into what are termed “Hessians,” plain jute cloth of various

widths up to four yards. This material is seen everywhere, and is

constantly used for packing and wrapping goods of all descriptions. A

certain amount of cloth is cut up into suitable lengths and sewn into

sacks.

Jute sacks are required for holding all kinds of material; they are

cheap and strong, and although they rapidly deteriorate if exposed to

wet, they are, owing to their low price, easily replaced.

Jute fibre takes kindly to most dyes, and this characteristic allows

of its being largely used in the manufacture of carpets and rugs. A

large trade has grown up in this department, fabrics being produced of

beautiful designs and brilliant colouring. Jute is also interwoven with

cotton and other textiles, but it does not readily spin with any fibre

of an elastic nature.

Until the year 1845 “explosive” and “gunpowder” were to all intents and