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Washington, D. C., Sept. 12, 1883.
Dear Dr. Davis:
Having seen in a recent number of the Journal an article concerning the toxic properties of dynamite and nitro-glycerine, it occurred to me that it might be well to say that nitro-glycerine is one of the most dangerous poisons known. A single drop on the tongue of a cow will kill her instantly, and the poisonous property of this explosive, when applied to the surface of the body, is well known to those operatives engaged in its manufacture.Now, dynamite is simply nitro-glycerine spread out upon the surface of the particles of an infusorial earth (Kieselguhr), which, by reason of its cupshaped surfaces, allows a greater portion of the nitroglycerine to be spread upon it, in proportion to its bulk, than any other substance at present known. It is thus seen that the nitro-glycerine is simply diluted when made into dynamite,