Fumarole

“ Fumaroles, which emit mixtures of steam and other gases, are fed by conduits that pass through the water table before reaching the surface of the ground. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) , one of the typical gases issuing from fumaroles, readily oxidizes to sulfuric acid and native sulfur. This accounts for the intense chemical activity and brightly colored rocks in many thermal areas. ”

“ That the frequency of chloride of iron in the lavas of great eruptions masks the order of transformation of the other products. [Pg 137] The fumaroles at the summit of Vesuvius present even greater gradations, for they often emit carbonic acid or pure watery vapour. Lead, which I first discovered in the fumaroles of the lavas of 1855, is a constant product of fumaroles which have a certain duration. It is often obtained as a distinct and crystallized chloride, and often is found in combination with other products. Oxide of copper is also a constant and primary (primitivo) product of fumaroles. ”

“ But avoiding minute particulars of these sublimates, let us see what is the general direction and the order of their appearance. Sublimations are generally oxides, chlorides and sulphates, sometimes sulphides. Among the oxides, we must enumerate in the first place "tenorite" and feroligiste or micaceous peroxide of iron. The first is almost always found at the commencement of [Pg 113] activity in the fumaroles, simultaneously with the sublimation of chloride of sodium ”

“ The fumigation of a large house is merely a repetition, in each room and hall, of the operations already described for a single room. All the rooms should be made tight, and the proper quantities of water and sulfuric acid should be measured and poured into jars placed in each room with the cyanid in bags besides the jars. When all is ready, the operator should go to the top floor and work downward because the gas is lighter than air and tends to rise. ”

“ Hydrocyanic-acid gas.—Hydrocyanic-acid gas is the best gas known and in present use for the fumigation of houses, or parts of houses, for the speedy elimination of carpet beetles or other pests. When persons are troubled with fabric pests that have become generally established throughout the house, nothing will give greater satisfaction in peace of mind and freedom from trouble than one thorough fumigation carried on by a professional fumigator or by any intelligent, careful person capable of following directions. ”

“ In fumigating a room with formaldehyde great care must be exercised that the individual does not remain in the room after the gas begins to be liberated. After the process of fumigation has been completed the windows and doors should all be opened that the gas may escape. It is always best to have the doors and windows open from the outside so that it will not be necessary for any one to go into the room until the gas has blown out. ”

“ Fumigating with tobacco-paper or tobacco itself is the grand remedy for green and black fly and thrips, but, as it may not always be desirable to fumigate the house, dipping must in some cases be resorted to. Tobacco-paper is cheaper than tobacco, and the cheapest and most powerful tobacco is common shag. A quarter of a pound will suffice to fumigate a medium-sized structure. In using tobacco-paper, it must be made moderately moist; when quite dry, it will burst into a flame and scorch the foliage, but if made too moist it will generate steam, and not be so effective as it otherwise would be. ”

“ All manipulations should take place in tightly closed-in apparatus provided with exhaust, and the gases drawn off should be absorbed or effectively carried away. In the case of many injurious gases it is not sufficient merely to conduct them into the flue; they ought to be condensed and got rid of. Thus acid fumes (nitrous fumes, sulphur dioxide, hydrochloric acid vapour, chlorine gas) are neutralised by water or milk of lime, or a solution of soda; ammonia or alcohol by water; sulphuretted hydrogen and arseniuretted hydrogen by lime and oxide of iron; aniline, &c., by dilute acids. ”

“ The best material to use for general purposes is some form of tobacco or tobacco compounds. The old method of fumigating with tobacco is to burn slowly slightly dampened tobacco stems in a kettle or scuttle, allowing the house to be filled with the pungent smoke. Lately, however, fluid extracts and other preparations of tobacco have been brought into use, and these are so effective that the tobacco-stem method is becoming obsolete. The use of hydrocyanic acid gas in greenhouses is now coming to be common, for plant-lice, white-fly, and other insects. ”

“ Fumigation, Ni′trous. Syn. Fumigatio nitrosa. Prep. (P. Cod.) Sulphuric acid, diluted with half its weight of water, is placed in a porcelain cup (any shallow vessel of glass or earthenware will do) , placed over heated cinders, and small quantities of powdered nitre added to it from time to time.
Obs. Heat causes the gas to be evolved more rapidly, and thus renders the fumes more offensive, without increasing their efficacy. Equal weights of oil of vitriol and water are the proportions usually employed, 1⁄4 oz. of nitre is said to be sufficient for a small room. ”

“ Many Boards of Health have abandoned fumigation after communicable diseases, except after those which like typhus and yellow fever, are carried by vermin or insects. Dry formaldehyde gas, which was formerly used for fumigation, has a violent effect on mucous membranes, but its power to kill bacteria, even on surfaces, appears to be weak, while its penetrating power is not sufficient to disinfect bedding, carpets, upholstered furniture, and other fabrics. Since fumigation is costly, troublesome, and ineffectual there seems to be no good reason for using it. ”

“ As water costs nothing, and as a supply is entirely in your power, the application of it offers comparatively few difficulties; and it has the great advantage of freeing the smoke from fluoric and arsenious compounds, which would not be perfectly effected by any other method.
The experiments of MM. Phillips and Faraday prove, that your shower baths have already entirely destroyed all the fluoric and arsenious fumes of the smoke, and by a certain quantity of water, the smoke may undoubtedly be entirely freed from sulphurous acid gas. ”

“ In our time it is well understood in the community that the fumes of carbonous oxide constitute the most dangerous gas that one is liable to encounter, but in Hoffmann’s day the people appear to have been less well informed concerning this danger than they were in ancient times. In the treatise on this subject which Hoffmann published in 1716, [81] several of the earliest known instances of such poisoning are narrated, the first one being that mentioned very briefly by Aristotle (384–322 B. C.) . ”

“ The muriatic acid resulting from these actions, and the sulphuric acid which is formed by the decomposition of hydrosulphurets and sulphates, attack the iron, lime, copper, alumine, potash, &c., in the lavas and scoria, and hence result a number of other productions which line the passages of the fumeroles”.
M. Covelli descended into the crater, until within 300 feet of the edge of the large eastern opening, from which the great current of lava flowed in 1822. Here the fumeroles presented the most beautiful crystallizations of sulphate of lime and sulphur. ”

“ Occasionally offensive effluvia arise in connection with industries in which neither vegetable nor animal matters are used; as in the manufacture of sulphate or chloride of ammonia, and some other processes in which sulphuretted hydrogen is copiously evolved; and in the making of gas and the distillation of tar. The fumes from the manufacture of alkali and bleaching powder are acid and irritating, and produce very injurious effects on vegetation in the neighbourhood. ”

“ Carbon-bisulphide is a liquid, the gas evolved from it being an effective fumigant. It is not used as a spray unless emulsified, its chief use in horticulture being for the fumigation of the soil, glass-houses, stored seeds and vegetables, and imported plants. It is very inflammable and extremely volatile, especially under higher temperatures, the heavy gas being highly explosive when mixed with air. ”

“ Care should be taken to avoid inhaling the fumes, which are very deleterious as well as disagreeable and annoying. Straw goods are now also frequently bleached by the use of a weak solution of chloride of lime, or of water strongly soured with oxalic acid or even oil of vitriol, followed by very careful rinsing in clean water; but here, as in the former case, the natural varnish, dirt, grease, &c., must be first removed by alkalies or soap, to enable the chlorine or acid to act on the fibres. ”

“ Then add 1 cc. of strong nitric acid and heat till red fumes are given off. Freshly ignited magnesia in the proportion of 0.5 gram for each cc. of sulfuric and nitric acid previously used is now stirred into the mass and the whole ignited at a dull red heat. This is best done in a gas-muffle. When cool, moisten the ash with nitric acid and gently re-ignite, repeating this treatment till the carbon [12] is entirely consumed. Treat the residue with 8 or 10 drops of strong sulfuric acid, heat till fumes are given off, cool, boil with water, dilute to about 100 cc. ”

“ When you see a thin blue fume rising from it, it is hot enough. That is the sign. If you do not look closely it may escape your notice, for it is only a thin fume you want, not a thick smoke. If we were to let the fat remain till it smoked it would be spoilt."
"Oh dear, how careful we have to be!" said Margaret.
"The slices of apple are quite ready, ma'am," said Mary.
"And the batter is quite ready," said Margaret.
"I see too, that cook has put a dish with kitchen paper on it for us to put the fritters on as they are fried. And there is the fume. Do you see it, children?" ”

“ Chloride of lime and carbolic acid considerably diluted, if applied in a liquid form, are good disinfectants, and carbolic powder—a pink powder with a smell resembling tar, and sold at about 2d. per lb.—is both useful and effective. The air of a bedroom may be pleasantly sweetened by throwing some ground coffee on a fire shovel previously heated.
345. Chimney Smoking
Where a chimney smokes only when a fire is first lighted, it may be guarded against by allowing the fire to kindle gradually, or by heating the chimney by burning straw or paper in the grate previous to laying in the fire. ”

“ The herbage of Fumaria officinalis and F. racemosa is used in China under the name of Tsze-hwa-ti-ting as an application for glandular swellings, carbuncles and abscesses, and was formerly valued in jaundice, and in cases of accidental swallowing of the beard of grain (see F. Porter Smith, Contrib. towards the Mat. Medica . . . of China, p. 99, 1871) . The name fumitory, Latin fumus terrae, has been supposed to be derived from the fact that its juice irritates the eyes like smoke (see Fuchs, De historia stirpium, p. 338, 1542) ”

“ Fumigation with sulphur is the only practicable method for disinfecting the house. For this purpose, the rooms to be disinfected must be vacated. Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding, and other articles which can not be treated with zinc solution, should be opened and exposed during fumigation, as directed below. Close the rooms as tightly as possible, place the sulphur in iron pans supported upon bricks placed in wash-tubs containing a little water, set it on fire by hot coals or with the aid of a spoonful of alcohol, and allow the room to remain closed for twenty-four hours. ”

“ It has never been frozen. Hydrochloric acid neither burns, nor supports combustion. The white fumes which it forms when exposed to the air, are due to its condensing the atmospheric moisture, and thus giving rise to a body less volatile than water. This gas is greedily and instantly absorbed by water. A fragment of ice placed in a jar of the gas absorbs it, and becomes immediately dissolved.
Hydrochloric Acid, Solution of. The hydrochloric acid of commerce is a solution of the above gas in water. When exposed to the air it emits grey fumes. ”

“ Nevertheless, he admits with Layet that the men employed in the condensing and purifying processes are constantly in an atmosphere contaminated by gas, and that the cleaning and regeneration of the purifying mass is associated with inflammation of the eyes, violent catarrh, and inflammation of the respiratory passages, since, on contact of the purifying mass with the air, hydrocyanic acid gas, sulphocyanic acid gas, and fumes containing carbolic, butyric, and valerianic acids are generated. ”

“ Considerable injury is often produced by inhaling the subtle corrosive fumes of metallic and other processes; so that palsy in lead-mines, and pulmonary complaints in manufacturing towns, are but too frequent: hence we doubt whether medicated fumes deserve that encomium which has lately been bestowed on them, by various writers. In our opinion, there is no better and more effectual fumigator in Nature than pure air, frequently renewed by means of ventilators. ”

“ The neck of the bottle before the stopper was removed, presented a yellowish appearance from some colored substance being interposed between it and the stopper, a pretty constant accompaniment of this kind of decomposition, which should always be noted. On removing the stopper, fumes escaped having a most suffocating odor, causing the bottle to be withdrawn quickly from the nostril and giving with ammonia, the white fumes char­ac­ter­is­tic of hydrochloric acid gas. ”

“ Here we could use neither sulphur, pyrethrum, nor the camphor mixture, as they all affected the delicate flavor of the tobacco. At first we used to move all tobacco out of a building to be fumigated. This was very laborious and added largely to the cost of fumigation and also tended to drive out from the building the infected mosquitoes before they had been reached by fumigation. Mr. Joseph Le Prince, who was in charge of this work, after much experimenting found that the fumes from tobacco stems did not hurt the flavor of tobacco, and were almost as deadly to the mosquito as was sulphur. ”