A short account of experiments made in Italy and recently repeated in Geneva and Paris, for preserving human life and objects of value from destruction by fire / by Chev. Aldini ... addressed to George Agar Ellis ... and to George Birbeck.

  • Aldini, Giovanni, 1762-1834.
Date:
1830
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A short account of experiments made in Italy and recently repeated in Geneva and Paris, for preserving human life and objects of value from destruction by fire / by Chev. Aldini ... addressed to George Agar Ellis ... and to George Birbeck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/32 (page 8)
    The government of Geneva which had re¬ quested my apparatus, kindly afforded assistance in my experiment publicly made during three successive days in the presence of the Syndics of that city and of several Savans as well of the place itself as foreigners.* In consequence of similar inquiries on the part of the French government, I went to Paris ; and on the 20th of October, I performed my experiments at the barracks in the Rue de la Paix, in the presence of the Prefect of Police and of a commission from the Royal Academy of Sciences and from other scientific bodies. M. Guy-Lussac who was deputed to draw up a re¬ port of them, describes in the following terms the manner of passing through a body of flame 30 feet in length : “ Two parallel hedges about “ 3 feet distant from each other were formed of “ straw and brush wood supported by iron wires. “ When these combustible materials were set “ on fire, it was necessary to stand at a distance “ of 8 or 10 paces to avoid the heat. The mingled flames from both the hedges rose to a height of at least 9 feet and seemed to fill “ up the whole space between them. At this “ moment six firemen, protected by Professor * Professor Farady has given an abstract of these experi¬ ments accompanied by his observations, which is affixed to this account.