Important: Safety Warning
This page describes practices involving highly flammable materials in ways that create a serious risk of fire or explosion.
In addition, this page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Miscellaneous Chemicals › Pyrophorus
Pyrophorus
This is a term given to substances which inflame spontaneously when exposed to the air. When a small quantity of any of the powders given below damp atmosphere, or by the moisture of the breath. squeezing it through chamois leather under is exposed to the air, it rapidly becomes hot warm water, and is then moulded for sale by and inflames. Their action is quicker in a melting it under water heated to about 1450 Fahr., plunging the wider end of a slightly tapering but straight glass tube into the water, sucking this up to the top of the glass, so as to warm and wet it, next immersing the end into the liquid phosphorus, and sucking it up to any desired height. The bottom of the tube being now closed with the finger, it is withdrawn, and transferred to a pan of cold it must then be carefully stopped up and water to congeal the phosphorus, which will cooled.