Dynamite
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Dynamite. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
Important: Safety Warning This page contains instructions involving gunpowder or other explosive or pyrotechnic compositions. Preparing explosives as described has caused severe injuries and deaths, and is illegal in most places. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. an explosive produced by the admixture of nitroglycerin with a siliceous infusorial earth known under the German name as kieselguhr. Nitroglycerin, which can be prepared in small quantities by dropping glycerine into a mixture of strong nitric and sulphuric acids, the temperature being kept as low as possible, was discovered by Sobrero in 1846, but it was not till nearly 20 years later that the experiments of Alfred Nobel, who combined it with the absorbent inert earth just mentioned, placed the new substance on a basis of practical and commercial importance. Kieselguhr is the mineral remains of a species of algæ; the stem consisted chiefly of silica, and when the organic portions of the moss decayed, the tubular siliceous stem remained, retaining its shape. Beds of kieselguhr, underlying peat, are found in many countries; the principal formations in Europe being in Great Britian (especially Aberdeenshire that of Skye not being sufficiently absorbent), Germany, and Norway. The raw kieselguhr, after calcination in a specially designed kiln to remove water and organic substance, is ground and sifted, and finally contains about 98 per cent. pure silica with traces of lime and iron. Dynamite, which has a reddish-brown color, consists of 1 part of kieselguhr to 3 parts of nitroglycerin, and has a specific gravity varying from 1.59 to 1.65. Dynamite burns with a yellowish flame, me, and in small quantities without danger; but explodes with great violence when fired by a detonating fuse. Dynamite is much employed in breaking up boulders and the heavier metal castings, also in agricultural operations for removing the roots of trees.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
or giant powder, a preparation much used in blasting. The bursting or disruptive force of dynamite is about eight times that of gunpowder. It was invented by Nobel in 1866. It consists of some absorbent material soaked to its full capacity with nitroglycerin, and is designed to be safer in carriage and use. The best absorbent is a fine, white floury earth found in Hanover, which absorbs and renders safe about three times its own weight of nitroglycerin. The mixture resembles heavy brown sugar in appearance. It is molded into cartridges or sticks, and is coated with paraffine paper. It is safe against ordinary dropping and jars, but can be exploded by a sudden shock and flash like that produced by a percussion cap. It is difficult to explode frozen dynamite. Dynamite is used by the farmer in blasting out stumps, and by the miner in ledges. A stick of dynamite exploded in a hole drilled into a ledge will do the work of many men. Without dynamite railroad tunnels could be constructed only at enormous expense. In 1909 the engineers of the Lackawanna Railway reported that 5,000,000 pounds of dynamite would be required in blasting the way for a twenty-eight mile cut-off. In such a case the dynamite is made near the spot. In 1867, the year after its invention, eleven tons of dynamite were made. Now over 50,000 tons are made yearly in the United States alone. There are large factories in the hills east of San Francisco Bay. The largest dynamite factory in the world is near Ardeer, Scotland. Dynamite is sold at retail at from twelve to twenty cents a pound. Life insurance companies rank the manufacture of dynamite as the most hazardous occupation in the world. See Nobel ; Nitroglycerin 2026 Editor's Note: Dynamite built the era's tunnels and canals — and its inventor's guilty fortune endows the Nobel Prizes, first awarded 1901. The 'dynamitard' was also this era's word for bomb-throwing terror. See dynamite . (Ed: BR 2026-07-08)