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So instead
of throwing away the extra collodion that he had made he mixed it with
nitroglycerin and found that it set to a jelly. The "blasting gelatin"
thus discovered proved to be so insensitive to shock that it could be
safely transported or fired from a cannon. This was the first of the
high explosives that have been the chief factor in modern warfare.
But on the whole, collodion has healed more wounds than it has caused
besides being of infinite service to mankind otherwise. It has made
modern photography possible, for the film we use in the camera and
moving picture projector consists of a gelatin coating on a pyroxylin
backing. If collodion is forced through fine glass tubes instead of
through a slit, it comes out a thread instead of a film. If the
collodion jet is run into a vat of cold water the ether and alcohol
dissolve; if it is run into a chamber of warm air they evaporate. The
thread of nitrated cellulose may be rendered less inflammable by taking
out the nitrate groups by treatment with ammonium or calcium sulfide.


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