—Brewer's "Reader's Handbook."
Dynamite.—This is one of the strongest explosives, and is used for blasting, and even for guns, although it has not, as yet, been successful for the firing of projectiles. It consists of infusorial and porcelain earth, mixed with coal dust and siliceous ashes, saturated with about three times its weight of nitro-glycerine. It is of a grayish-brown or reddish color, damp, and greasy. It has an explosive power nearly eight times greater than that of gun powder. It is dangerous to make, because the nitro-glycerine which it contains will explode if not handled carefully.
Earth Facts
The distance from the surface of the earth to its center is estimated to be 20,926,202 feet; or about 3,963, miles; and the distance from the poles to the center of the earth is 20,854,895 feet, or about 3,951 miles. One degree of latitude at the equator is about 68.7 miles, and at the poles about 69-1/2 miles.
The circumference at the equator measures 24,902 statute miles.
The total area of the earth is 196,940,400 statute square miles, and its volume is 259,880 million cubic miles.
The land area of the earth covers 54,807,420 square miles.
The ocean, including the inland seas, covers 142,132,980 square miles, or about 72 per cent. of the total surface of the earth.
The Arctic Ocean, including Hudson Bay, contains 5,785,000 square miles; the Atlantic Ocean, 34,301,400 square miles; the Indian Ocean, 28,615,000 square miles; the Pacific Ocean, 67,699,630 square miles; and the Antarctic Ocean, 5,731,350 square miles.