Abstract

LOYSON, Peter. Mine air analysis on the reef in the early 1900s -Observations from the work of James Moir, Government Analyst. S.Afr.j.chem. (Online) [online]. 2016, vol.69, pp.208-212. ISSN 1996-840X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/0379-4350/2016/v69a26.

James Moir was a pioneering chemist in the early 1900s who played a leading role in various chemical societies in South Africa. He was heavily involved in the gold mining industry, and as the Government Analyst in Johannesburg he was responsible for mine air quality in the Witwatersrand mines. This article traces his contributions dealing with the analysis of mine air in the early 1900s as reported in the local Journal of the Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa. It deals with CO₂ and CO analyses and the methods used in those days, describes his work on gases arising from explosions of gelignite, and covers the two main air-sampling techniques for dust analysis used in his time, namely the sugar tube method and the konimeter.

Keywords : History of chemistry; mine air analysis; dust-sampling in the early 1900s.

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