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Toxicology Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion
Products 1st Edition David A. Purser Digital Instant
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Author(s): David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard, James C. Wakefield (eds.)
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Issues in Toxicology

Series Editors:
Professor Diana Anderson, University of Bradford, UK
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Dr Michael Waters, Integrated Laboratory Systems Inc., N Carolina, USA

Dr Timothy C Marrs, Edentox Associates, Kent, UK

Advisor to the Board:

Dr Alok Dhawan, Ahmedabad University, India

Titles in the Series:

1: Hair in Toxicology: An Important Bio-Monitor
2: Male-mediated Developmental Toxicity
3: Cytochrome P450: Role in the Metabolism and Toxicity of Drugs and
other Xenobiotics
4: Bile Acids: Toxicology and Bioactivity
5: The Comet Assay in Toxicology
6: Silver in Healthcare
7: In Silico Toxicology: Principles and Applications
8: Environmental Cardiology
9: Biomarkers and Human Biomonitoring, Volume 1: Ongoing Programs
and Exposures
08:00:02.

10: Biomarkers and Human Biomonitoring, Volume 2: Selected Biomarkers

of Current Interest
11: Hormone-Disruptive Chemical Contaminants in Food
12: Mammalian Toxicology of Insecticides
13: The Cellular Response to the Genotoxic Insult: The Question of
Threshold for Genotoxic Carcinogens
14: Toxicological Effects of Veterinary Medicinal Products in Humans:
Volume 1
15: Toxicological Effects of Veterinary Medicinal Products in Humans:
Volume 2
16: Aging and Vulnerability to Environmental Chemicals: Age-related
Disorders and their Origins in Environmental Exposures
17: Chemical Toxicity Prediction: Category Formation and Read-Across
18: The Carcinogenicity of Metals: Human risk through occupational and
environmental exposure
19: Reducing, Refining and Replacing the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing
20: Advances in Dermatological Sciences
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21: Metabolic Profiling: Disease and Xenobiotics

22: Manganese in Health and Disease
23: Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
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Toxicology, Survival and Health

Hazards of Combustion
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Edited by

David A. Purser
Hartford Environmental Research, Hatfield, UK
Email: [email protected]

Robert L. Maynard
University of Birmingham, UK
Email: [email protected]

James C. Wakefield
Health Protection Agency, UK
08:00:02.

Email: [email protected]
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Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Print ISBN: 978-1-84973-569-8

PDF eISBN: 978-1-84973-748-7
ISSN: 1757-7179

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016

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Published by The Royal Society of Chemistry,

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Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP007

Preface

The toxic effects of combustion products are a major cause of human

morbidity and mortality. We are all exposed, every day, to air pollutants
produced by the combustion of organic materials, while significant numbers
of people suffer severe injury and death from fires. The hazards range from
continuous exposure to low concentrations of toxic vapours and particulates,
both outdoors and indoors, throughout our lives, to single short-duration
exposures to very high concentrations during fires.
In order to evaluate and find ways to mitigate these hazards it is not
sufficient or practical to consider the toxicity of combustion products in
isolation, but rather in the context of systems involving the source terms
08:00:03.

(fires or other combustion processes), the dispersal of effluent plumes and

the dynamics of human exposure and toxicity.
In compiling this book we have been very fortunate to obtain
chapters contributed by leading international experts in the relevant fields.
In addition to benefitting from this eminent multiple authorship we have
attempted to provide a comprehensive and coordinated guide, which we
hope will be of value both to those wishing to form a general understanding
of the subject, and to regulators, forensic investigators, clinicians and
engineers involved in practical assessments of hazard and risks from
combustion products. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the subjects
covered, and throughout the book chapters on specific topics we have
provided frequent cross-references to integrate between relevant sections of
different chapters.
In the first section of the book we have addressed the formation and
dispersal of combustion products. It is a common misconception that one
can identify ‘‘toxicity’’ as a discrete property of specific substances such as
wood or diesel fumes, but this cannot be farther from the truth. In reality the
combustion products from individual fuels consist of a complex mixture of

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

vii
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viii Preface

many individual toxic substances in the form of vapours and particulates.

The composition of the effluent plume depends partly on the elemental
and molecular composition of the burning fuel, but very much upon the
combustion conditions, so that the yields and concentrations of key toxic
products, such as carbon monoxide, can vary by several orders of magnitude.
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Both the fire size and combustion conditions change considerably during
fire development and the human exposure conditions further depend on the
dynamics of air entrainment and plume dispersal. These issues are covered
in the first section, including descriptions of fire physics and chemistry,
models for the calculation of rates of formation and composition of fire
plume from different fuels, and fire conditions and their dispersal both
within buildings and in the outside environment.
The effects on exposed subjects in different locations relative to a fire also
vary at different locations throughout an exposure. For fire victims inside
buildings or vehicles the sequence of toxic hazards usually begins with the
immediate pain and incapacitating effects of exposure to visually obscure
smoke, containing a range of irritant acid gases and particulates, followed by
asphyxiation from gases, including carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide,
complicated by heat exposure and burns. Following exposure, another set
of effects include chemical lung injury, burns, and neurological and
cardiovascular effects. Evaluation of these hazards therefore requires
assessment of the source term and exposure conditions, as well as
the subsequent sequence of physiological and pathological effects. The
08:00:03.

toxicology of these effects and methods for their assessment are presented in
the second section, with clinical aspects of toxicology and management in
the third section.
Assessing the effects of exposure to widely dispersed fire effluent plumes
or deposited pollutants in the outside environment presents another set
of challenges. Unlike the life-threatening effects of exposures during fires
inside buildings, the health effects of both single and repeated exposures to
dilute smoke plumes or combustion products dispersed into the environ-
ment are more subtle, ranging from acute nuisance odour to long term
health hazards such as cardio-respiratory diseases and carcinogenicity.
Aspects of these are also described in terms of their formation and dispersal
in the first section and their toxicity in the second section. The third, fourth
and fifth sections discuss aspects of clinical management and assessment,
examples of some specific large conflagration incidents and the public
health aspects of fire incident management.
With diverse coverage, and edited and authored by recognised experts
in the field, it is intended that this book will provide an essential text
for those working in toxicology, combustion science, public health, safety
engineering, forensic fire investigation and environmental research.

David Purser
Robert Maynard
James Wakefield
Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP009

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the authors for contributing their time and
expertise. We would also like to thank the Royal Society of Chemistry
commissioning editors and production team for their advice, patience
and support during the preparation of the chapter manuscripts and their
development to the final printed book.
08:00:04.

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

ix
 08:00:04.
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Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP011

Dedication

In Memoriam – David John Hall

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the death of Dr David Hall on

22nd February 2015. David has been a leading figure internationally in
plume dispersal measurement and modelling, and in atmospheric sampling
of dusts and aerosols. Formerly at Warren Spring Laboratory and the
Building Research Establishment, since setting up ‘‘Envirobods’’ in 1999
David and his colleague Angela Spanton continued with plume dispersal
research and studies into the dispersal of contaminants during major
incidents. Among the many projects David was engaged in towards the end
08:00:04.

of this life was Chapter 6 ‘‘Dispersion of Fire Plumes in the Atmosphere’’,

which provides a fitting memorial to his practical expertise and enthusiasm
for this important subject.

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

xi
 08:00:04.
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Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP013

Terms and Definitions

Burn: undergo combustion.

Boundary conditions: the value of a mathematical function at the boundary
of a calculation domain either known or assumed to be known.
In context of fire calculations these might be surface temperatures, heat
or ventilation fluxes or gas pressure. For chemically active surfaces it may
include species production or annihilation.
Note: the concept may also be applied to fire tests in relation to physical
features of the boundaries of a space containing a fire and influencing heat
loss and ventilation. For example, the fire development and combustion
conditions in a room enclosure fire depend on features of the boundary
08:00:05.

conditions, including the surface area and thermal properties of the walls
and ceiling, the dimensions and locations of vents such as open doors or
windows, wind velocity and direction, ambient temperature, humidity and
pressure.
Combustion: exothermic reaction of a substance with an oxidizing
agent.
Combustion product: solid, liquid or gaseous material resulting from
combustion.
Equivalence ratio: fuel : air ratio divided by fuel : air ratio required for a
stoichiometric mixture.
Exposure dose: measure of the maximum amount of a toxic gas or fire
effluent that is available for inhalation, calculated by integration of the area
under a concentration–time curve.
Note 1: for fire effluent, typical units are grams time minute per cubic
metre (g min m3).

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

xiii
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xiv Terms and Definitions

Note 2: for a toxic gas, typical units are microliters per litre (mL L1) at
T ¼ 298 K and P ¼ 1 atm.
Fire: process of combustion characterized by emission of heat and fire
effluent and usually accompanied by smoke, flame, glowing or a combin-
Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP013

ation thereof.
Fire scenario: qualitative description of the course of a fire with respect to
time, identifying key events that characterize the studied fire and differen-
tiate it from other possible fires.
Note: it typically defines the ignition and fire growth processes, the fully
developed fire stage, the fire decay stage and the environments and systems
that impact on the course of the fire.
Fire effluent (also known as ‘‘smoke’’): totality of gases and aerosols, in-
cluding suspended particles created by combustion, or pyrolysis in a fire.
Fractional effective concentration (FEC): ratio of the concentration of an
irritant to that concentration expected to produce a specified effect on an
exposed subject of average susceptibility.
Note 1: as a concept, FEC may refer to any effect, including impairment of
escape capability, incapacitation, lethality or other endpoints.
Note 2: when not used with reference to a specific irritant, the term FEC
represents the summation of the FEC value for all measured irritants in a
combustion atmosphere.
08:00:05.

Fractional effective dose (FED): ratio of the exposure dose for a specific
combustion product or mixture of products to that exposure dose predicted
to produce a specified effect on an exposed subject of average susceptibility.
Note 1: as a concept, FED may refer to any effect, including incapacitation,
lethality or other endpoints.
Note 2: when not used with reference of any specific substance, the term
‘‘FED’’ represents the summation of the FED values for all measured
components of a combustion atmosphere.
Flame retardant: substance added, or treatment applied, to a material
in order to suppress or delay the appearance of flame and/or reduce the
flame-spread rate.
Heat release rate: rate of thermal energy production generated by
combustion (essentially the burning rate).
Glowing combustion: combustion of a material in the solid phase without
flame but with emission of light from the combustion zone.
Flaming combustion: combustion in the gaseous phase, usually with
emission of light.
Flashover (stage of fire): transition to a state of total surface involvement in
a fire of combustible materials within an enclosure.
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Terms and Definitions xv

Fuel-rich combustion: combustion in which the equivalence ratio is greater

than unity.
Note: in ventilation-controlled fires the fuel/air mixture is fuel-rich and
relatively high concentrations of pyrolysis products and incomplete
combustion gases result.
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Fuel-lean combustion: combustion in which the equivalence ratio is less

than unity.
Note: in well-ventilated fires, the fuel/air mixture is fuel-lean and complete
combustion tends to occur.
LC50 (lethal concentration 50%): the concentration statistically calculated to
cause the deaths of one half of the animals exposed to a toxicant for a
specified time. This may be expressed in terms of volume fraction/volume
fraction (ppm, %) or mass/volume (g m3).
Note 1: care must be taken when comparing LC50 values of both the
exposure duration and the post exposure period over which deaths were
scored. In combustion toxicology, LC50 values have most commonly been
measured using a 30 minute exposure period followed by a 14 day post
exposure observation period.
Note 2: in combustion toxicology, an LC50 concentration may be related to
a specific combustion product such as carbon monoxide, of may be related
to the test material rather than its actual products, expressed in terms of
mass charge or mass loss concentration. For example, the LC50 (mass loss)
08:00:05.

for wood decomposed under a specific combustion condition might be

expressed as 100 g wood m3. This means that when 100 g of wood were
decomposed in the furnace system and the products were dispersed into
1 m3, exposure to the resultant combustion product atmosphere resulted in
a 50% death rate.
Nominal atmosphere concentration mass charge (mass charge concentration):
the mass of a test specimen exposed to heating in a furnace system divided by
the volume of air into which the combustion products are dispersed (g m3).
Nominal atmosphere concentration mass loss (mass loss concentration): the
mass loss (mass decomposed) of a test specimen exposed to heating in a
furnace system divided by the volume of air into which the combustion
products are dispersed (g m3).
Potency: the toxic potency is a measure of the amount of a toxic substance
required to elicit a specific toxic effect—the smaller the amount required,
the greater the toxic potency. Where the toxic effect is lethality, the potency
can be expressed as the reciprocal of the LC50 concentration.
Pyrolysis: chemical decomposition of a substance by the action of heat
(cf. thermal decomposition).
Note 1: pyrolysis is often used to refer to a stage or fire before flaming
combustion has begun.
 View Online

xvi Terms and Definitions

Note 2: in fire science, no assumption is made about the presence or

absence of oxygen (but chemically it is possible to distinguished between
endothermic pyrolysis under nitrogen or in air, the latter involving some
degree of exothermic oxidation).
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RD50 (respiratory depression 50%): statistically calculated concentration of a

sensory irritant required to reduce the breathing rate of laboratory rodents
(usually mice) by 50%.
Note: in combustion toxicology, an RD50 concentration may be related to a
specific combustion product such as hydrogen chloride, or may be related to
the test material rather than its actual products, expressed in terms of mass
charge or mass loss concentration.
Smouldering combustion: combustion of a material without flame and
without visible light.
Stoichiometric combustion: mixture of chemical reactants having
proportions in accordance with the equation for a specified chemical
reaction.
Note: in a fire context this means that the fuel : air equivalence ratio is at
unity, so that there is exactly the right amount of oxygen available for
complete combustion of the fuel.
Thermal decomposition: process whereby the action of heat or elevated
temperature on an item cause changes to the chemical composition.
08:00:05.

Yield: mass of a combustion product generated during combustion divided

by the mass of the test specimen. Note: yield can be expressed as mass
charge yield or mass loss yield (g product per g specimen).
Recovery fraction (also known as conversion efficiency): The yield of
a specified fuel element in a combustion product as a fraction of the
maximum yield obtainable from complete conversion of the fuel element to
that in the product. This can be calculated from the measured yield of the
product of interest relative to its notional yield from complete conversion.
For example, if all the carbon in a fuel specimen is burned to carbon dioxide,
the recovery fraction for carbon dioxide is 1. If only half the carbon is
recovered as carbon dioxide, then the recovery fraction for carbon dioxide
is 0.5.
Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-FP017

Contents

Chapter 1 Overview of Combustion Toxicology 1

David A. Purser and Robert L. Maynard

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Summary of the Main Aspects of the Subject Areas
Addressed in the Book 6
References 9

The Science of Combustion

Chapter 2 Fire Types and Combustion Products 13

08:00:07.

David A. Purser

2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Non-flaming and Smouldering Fires 19
2.2.1 Non-flaming Thermal Decomposition 19
2.2.2 Fluorocarbons 23
2.2.3 Fate of Phosphorus in Combustion Products 24
2.2.4 Brief Case Histories of Non-flaming Thermal
Decomposition Incidents 24
2.2.5 Smouldering 25
2.3 Well-ventilated Flaming Fires 26
2.4 Ventilation-controlled (Fuel-rich) Flaming
Fires 30
2.5 Continuous Ventilation-controlled Pre- and
Post-flashover Fires 33
2.6 Examples of Fire Incidents 35

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

xvii
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xviii Contents

2.7 Practical Aspects 39

2.7.1 Toxicity and Toxic Hazard 39
2.7.2 Acute Life-threatening Hazards in Building
or Transport Fires 40
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2.7.3 Determination of Time–Concentration

Exposure Curves from Fire Incidents 42
2.7.4 Direct Measurement during Incidents or
Full-scale Incident Reconstruction 42
2.7.5 Generation and Measurement of
Combustion Product Effluents 45
References 50

Chapter 3 Estimating Yields and Quantities of Mass Releases of Toxic

Products from Fires 53
David A. Purser

3.1 Modelling Conditions during Fire Incidents 53

3.2 Fire Modelling Basics 54
3.2.1 Source Fire and Fire Size 55
3.2.2 Calculation of Burning Rates and Toxic
Product Releases from the Heat Release Rate 57
08:00:07.

3.3 Calculation and Measurements of Product Yields

and Recovery Fractions 59
3.4 Using Individual Products as Markers for
Estimating Concentrations of Other Components 69
3.5 Validation of Fire Test Data for Application to Fire
Hazard Assessments 70
3.6 Estimation of Combustion Products Capable of
Causing Acute and Chronic Health Hazards or
Environmental Contamination 73
3.7 Environmental Contamination by Dioxins and
Furans from Halogenated Materials 75
References 76

Chapter 4 Products of Combustion and Toxicity from Specific Types

of Fires 79
James C. Wakefield

4.1 Introduction 79
4.2 Types of Fires 80
4.2.1 Effects of Thermal Breakdown Conditions 80
4.2.2 Pyrolysis 81
4.2.3 Smouldering 81
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Contents xix

4.2.4 Flaming Combustion, Well-ventilated 81

4.2.5 Flaming Combustion, Ventilation-controlled 82
4.2.6 Composition of Smokes 82
4.3 Common Toxic Combustion Products 83
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4.3.1 Different Categories of Toxicants 83

4.3.2 Asphyxiant Gases 83
4.3.3 Irritant Gases 88
4.3.4 Complex Molecules 90
4.3.5 Health Issues for Vulnerable Groups 96
4.4 Hazardous Combustion Products Formed by Fuel
Type 97
4.4.1 General and Case Specific Considerations 97
4.4.2 Fires Involving Polymeric Materials 97
4.4.3 Fires Involving Wood 99
4.4.4 Fires Involving Rubber and Tyres 99
4.4.5 Fires Involving Oil and Petrol 100
4.4.6 Fires Involving Hazardous Chemicals
(Chemical, Pesticide Manufacturer and
Storage) 100
4.4.7 Fires Involving Asbestos 101
4.5 Smoke Behaviour 101
08:00:07.

4.6 Main Conclusions 102

References 103

Chapter 5 Generation, Sampling and Quantification of Toxic

Combustion Products 108
T. Richard Hull and Anna A. Stec

5.1 Introduction 108

5.2 Generation of Combustion Effluents 110
5.2.1 Assessment of Combustion Toxicity 111
5.2.2 Laboratory-scale Methods 113
5.2.3 Reference Data from Large-scale Fire Tests 119
5.3 Comparison of Yields from Laboratory-scale Tests
and Large-scale Reference Data 119
5.3.1 Comparisons Based on Equivalence Ratio 119
5.3.2 Comparisons Based on Generic Combustion
Conditions 123
5.3.3 Attempted Replication of Under-ventilated
Flaming in the Smoke Chamber 124
5.3.4 Problems with the Smoke Chamber for
Assessment of Fire Toxicity 125
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5.4 Sampling and Pre-concentration 126

5.4.1 Challenges 126
5.4.2 Materials 127
5.4.3 Heated Lines 127
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5.4.4 Filtration 128

5.4.5 Pre-concentration 128
5.4.6 Solid-phase Micro-extraction 130
5.4.7 Particulates 130
5.5 Quantification 131
5.5.1 Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy 131
5.6 Conclusions 135
References 135

Chapter 6 Dispersion of Fire Plumes in the Atmosphere 139

David. J. Hall and Angela M. Spanton

6.1 Introduction 139

6.2 Fire Plume Buoyancy Scaling and Basic Properties 141
6.3 Fire Plume Dispersion Scaling for Contaminant
Concentration 145
6.4 Effects of Source Buoyancy, Shape and Size on Fire
Plume Dispersion 146
08:00:07.

6.5 Fire Plume Heat Release from Buildings 150

6.6 Buoyant Fire Plume ‘Lift-off’ 153
6.7 Fire Plume Dispersion in Urban Areas 157
6.8 Particle Dispersion in Fire Plumes 158
6.9 Deposition to the Ground from Fire Plumes 163
6.10 Partitioning of Fire Plumes 166
6.11 Conclusions 166
Appendix 167
A Brief Introduction to Dispersion Modelling 167
References 170

The Toxicology of Combustion Products

Chapter 7 Application of Animal Models and Human Studies to
Prediction of Combustion Toxicity in Humans 175
David A. Purser

7.1 Introduction 175

7.1.1 General 175
7.1.2 Thermal Decomposition, Combustion and
Fire Effluents 176
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7.1.3 Exposure Concentration, Time and Dose

Interactions for Combustion Product
Mixtures and Fractional Effective Dose
Methodology 177
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7.2 Development of Toxic Hazards in Fires and Health

Hazards from Chronic Exposures 180
7.3 Identification of Toxic Species in Fire Effluents and
Assessment of Contributions to Toxic Hazards 182
7.4 Fire Incident Investigations, Associated Fire Tests
and Pathology Studies 182
7.4.1 Smoke Irritants 182
7.4.2 Asphyxiant Gases 183
7.5 Studies Using Animals in Conjunction with Bench-
scale and Large-scale Fire Toxicity Tests 186
7.5.1 Considerations Related to Fire Models and
Animal Models Used 186
7.6 Findings from Primate Exposure Studies 188
7.6.1 Summary 194
7.7 Estimates of Sensory Irritant Potency of the Products
of Combustion from Natural and Synthetic Polymers
under Different Fire Conditions using Rodents, and
08:00:07.

the Contribution to Overall Irritant Potency from

Major Irritant Gases 196
7.7.1 Use of Rodents 196
7.7.2 Studies using the Rodent Respiratory Rate
Depression (RD50) Test 196
7.7.3 Findings from Combustion Irritancy Tests 201
7.7.4 Development Time and Concentration–
Dose Relationships of Sensory Irritant
Responses 205
7.8 Estimates of Lethal Toxic Potency for Natural
and Synthetic Polymers under Different Fire
Conditions using Rodents and Contribution to
Overall Toxic Potency from Major Toxic Gases 208
7.8.1 Small-scale Combustion Toxicity Tests
using Rodents 208
7.8.2 N-gas Models for Predicting Lethality
(LC50 Concentrations) in Rats Following a
30 minute Exposure 208
7.8.3 Application of LC50 N-gas FED Models to
Rat Lethality Data from Small-scale
Combustion Toxicity Tests 212
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xxii Contents

7.8.4Comparison of Models and Confirmation of

Additive Toxicity 218
7.8.5 Contribution of Different Toxic Gases to
Overall Lethal Toxic Potency from Different
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Materials 220
7.9 Dose–Effect Relationships and Extrapolation to
Humans 229
7.9.1 General 229
7.9.2 Effects of Allometric Relationships on Rates
of Uptake of Asphyxiant Gases and Time to
Incapacitation 230
7.9.3 AEGL Values for Irritant Gases Released in
Combustion Products 235
7.9.4 Effects of Differences in Body Structure 236
7.10 Conclusions 240
References 241

Chapter 8 Haber’s Law and its Application to Combustion

Products 248
Robert L. Maynard and David A. Purser
08:00:07.

8.1 Introduction 248

8.2 History of Haber’s Law 249
8.3 Haber’s Law 250
8.4 Further Developments of the Haber’s
Law Model 252
8.5 Conclusions 258
References 258

Chapter 9 Carbon Monoxide 260

Robert L. Maynard, Isabella Myers and
John A. S. Ross

9.1 Introduction 260

9.2 Physical Properties of Carbon Monoxide 261
9.3 Measuring and Reporting Concentrations of
Carbon Monoxide 262
9.3.1 Measurement of Carbon Monoxide in Blood
and Expired Air 263
9.4 Endogenous Production of Carbon Monoxide and
its Role in Normal Physiology 265
9.5 Uptake and Kinetics of Carbon Monoxide 266
9.5.1 Explicit, General Solution of the CFK
Equation 270
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9.6 Toxicological Mechanisms of Action of Carbon

Monoxide 276
9.6.1 Binding of CO to Haemoglobin 278
9.6.2 Binding of CO to Myoglobin 280
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9.6.3 Binding of CO to Other Haem Proteins 281

9.6.4 Recap 282
9.6.5 Goldbaum’s Experiments 282
9.7 Carbon Monoxide, Free Radicals and Oxidative
Stress 284
9.7.1 Free Radicals 284
9.8 Clinical Features of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 287
9.8.1 Exposure–response Relationship 287
9.8.2 Effect of Short Duration Exposure to High
Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide 290
9.9 The Neurological Effects of CO Poisoning 296
9.9.1 Neuro-pathology 297
9.9.2 Neuro-imaging 298
9.9.3 Neuro-psychological Methods 298
9.10 Management of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in
Association with Smoke Inhalation 299
9.11 Summary 302
08:00:07.

9.12 Abbreviations 303

References 304

Chapter 10 Hydrogen Cyanide—Physiological Effects of Acute

Exposure during Fires 310
David A. Purser

10.1 Introduction 310

10.1.1 Contribution of Hydrogen Cyanide to
Incapacitation and Death in Fires 310
10.2 Mechanism of HCN Toxicity and Interactions with
Carbon Monoxide and Oxygen 312
10.3 Physiological Effects of Acute HCN Exposure 314
10.4 Dose–Response Relationships for HCN
Incapacitation 317
10.4.1 Deviation from Haber’s Rule 320
10.5 Lethal Doses of HCN, NaCN and KCN by Different
Routes of Administration 321
10.6 Relationship Between HCN Toxicity and Blood
Cyanide Concentration During and After Exposure 324
10.6.1 Blood Cyanide Uptake and Incapacitation
in Cynomolgus Monkeys 324
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xxiv Contents

10.6.2
Relationship Between Whole Blood
Cyanide and Clinical Condition 329
10.6.3 Effects of Hypocapnia 331
10.6.4 Cyanide Uptake from Inhaled Hydrogen
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Cyanide and Pulmonary HCN Excretion 332

10.6.5 Partitioning Between Red Cell
Methaemoglobin and Blood Plasma 333
10.6.6 The Dynamics of Dispersal and
Partitioning of Cyanide between Plasma
and Other Body Fluid Compartments 336
10.6.7 Summary of Blood Partition and
Distribution Findings 345
10.6.8 A Calculation Model for Uptake and
Dispersal of Inhaled HCN in Cynomolgus
Monkeys and Humans 346
10.7 Cyanide Metabolism and Rate of Cyanide
Clearance from the Blood Post-exposure 349
10.8 Forensic Considerations with Respect to HCN
Exposure and Post-mortem Blood Cyanide 351
References 355
08:00:07.

Chapter 11 Mechanism of Action of Combustion-derived

Nanoparticles 361
Ken Donaldson, Amanda Hunter, Craig Poland and
Steve Smith

11.1 Introduction 361

11.2 Health Impacts of CDNP 362
11.3 Toxicological Considerations in the
Physicochemical Composition of
Combustion-derived Nanoparticles 362
11.4 The Nature of Cellular Oxidative Stress 365
11.5 Oxidative Stress Caused by the Specific
Components of Combustion-derived Particles 367
11.5.1 Oxidative Effects of the Carbon Core 368
11.5.2 Oxidative Effects of Transition Metals 368
11.5.3 Oxidative Effects of Organic Electrophiles 369
11.6 Oxidative Stress Signalling Causing Inflammation 371
11.7 Mechanism of Cardiovascular Effects Following
Inhalation of CDNP 372
11.7.1 Inflammation 372
11.7.2 Translocation 372
11.7.3 Autonomic Nervous System 373
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11.8 Wood Smoke 373

11.9 Health Effects of Wood Smoke 373
11.10 Summary of Mechanisms of Action of
Combustion-derived Particles 375
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References 376

Chapter 12 Dioxins and Other Carcinogens 382

David A. Purser

12.1 Introduction 382

12.2 Carcinogens Identified in Combustion
Products 384
12.2.1 Classification and Identification of
Carcinogenic Substances in Combustion
Products 384
12.2.2 Fuels Containing Carbon, Hydrogen and
Oxygen 386
12.2.3 Fuels Containing Nitrogen 388
12.2.4 Fuels Containing Halogens 389
12.2.5 Fuels Containing Phosphorus 389
12.2.6 Metals 390
08:00:07.

12.2.7 Mineral Fibres 390

12.3 Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Dioxins and Furans 391
12.3.1 Range of Different Substances and
Toxicity 391
12.3.2 Daily Intakes from Different Sources 395
12.3.3 Toxic Effects of Dioxins and Recommended
Maximum Daily Intake Levels 397
12.3.4 Exposure Limits and Guidelines 397
12.3.5 Environmental Contamination by Dioxins
and Furans Resulting from Combustion of
Halogenated Materials 398
12.3.6 Trends in Dioxin Sources and Levels of
Environmental Contamination 400
12.3.7 Extent to Which the Exposure of People to
Combustion Products from PVC and
Materials Containing Halogenated Fire
Retardants During and After Fires in
Buildings Constitutes a Risk to their
Long Term Health 401
12.4 Conclusions 406
References 406
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Chapter 13 Irritant Gases 411

James C. Wakefield

13.1 Introduction 411

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13.2 Inorganic Acid Gases 414

13.2.1 Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) 415
13.2.2 Hydrogen Bromide (HBr) 415
13.2.3 Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) 416
13.2.4 Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 417
13.2.5 Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) 417
13.2.6 Phosphorus Pentoxide (P2O5) 418
13.3 Organic Irritants 419
13.3.1 Formation of Organic Irritants 419
13.3.2 Acrolein 419
13.3.3 Formaldehyde 420
13.4 Other Inorganic Irritants 421
13.4.1 Ammonia (NH3) 421
13.4.2 Chlorine 422
13.4.3 Phosgene (COCl2) 422
13.5 Conclusions 423
References 424
08:00:07.

Chapter 14 Acute Effects of Combinations of Toxicologically Active

Substances and Heat on Fire Victims in Buildings and
during Exposures to Outdoor Smoke Plumes 428
David A. Purser

14.1 Introduction 428

14.2 Fractional Effective Dose Methods and
Application to Fire Hazard Analysis 433
14.2.1 Fire Effluent Mixtures and the Fractional
Effective Dose Hazard Analysis 433
14.2.2 The Basis of ASET Analysis and the FED
Method 434
14.2.3 Application of FEC and FED to Full-scale
Compartment Fire Data 436
14.3 Assessing the Effects of Exposure to Typical Fire
Smoke Containing Irritant Particulates and
Vapours 443
14.3.1 Movement Speed in Smoke 444
14.4 Tenability Limits and Fractional Irritant
Concentrations for Sensory Irritants 447
14.5 Post-exposure Lung Inflammation and Survival 449
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14.6 Tenability Limits and Hazard Calculations for

Asphyxiant Gases 452
14.6.1 General FED Expression for Mixed
Asphyxiant Gases 452
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14.6.2 Carbon Monoxide 454

14.6.3 Hydrogen Cyanide 456
14.6.4 Low Oxygen Hypoxia 456
14.6.5 Effect of Ventilation at Different Activity
Levels and Inhaled Carbon Dioxide 457
14.6.6 Contribution of Lung Irritants to
Asphyxia 459
14.7 Tenability Limits and Hazard Calculations for
Radiant and Convective Heat 460
14.8 Worked Example of a Fire FED Analysis 462
14.9 Application and Validation of FED Methods in
Fire Incident Investigation 465
14.10 Direct Application of Toxic Potency Data from
Small-scale Tests to Hazard Analysis 470
14.11 Estimation of Outdoor Environmental Fire
Hazards and Health Effects 470
14.11.1 Outdoor Hazards 470
08:00:07.

14.11.2 Outdoor Hazards from Fires 472

14.11.3 Odours and Irritants in Outdoor Smoke
Plumes 477
14.12 Conclusions 484
References 485

Clinical Toxicology and Management of Combustion

Product Exposures
Chapter 15 Treatment of Cyanide Poisoning Associated with Fires 491
Timothy C. Marrs

15.1 Introduction 491

15.2 General Measures and First Aid 492
15.3 Antidotes 492
15.3.1 Sulfur Donors and Rhodanese 493
15.3.2 Complexation with Heavy Metals 495
15.3.3 Keto and Allied Compounds 502
15.3.4 Miscellaneous Substances Studied in the
Experimental Treatment of Cyanide
Poisoning 502
15.3.5 Comparison of Cyanide Antidotes 502
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15.4 Treatment of Hydrogen Cyanide Poisoning

Pre-hospital 503
15.5 Oxygen in Cyanide Poisoning 503
15.6 Conclusion 503
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References 504

Chapter 16 Acute Lung Injury Following Inhalation of Irritant

Products of Combustion 514
David J. Baker

16.1 Introduction 514

16.2 Definitions 515
16.3 Classification of Inhaled Products of
Combustion 515
16.3.1 Asphyxiant Gases 516
16.3.2 Irritant Gases 516
16.4 Actions of Irritant Products of Combustion on the
Lung and Respiratory Tract 516
16.4.1 Immediate Actions 516
16.4.2 Delayed Actions 519
16.5 Respiratory Failure Following Inhalation of
Products of Combustion 519
08:00:07.

16.6 Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress

Syndrome 519
16.6.1 Clinical Features of ALI 520
16.6.2 Pathophysiology of ALI 521
16.6.3 Cellular Mechanisms of ALI 521
16.7 Clinical Presentation of Patients Following
Inhalation of Irritant Products of Combustion 522
16.7.1 Sensory Irritation 522
16.7.2 Pulmonary Irritation 522
16.8 The Management of Patients who are Affected by
Irritant Products of Combustion 523
16.8.1 Immediate Management 523
16.8.2 Emergency Airway Management 524
16.8.3 Emergency Artificial Ventilation 524
16.9 Assessment of Damage and Identification of
Patients at Risk from Developing ALI and ARDS 525
16.10 Therapeutic Measures for the Management of
Inhalation of Irritant Products of Combustion 525
16.10.1 Continuing Artificial Ventilation for ALI 526
16.10.2 Rationale for the Ventilation Strategy
in ALI 526
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16.11 Pharmacological Support Following Inhalation

Injury by Irritant Gases of Combustion 527
16.11.1 Steroids 528
16.11.2 Beta Agonists 528
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16.11.3 Diuretics 528

16.11.4 New Research Directions in the
Management of ALI 528
16.12 Cyanide Poisoning: the Use of Hydroxocobalamin 528
16.13 A Summary of Therapeutic Strategies in the
Management of ALI from Inhalation of Products
of Combustion 529
16.14 Conclusions 530
References 531

Chapter 17 Health Effects in Groups Exposed to Wildland and

Urban Fires 535
Jamie L. McAllister

17.1 Introduction 535

17.2 Occupational Exposure: Fire Service and Fire
Investigation Professionals 536
08:00:07.

17.3 Environmental Exposures 543

17.3.1 Emergency Workers and the General
Public during Large-scale Fire Incidents 543
17.3.2 Emergency Workers and the General
Public Exposed during Wildland Fires 545
17.3.3 Gulf War Veterans Exposed during the
Kuwait Oil Fires 547
References 549

Examples of Unusual Conflagrations

Chapter 18 Buncefield Fire 555
Thomas Waite, Catherine Keshishian and Virginia Murray

18.1 The Buncefield Oil Depot 555

18.2 Circumstances of the Explosion and
Subsequent Fire 556
18.2.1 The Fire and Aftermath 557
18.3 Estimation of Emissions and Pollutants 558
18.4 Public Health Response 560
18.5 Environmental Impact Findings 560
18.5.1 Air Quality Monitoring and Modelling 560
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18.5.2Atmospheric and Plume Dispersion

Modelling 561
18.5.3 Air Quality Monitoring 561
18.5.4 International Impact 564
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18.6 Health Impact Findings 564

18.6.1 Outcomes of Three Studies of Public
Health Impact 564
18.6.2 Emergency Department Case Note Review 564
18.6.3 Occupational Health Surveillance 565
18.6.4 Buncefield Follow up Population Survey 566
18.7 Discussion 567
18.7.1 Lack of Major Acute or Chronic Health
Impacts 567
18.7.2 Public Health Impact 567
18.7.3 Potential Air Pollution Health Impacts
under Alternative Meteorological
Scenarios 568
18.7.4 Public Health Lessons Identified 569
18.7.5 Vapour Cloud Incidents of Note from
Around the World 570
18.8 Conclusions 570
08:00:07.

References 571

Chapter 19 The World Trade Centre Disaster 574

Michaela Kendall, Mitchell Cohen and Lung-Chi Chen

19.1 Introduction 574

19.2 WTC Dust Emissions 575
19.2.1 WTC Dust and Smoke Release 575
19.2.2 Immediate Characterisation and
Evaluation of WTC Smoke and Dust 576
19.2.3 Detailed Characterisation of Deposited
WTC Dust 580
19.3 Toxicology of Deposited WTC Dust 588
19.3.1 Inflammatory Effects 588
19.3.2 Long-term Effects 589
19.4 Health Impacts of WTC Dust and Smoke
Exposures 590
19.4.1 Human Exposures to WTC Dust and
Smoke 590
19.4.2 Initial Evidence of WTC Dust Health
Impacts 592
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19.4.3 Diseases Linked to Exposures of WTC Dust 592

19.4.4 The WTC Health Registry 594
19.5 Lessons Learned 595
19.6 Conclusions 596
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References 597

Public Health Aspects of Fire Management

Chapter 20 Providing Advice to those Exposed to Combustion

Products 605
Virginia Murray

20.1 Introduction 605

20.2 Current HPA (now PHE) Shelter and Evacuation
Guidance 608
20.3 Incident-related Evidence 611
20.4 Discussion 616
20.4.1 Epidemiological Surveillance 617
20.4.2 Communication 618
20.4.3 Compliance with Advice on Sheltering and
Evacuation 619
20.4.4 Education 619
08:00:07.

20.4.5 Vulnerability of Patients and Health Care

Workers during Sheltering 620
20.5 Conclusion 621
Appendix 20.1 Draft Information Leaflet for those
People being Evacuated (HPA, 2009) 623
References 623

Subject Index 628

 08:00:07.
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CHAPTER 1

Overview of Combustion
Toxicology
DAVID A. PURSER*a AND ROBERT L. MAYNARDb
a
Hartford Environmental Research, Hatfield, UK; b University of
Birmingham, UK, Email: [email protected]
*Email: [email protected]

1.1 Introduction
08:00:07.

There can be no doubt that the discovery of how substances can be caused to
burn is the greatest of all human discoveries. Until the discovery of nuclear
fission, combustion was the only known means of causing matter to release
large amounts of stored energy. Combustion remains the overwhelmingly
most important means of releasing such energy; indeed even nuclear power
would be impossible without combustion: metals have to smelted and
fabricated before nuclear reactors can be constructed. Just how important
combustion is can be illustrated by considering a lump of coal, a piece of
wood or a litre of oil: how could one release the energy within these materials
without combustion? From very early times to the present, from the need for
warmth in caves to the apparent need for high speed motor cars, combustion
has played an essential role in man’s development. The essence of the
discovery: that combustion releases heat and that heat, a form of energy, can
do work is known to everybody.
When organic substances burn, they release heat; they also release
chemical products of combustion. The atoms forming the molecules of
organic matter cannot be destroyed by combustion, but they can be caused
to separate from their original combinations and to form other

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

1
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2 Chapter 1

combinations. Material comprising only molecules containing carbon,

oxygen and hydrogen cannot, on burning, fail to produce molecules
containing these elements. The principle products of combustion are carbon
dioxide and water, but depending on the efficiency of the combustion
process, other substances are produced: carbon monoxide, for example.
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Already we have identified a toxicologically active product of combustion.

Carbon monoxide is a very poisonous gas and is responsible for a high
percentage of deaths occurring in accidents involving fires. Combustion is
often not very efficient and a range of gases and particulate materials are
produced: smoke and ash. Some products remain at the source of the fire;
others are carried into the atmosphere along with the heated air produced by
the fire. Air pollution is produced. Even well regulated combustion of the
type seen in modern internal combustion engines produces pollutants.
Everybody has seen black smoke being emitted by old diesel powered
vehicles; even the ‘‘cleanest’’ new motor car produces carbon dioxide.
The toxic effects of combustion products resulting from various sources
are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. All people are exposed, every
day, to air pollutants produced by combustion of organic material. Some are
exposed to high concentrations: forest fires provide an example. Others are
exposed to lower concentrations: levels of air pollution in the countryside of
developed countries like the UK provide an example. Some people are
exposed to potentially dangerous levels of pollution during their work: those
working with diesel engines in confined spaces, those working as fire-
08:00:07.

fighters provide examples. And some are exposed as a result of accidents:

those trapped in a burning building and those exposed to carbon monoxide
being emitted by a faulty coke boiler provide obvious examples. Just how
dangerous smoke from fires actually is may easily be forgotten. In fact
it is very dangerous indeed: incapacitation by inhalation of smoke and
consequent inability to escape is the major cause of deaths in fires. In the UK
alone 200 deaths and 2500 injuries requiring hospital treatment are, each
year, caused by accidental exposure to smoke from uncontrolled fires.1
Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show annual fire deaths and injuries per million
population in the UK from smoke and burns, by far the majority of which
occur in domestic dwellings. In the 1950s most deaths (7.2 per million) and
injuries (35.7 per million) resulted from burns, with very few deaths (1.9 per
million) and injuries (3.3 per million) attributable to toxic smoke exposure.
Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, although the incidence of injury
and death from burns remained approximately constant, there was a more
than fourfold increase in deaths and a fivefold increase in injuries from
exposure to toxic smoke.
Although a number of factors may be involved, the main cause of this
increase was considered to be changes in living styles in the average British
home, and in particular the replacement of traditional materials used for the
construction of upholstered furniture and bedding by man-made materials,
especially polyurethane foam filling and synthetic covering materials. Not
only did the incidence of flaming fires increase, but when fires occurred, fire
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Overview of Combustion Toxicology 3

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Figure 1.1 Annual fire deaths in the United Kingdom per million population from
smoke exposure and burns between 1955 and 2012.1
08:00:07.

Figure 1.2 Annual fire injuries in the UK per million population from smoke
exposure and burns between 1955 and 2012.1

growth was rapid and involved the production of large volumes of irritant
smoke, containing high concentrations of particulates, carbon monoxide
and hydrogen cyanide. The dense smoke was therefore much more likely
to impede the escape of occupants, who were then rapidly overcome by
asphyxiant gases and heat.
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4 Chapter 1

Concerns regarding these issues led to the introduction of the upholstered

furniture flammability regulations in 1988, which required improved
resistance to ignition from small smouldering and flaming sources. This had
no immediate effect, since significant replacement of old furniture in the
housing stock took around a decade. However, another safety innovation
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introduced from this time was smoke alarms, gradual uptake of which
coincided with a gradual decrease in smoke deaths, although the total
number of fires and the number of smoke injuries continued to increase.
From around 2000, by which time much old upholstered furniture had been
replaced, the incidence of fires and of serious injuries also started to decrease
so that these and the death rate gradually decreased towards the levels of
the 1950s. Toxic smoke exposure remains the man cause of injuries and
deaths in fires. These aspects are discussed further in Chapters 2 and 15.
Another influence may be the decline in the prevalence of cigarette smoking
in the UK over this period (Figure 1.3). This has important implications for
both the incidence of acute fire deaths and injuries (since ‘‘smokers’
materials’’ are reported as a major cause of fatal fires in the annual fire
statistics1) and the long term morbidity and mortality from smoking-related
diseases.2,3 However, the decrease in incidence of smoking over the period up
to 2000 in fact coincides with the increase in the numbers of fires in dwell-
ings. It is possible that the further decline in smoking since 2000, coupled
with the more recent unacceptability of smoking indoors, may be partly re-
sponsible for the decrease in the number of dwellings fires since this time.
08:00:07.

This variety of causes of morbidity and mortality related to combustion

products illustrates one aspect of their complexity: the wide range of toxic
product concentrations of interest in evaluating effects, and the very wide
range of exposure times that need to be considered. Figure 1.4 captures this,

Figure 1.3 Prevalence of cigarette smoking in persons aged 16 and over, UK

1955–2010.2,3
 View Online

Overview of Combustion Toxicology 5

10,00,00,000.00000000

1,00,00,000.00000000

10,00,000.00000000

1,00,000.00000000
Exposure concentrations of interest (µg/m3)

10,000.00000000
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1,000.00000000

100.00000000

10.00000000

1.00000000

0.10000000

0.01000000

0.00100000

0.00010000

0.00001000

0.00000100

0.00000010

0.00000001
0.00 0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1,000.00 10,000.00 1,00,000.00 10,00,000.00

Exposure periods of interest (hours)

Carbon monoxide particulates PM 2.5-10 Nitrogen dioxide Hydrogen cyanide

2,3,7,8 TCDD Hydrogen chloride Formaldehyde

Figure 1.4 Ranges of exposure concentrations and exposure periods of toxicological

significance for common components of combustion product
atmospheres.
08:00:07.

by showing the concentration ranges (expressed in mg m 3) and exposure

periods (expressed in hours) of interest for several toxic substances occurring
in combustion products mixtures. The figure illustrates the enormous range
of concentrations and times of interest involving over 16 orders of magnitude
from pg m 3 concentrations of dioxins over a 50 year exposure period to over
100 g m 3 of carbon monoxide over periods as short as a few seconds.
The top left of Figure 1.4 shows concentrations of asphyxiant gases, such
as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, acid gases and organic irritants,
such as hydrogen chloride and formaldehyde, and smoke particulates,
which can be present at concentrations up to percent levels by volume or
g m 3 by mass during fires. In order to understand the effects on the survival
of fire victims it is necessary to study the effects of smoke and irritants on
escape capability and the incapacitating physiological effects of asphyxiant
gases during critical periods of from a few seconds to a few minutes, in order
to calculate time to loss of consciousness and death. For subjects rescued
alive from fires it is also important to consider the more permanent effects
of these gases on cerebral and cardiovascular function, and the effects
of irritants and smoke particulates on lung function and pathology
(complicated by burn injuries).
Moving on to exposure periods of approximately 1–100 hours, for
situations such as acute exposures to diluted smoke plumes from wildfires,
the concern relates mainly to effects from smoke particulates and irritants,
 View Online

6 Chapter 1

including nuisance odour, mild eye and respiratory tract irritation and
possibly more serious acute effects on vulnerable individuals.
Long term exposure to ambient air pollutants has been shown to be
associated with a significant effect on health. In this context the concen-
trations of interest are very low, for example in the mg m 3 range for pollu-
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tants, such as fine particulates (PM 2.5) or formaldehyde, and in the pg m 3

range for dibenzodioxins. Studies reviewed by the Committee on the Medical
effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) in 2009 and 20104,5 led to the conclusion
that current levels of fine particles (PM 2.5) in the UK are responsible
for 29 000 attributable deaths each year. A large proportion of material
monitored as PM 2.5 comes, directly or indirectly, from combustion
processes. No threshold of effect for such findings has been discovered. The
effects leading to an increased risk of death involve those on the cardio-
vascular system and on the risk of lung cancer. It is interesting that effects
on the respiratory system appear to be less important. Short term increases
in ambient concentrations of air pollutants are also associated with in-
creases in deaths and hospital admissions: in this case the respiratory
system is affected, in addition to the cardiovascular system. The European
Commission has funded a recent review of these effects.6 In addition to
these environmental exposures, tobacco smoking is the primary cause of
preventable illness and premature death, accounting for approximately
100 000 death per year in the UK, representing 36% of all respiratory deaths,
28% of all cancer deaths and 14% or all circulatory deaths.7
08:00:07.

With regard to some of these toxic substances, especially dioxins, the

systemic health effects may result directly from inhalation exposure, but also
from secondary ingestion following deposition of combustion products into
water and taken up into foodstuffs, or even as a result of dermal exposure.8
These issues are discussed in Chapters 3 and 12.
These few statistics illustrate the enormous ongoing adverse morbidity
and mortality costs of exposure to combustion products.

1.2 Summary of the Main Aspects of the Subject

Areas Addressed in the Book
In order to cover the different aspects of fires, combustion products and
toxic health effects we have divided this book into five sections:

 The Science of Combustion.

 The Toxicity of Combustion Products.
 The Clinical Toxicology and Management of Combustion Product
Exposures.
 Examples of Unusual Conflagrations.
 Public Health Aspects of Fire Management.

‘‘The Science of Combustion’’ consists of five chapters addressing the

chemical and physical aspects of combustion processes, fire development
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Overview of Combustion Toxicology 7

and fire types, the composition of combustion product ‘‘fire effluent’’ or

‘‘smoke’’ atmospheres, and the measurement and calculation of the yields
and concentrations of toxic substances from a range of fuels in a variety of
fire scenarios. An important aspect of fires is that the rates of production
and composition of the combustion products vary considerably depending
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upon the combustion conditions. In Chapter 2, titled ‘‘Fire Types and

Combustion Products’’, David Purser describes different fire types and fire
stages in terms of fire scenario development, combustion conditions, the
range of combustion products formed and the behaviour of different fuels
depending on elemental and structural composition. In Chapter 3, titled
‘‘Estimating Yields and Quantities of Mass Releases of Toxic Products from
Fires’’, he further develops this theme. The chapter describes methods
for generating and measuring toxic products and yields under different fire
conditions and presents yield data for a range of fuel types and fire scen-
arios. The chapter then explains how these can be used as input into en-
gineering calculations for mass releases of combustion products both within
and beyond enclosures such as buildings. Some of the technical issues with
respect to valid test methods for burning materials under defined com-
bustion conditions, and some challenges in sampling and measuring the
composition of the combustion product atmospheres, are flagged up in this
chapter. They are then described in more detail by T. Richard Hull and Anna
Stec in Chapter 5, titled ‘‘Generation, Sampling and Quantification of Toxic
Combustion Products’’. In Chapter 4, titled ‘‘Products of Combustion and
08:00:07.

Toxicity from Specific Types of Fires’’, James Wakefield describes a wider

range of fire types and combustion products, including those involving in-
dustrial fires, from which specific industrial chemicals are released into the
combustion product mixtures from the general building or vehicle materials.
When large conflagrations such as these occur, large fire effluent plumes are
released to the outdoor environment. In order to assess the hazards from
such plumes, the mass releases from the source fire (calculated using
methods such as those described in Chapter 3) are used as input to smoke
plume dispersal calculation models, which are described by David Hall and
Angela Spanton in Chapter 6.
Having generated our combustion products in the first section of the
book, we next examine their toxicology in the following eight chapters. In
Chapter 7 David Purser considers the application of animal models and
human studies to prediction of combustion toxicity in humans. Combustion
product atmospheres contain a complex mixture of gases and particulates
interacting to produce a series of toxic effects on exposed subjects. Our
understanding of these effects, which substances are the major actors and
how they interact, is derived from a variety of sources. These include human
fire incident investigations, animal exposures to combustion product
atmospheres generated by burning a range of materials under different fire
conditions, and exposures of rodents, primates and human volunteers to
individual toxic substances (or specific mixtures of substances) known to
occur in fire effluents. Prof. Purser explains how the main effects of acute
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8 Chapter 1

exposure have been found to occur in a sequence consisting of immediate

eye and upper respiratory tract irritancy followed by incapacitation due to
the effects of asphyxiant gases during exposure, then followed by respiratory
tract and lung inflammation some hours after exposure. These studies have
shown that the major effects of exposure to fire effluents can be explained in
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terms or a small number of key irritant and asphyxiant substances. The

quantification of the effects of these substances and their interactions is
described and their incorporation into toxic potency calculation models for
combustion product mixtures.
An important aspect of acute exposure to specific substances and
evaluating their toxic effects is the concentration, exposure dose, toxicity
relationships for different substances, and the extent to which they follow
Haber’s Law. Aspects of this are addressed in Chapter 7, and a detailed
consideration of relationships to Haber’s Law is provided by Robert Maynard
and David Purser in Chapter 8, titled ‘‘Haber’s Law and its Application to
Combustion Products’’.
The remaining six chapters in this section consider the toxicology of
specific substances, or groups of substances, of particular significance.
Chapter 9, titled ‘‘Carbon Monoxide’’, by Robert Maynard, Isabella Myers
and John Ross, and Chapter 10, titled ‘‘Hydrogen Cyanide – Physiological
Effects of Acute Exposure during Fires’’, by David Purser contain detailed
descriptions of the uptake dynamics, calculation of blood and tissue
concentrations, and physiological and other toxic effects for these mayor
08:00:07.

asphyxiant gases. In Chapter 11 Ken Donaldson, Amanda Hunter, Craig

Poland and Steve Smith describe the mechanism of action of combustion-
derived nanoparticles. David Purser covers the health hazards from dioxins
and carcinogens in Chapter 12, and James Wakefield those from irritant
gases in Chapter 13.
Analysis of the life-threatening exposures of building occupants during
fires is important for building design hazard assessments, understanding
the condition of survivors at the fire scene and in the emergency room, and
for forensic investigation of fatal fire incidents. For these applications it
is necessary to be able to model and predict the sequence of effects on
occupants during fire incidents and their severity. In Chapter 14, titled
‘‘Acute Effects of Combinations of Toxicologically Active Substances and
Heat on Fire Victims in Buildings and During Exposures to Outdoor Smoke
Plumes’’, David Purser describes the ‘‘fractional effective dose’’ modelling
method with worked examples for actual fire scenarios.
The three chapters in the third section of the book cover clinical aspects of
combustion toxicology and management of combustion product exposures.
Timothy Marrs has contributed a chapter on the clinical management of
cyanide poisoning, which complements Chapter 10 on hydrogen cyanide
uptake and toxicology. David Baker has addressed the subject of irritant
gases and acute lung injury, complementing descriptions of the toxicology of
irritant combustion products in Chapter 7 and individual irritant gases in
Chapter 13.
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Overview of Combustion Toxicology 9

Although the severe acute health effects during and after exposure at fire
scenes are well established, the significance of acute exposures to dilute
outside smoke plumes from large fires is more controversial. Typically re-
ported are nuisance odour, and minor eye and throat irritation, or breathing
problems, but estimation of the predicted effects can be challenging.
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Wildland fires provide situations where populations, including the public

and volunteer fire-fighters, may be exposed for periods from hours to several
days to relatively dense smoke plumes from large areas of burning vege-
tation. Urban fire-fighters wear breathing apparatus during rescue and fire-
fighting activities in buildings, but often have no respiratory protection in
the immediate fire surroundings, when ‘‘damping down’’ during the last
stages of a fire, or when investigating a contaminated post-fire scene. If there
are significant acute or chronic health hazards from exposure to diluted
smoke plumes they should show up in these groups. Jamie McAllister has
reviewed this important subject in Chapter 17, titled ‘‘Health Effects in
Groups Exposed to Wildland and Urban Fires’’.
The two chapters in the fourth book section consist of descriptions of
some unusual major conflagrations. Thomas Waite, Catherine Keshishian
and Virginia Murray in Chapter 18, titled ‘‘The Buncefield Fire’’, have con-
tributed a chapter on this major incident, the largest fire in Europe since
World War II, which had minimal health effects despite producing a large
smoke plume over southern England for several weeks. Michaela Kendall,
Mitchell Cohen and Lung-Chi Chen have described the consequences of the
08:00:07.

World Trade Center fires. The content of the effluent plume from this
incident has led to considerable chronic health effects on exposed subjects.
However, the main effects appear to be related not so much to the com-
bustion products, which largely dispersed as a high altitude plume rather as
at Buncefield, but owe more to the mineral dust and fibre plume released
from the collapsing buildings. This illustrates an important point not
covered elsewhere in the book, that mineral and related particulates can
be carried up into energetic fire plumes during building fires, and then
deposited in the surrounding areas depending on parameters such as the
particle size, density and settlement velocity.
The final section consists of a chapter by Virginia Murray on the public
health aspects of fire management in Chapter 20, titled ‘‘Providing Advice to
Those Exposed to Combustion Products’’.

References
1. Fire Statistics, Great Britain. Published annually by communities and
local government.
2. Trends in Smoking. Lung and asthma information agency, Fact sheet
98/2. St George’s Hospital Medical School. London. 1998.
3. General Lifestyle Survey, Office for National Statistics, 2012.
4. Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP), Long-term
Exposure to Air Pollution: Effect on Mortality, Department of Health, 2009.
 View Online

10 Chapter 1

5. Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP), The

Mortality Effects of Long-term Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution in the
United Kingdom, Department of Health, 2010.
6. World Health Organization, Review of evidence on health aspects of air
pollution – REVIHAAP. Technical Report, World Health Organization Office
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for Europe, 2013.

7. Estimated premature deaths for each jurisdiction are as follows:
England – 79 100; Scotland – 13 000; Wales – 5600; N. Ireland – 2300.
Sources: Statistics on smoking: England, 2012; The NHS Information
Centre for Health and Social Care, 2012; ScotPHO Smoking Ready
Reckoner, 2011 edition; Welsh Government, Health Improvement;
NIdirect – smoking.
8. D. A. Purser, Toxicity of fire retardants in relation to life safety and
environmental hazards, in Fire Retardant Materials, ed. A. R. Horrocks
and D. Price, Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge UK, 2001,
pp. 69–127, Chapter 3.
08:00:07.
 08:00:09.
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The Science of Combustion

 08:00:09.
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Published on 16 October 2015 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781849737487-00011 View Online

CHAPTER 2

Fire Types and Combustion

Products
DAVID A. PURSER

Hartford Environmental Research, Hatfield, UK

Email: [email protected]

2.1 Introduction
From the perspective of toxic fire hazard development and fire chemistry
it is possible to classify fires into a range of basic types or stages depending
on the nature of the burning fuel and the setting in which it is burning
(the fire scenario).1
08:00:09.

In any specific fire the toxic hazard at any location and time during a fire
depends on:

 the mass burning rate of the fuel (kg s1);

 the yields of each of a set of toxic products (kg kg1 fuel burned);
 the air entrainment and volume into which the products are dispersed,
which determines the concentrations of toxic products in the fire effluent.

Fire dynamics (mass burning rate and dispersal of the fire effluents)
depend upon a range of variables related to the specific fire scenario, but the
yields of toxic products depend upon three main aspects:

 The elemental composition of the fuel.

 The organic composition of the fuel.
 The combustion conditions.

Issues in Toxicology No. 23

Toxicology, Survival and Health Hazards of Combustion Products
Edited by David A. Purser, Robert L. Maynard and James C. Wakefield
r The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016
Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, www.rsc.org

13
Discovering Diverse Content Through
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The shadow
girl
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The shadow girl

Author: Ray Cummings

Illustrator: Smolenski

Release date: May 8, 2024 [eBook #73572]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Columbia Publications Inc, 1928

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHADOW

GIRL ***
 THE SHADOW GIRL

By RAY CUMMINGS

(Author of "Into the Fourth Dimension," "Beyond the Stars,"

etc.)

Here Is Another Classic Science Fiction Novel,

Reprinted by Your Request.

Illustrated by Smolenski.

Out of the misty reaches of

time came a man and girl of
the distant future-New York
to wreak vengeance upon Dr.
Turber, prominent physician
of 1945. But what mystery lay
behind Turber's Indian
assistant, who seemed to
belong to the New Amsterdam
 of Peter Stuyvesant, and how
could Turber menace Great-
New York of 2445? An
absorbing book-length novel
by one of science fiction's
prime favorites.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Science Fiction Quarterly Spring 1942.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
 CHAPTER I

WHAT THE TELEVISION SHOWED

The extraordinary and mysterious visions of the shadow girl appeared
on the television screen which Alan and I had just erected in his
workshop. It was nearly midnight—a hot sultry evening of late June.
The instrument was a Farodyne polychrome receiver; latest model of
the multiple-cell semi-oscillating type. We had worked all evening
installing it. Alan's sister, Nanette, sat quietly in a corner, modeling a
little statue in green clay. Occasionally she would ask us how we were
getting along.
We were planning to receive the broadcasting from the powerful
Bound Brook station—a program which had been advertised for 11.30
p.m.
The room was dark as we sat at the small instrument table with the
six-foot screen erect against the wall and only the flashing beams
from the whirling color-filters to cast a lurid glow upon us. The screen
hummed as the current went into it. But at once we saw that
something was wrong. The screen lighted unevenly; we could not
locate with any precision the necessary frequency ranges; not one of
the three near-by broadcasting studios which we knew were at that
moment on the air, would come in.
Nanette was disappointed and impatient as I manipulated the dials at
random, and Alan verified the connections. "Is there nothing on it?"
"Presently, Nan. Alan must have grounded it badly—I'm sure we have
everything else—"
I stopped abruptly. My grip tightened on her arm. We all sat tense.
An image was forming on the screen.
Alan said sharply: "Don't touch it, Ed!" I relinquished the dials.
We sat watching, tense, and interested. Then mystified, awed. And
presently upon us all there settled a vague, uneasy sense of fear.
For this, confronting us, was the Unknown.

The screen glowed, not with the normal colors of an interior studio
set, but with what seemed a pale, wan starlight. A blurred image; but
it was slowly clarifying. A dim purple sky, with misty stars.
We sat staring into the depths of the television screen. Depths
unmeasurable; illimitable distance. I recall my first impression when
in the foreground faint gray-blue shadows began forming: was this an
earthly scene? It seemed not. Blurred shadows in the starlight,
crawling mist of shadows, congealing into dim outlines.
We saw presently the wide area of a starlit night. A level landscape of
vegetation. Grassy lawns; trees; a purpling brook, shimmering like a
thread of pale silver in the starlight. The image was sharp now,
distinct, and without suggestion of flicker. Every color rounded and
full. Deep-toned nature, pale and serene in the starlight.
A minute passed. In the center foreground of the vista a white wraith
was taking form. And suddenly—as though I had blinked—there was
a shape which an instant before had not been there. Solid reality. Of
everything in the scene, it was most solid, most real.
A huge, gray-white skeleton tower, its base was set on a lawn where
now I could see great beds of flowers, vivid with colored blossoms.
The brook wound beside it. It was a pentagon tower. Its height might
have been two hundred feet or more, narrowing at the top almost to
a point. Skeleton girders with all the substantiality of steel, yet with a
color more like aluminum.
We were, visually, fairly close to this tower. The image of it stood the
full six feet of our screen. A balcony girded it near the top. A room,
like an observatory, was up there, with tiny ovals of windows.
Another larger room was midway down. I could see the interior—
ladder-steps, and what might have been a shaft with a lifting car.
The tower's base was walled solid. It seemed, as we stared, that like
a camera moving forward, the scene was enlarging—
We found ourselves presently gazing, from a close viewpoint, at the
base of the tower. It was walled, seemingly by masonry, into a room.
There were windows, small and high above the ground. Climbing
vines and trellised flowers hung upon the walls. There was a broad,
front doorway up a stone flight of steps.
And I became aware now of what I had not noticed before: the
gardens surrounding the tower were inclosed with a high wall of
masonry. A segment of it was visible now as a background to the
scene. A wall, looped and turreted at intervals as though this were
some fortress.
The whole lay quiet and calm in the starlight. No sign of human
movement. Nanette said:
"But, Edward, isn't any one in sight? No people—"
And Alan: "Ed, look! There—back there on the wall—"
It seemed on the distant wall that a dark figure was moving. A
guard? A pacing sentry?
And now, other movement. A figure appeared in the tower doorway.
The figure of a girl. She came slowly from within and stood at the
head of the entrance steps. The glow of an interior light outlined her
clearly: a slim, small girl, in a robe faintly sky-blue. Flowing hair, pale
as spun gold with the light shining on it like a halo.
She stood a moment, quietly staring out into the night. We could not
see her face clearly. She stood like a statue, gazing. And then,
quietly, she turned and I caught a glimpse of her face—saw it clearly
for an instant, its features imprinted clearly on my mind. A young girl,
nearly matured; a face, it seemed, very queerly, singularly beautiful—
She moved back into the tower room. There was a sudden blur over
the scene. Like a puff of dissipating vapor, it was gone.
The television screen before us glowed with its uneven illumination.
The color-filters whirled and flashed their merging beams. Everything
was as it had been a few moments before. The broadcasting studios
would not come in. Our apparatus was not working properly. The
frequency ranges were indeterminate. It was grounded badly. Or our
fundamental calibration was in error. Something wrong. What, we
never knew.
But we had seen this vision—flung at us, from somewhere. A vision,
shining clear in every detail of form and color and movement. The
image of things solid and real. Things existing—somewhere.

That was the first of the visions. The second came that same night,
near dawn. We did not dare to touch our instrument. The dials, we
found, had been set by me at random with a resulting wave-length
which could not bring in any of the known broadcasting studios. We
left them so, and did not try to find what might be wrong with the
hook-up. The image had come; it might come again, if we left things
as they were.
We sat, for hours that night, watching the screen. It glowed uneven;
many of its cells were dark; others flickered red and green.
Nanette at last fell asleep beside us. Alan and I talked together softly
so as not to disturb her. We had promised that if anything showed,
we would awaken her. We discussed the possibility. But often we
were silent. The thing already had laid its spell upon us. This vision,
this little glimpse of somewhere. It had come, perhaps, from some
far-distant world? Incredible! But I recall that instinctively I thought
so.
Yet why should I? A tower, and a dim expanse of starlit landscape.
And a girl, humanly beautiful. Surely these were things that could
exist now on our earth. The atmosphere, we knew as a matter of
common everyday science, teems with potential visions and sound.
Alan strove to be more rational. "But, Ed, look here—we've caught
some distant unknown broadcaster."
"But who broadcasts an outdoor scene at night? This is 1945, Alan,
not the year 2000."
He shrugged his wide, thin shoulders. His face was very solemn. He
sat with his long, lean length hunched in his chair, chin cupped in his
palm, the attitude of a youthful, pagan thinker, fronted with a
disturbing problem. But there was a very boyish modernity mingled
with it; a lock of his straight black hair fell on his forehead. He seized
it, twisted it, puzzled, and looked up at me and smiled.
Then Alan said a thing very strange; he said it slowly, musingly, as
though the voicing of it awed him.
"I think it was on Earth. I wonder if it was something that has been,
or that will be—"
It came again, near dawn. The same tower; the same serene, starlit
spread of landscape. The same grim encircling wall, with stalking
dark figures upon it. We did not at first see the girl. The tower
doorway stood open; the room inside glowed with its dim light. A
moment of inactivity; and then it seemed that at this inexplicable
place at which we were gazing—this unnamable time which seemed
the present on our screen—a moment of action had come. A dark
figure on the wall rose up—a small black blob against the background
of stars. The figure of a man. His arm went up in a gesture.
Another figure had come to the tower doorway, a youth, strangely
garbed. We could see him clearly: white-skinned, a young man. He
stood gazing; and he saw the signal from the wall, and answered it.
Behind him, the girl appeared. We could see them speak. An aspect
of haste enveloped all their movements—a surreptitious haste,
furtive, as though this that they were doing was forbidden.
The signal was repeated from the wall. They answered. They turned.
The youth pushed the girl aside. He was stooping at the doorway,
and her eager movements to help seemed to annoy him. He
straightened. He had unfastened the tower door. He and the girl slid
it slowly closed. It seemed very heavy. They pushed at it. The
doorway closed with them inside.
We had awakened Nanette. She sat tense between us, with her long
braids of thick, chestnut hair falling unheeded over her shoulders, her
hands gripping each of us.
"Tell me!"

Alan said: "That door's heavy. They can't close it—yes! They've got it
closed. I fancy they're barring it inside. The thing is all so silent—but
you could imagine the clang of bars. I don't see the guard on the
wall. It's dark over there. There's no one in sight. But, Nan, you can
see that something's going to happen. See it—or feel it. Ed, look!
Why—"
He broke off. Nanette's grip tightened on us.
A change had fallen upon all the scene. It seemed at first that our
instrument was failing. Or that a "hole" had come, and everything
momentarily was fading. But it was not that. The change was
inherent to the scene itself. The tower outlines blurred, dimmed. This
image of its solidarity was dissolving. Real, solid, tangible no longer.
But it did not move; it did not entirely fade. It stood there, a glowing
shimmering wraith of a tower, gray-white, ghostlike. A thing now of
impalpable aspect, incredibly unsubstantial, imponderable, yet visible
in the starlight.
The wall was gone! I realized it suddenly. The wall, and the garden
and the flowers and the stream. All the background, all the
surrounding details gone! The tower, like a ghost, stood ghostly and
alone in a void of shapeless gray mist.
But the stars remained. The purple night, with silver stars. But even
they were of an aspect somehow different. Moving visibly? For an
instant I thought so.
Time passed as we sat there gazing—time marked only by my dim
knowledge that Alan was talking with Nanette. Changes were
sweeping the scene. The gray mist of background under the stars
held a distance unfathomable. A space, inconceivable, empty to my
straining vision.
And then, presently, there were things to see. It seemed that the
infinite had suddenly contracted. The wraith of the tower stood
unchanged. But abruptly I saw that it stood in a deep wooded area,
rearing itself above a tangled forest. A river showed, a mile or so
away, crossing the background in a white line. The stars were gone;
it was night no longer. A day of blue sky, with white-massed clouds.
The sun shone on the distant river.
The tower stood, faded even more in the daylight. I searched the
forest glade around its base. Figures were there! Familiar of aspect; a
group of savages—of this earth? Yes, I could not mistake them:
Indians of North America. Red-skinned, feathered figures, in vivid
ceremonial headdress as though this day they had been dancing in
the forest glade. And saw the strange apparition of this tower. Saw it?
Why, they were seeing it now! Prostrated in a group on the mossy
ground, awed, fear-struck; gazing fearfully upon this thing unknown;
prostrate because this thing unknown must therefore be a god; and
being a god, must be angry and threatening and to be placated.

An instant; and I knew that this which Alan Tremont, Nanette

Tremont, and Edward Williams were vouchsafed was a mere pause. A
tableau. A snatched vision from somewhere—sometime; presented all
in an instant and whirled away.
But the phantom of the tower stood motionless, unchanged. The gray
background whirled, pregnant with things unseeable. No! It was
night. There were the familiar, unchanging stars. I became aware
that the wraith of the tower was solidifying. The gray shadows under
it were turning dark. Gray—then black—then deep green. Trees and
grass. A small white spread of water near at hand.
The tower now was solid, tangible and real of aspect as we had first
seen it. The doorway was still closed. Around it now was the dark
stretch of a cultivated parklike space. All clear and distinct. A reality
here, beyond anything we had seen before.
I gasped. Alan's swift words to Nanette echoed as though from my
own thoughts. This was wholly familiar! This familiar space, pictured
in quiet detail upon the screen. Familiar trees, little paths with
benches along them, grassy lawns, a small, starlit lake. A winding
roadway, with lights at intervals. In the distance, behind the tower, I
could see plainly a large, low building of stone. A city street behind it,
beyond the park. All familiar.
Alan gasped: "Why, it's here! This is barely a mile from us! That's
Central Park! That's the Metropolitan Museum!"
Central Park, New York City. But when? We knew there was no tower
like that in Central Park. Was this the future of Central Park at which
we were staring?

The vision was more than a glimpse now. It held, vividly persisting in
every reality of its smallest detail. The same space of that forest
glade. But now man called it "Central Park." No ignorant savages
were prostrated here now, before this phantom of the tower. No one
here—
And then I saw, in the foreground, a man in a blue uniform standing
on one of the paths of the park. A light shone on him. He stood,
pressed backward against the light-pole; staring at the tower with a
hand upflung against his mouth. Instinctive fear. But not prostrate
upon the ground. He stood tense. And dropped his hand and stood
peering. Incredulous.
"Ed—see that police officer there! He sees the tower!"
The tower door opened. I fancied I saw the figure of the girl step
furtively out and disappear into the shadows of the starlit park. I
could not be sure. It was dark. But in the background, above the
Metropolitan Museum, above the city buildings lining Fifth Avenue, I
could see that the east was glowing with the coming dawn. A mass of
billowing clouds flushed pink.

I saw the girl step furtively out into the starlit park.

The tower doorway was closed again. The tower melted into a
specter, illusive, tenuous, but still there. A gossamer tower. And then,
it was gone. Everything was gone. But as though, in my fancy, or
perhaps merely the persistence of vision, for one brief instant I
seemed to see the park empty of the intruding tower; and the
policeman, standing there incredulous at this that he had seen which
was now vanished.
The television screen was empty of image. Alan was on his feet. "Ed!
Look at the sky out there! That's the same sky!"
The workshop faced to the east. The same star-strewn sky of the
vision was outside our window—the same sky, with the same
modeling of clouds, flushed with the coming day.
Alan voiced my realization. "Why, that's this dawn we've been seeing!
That tower—in the park behind us—that policeman is out there now
—he saw it! That's today! That just happened—now!"

CHAPTER II

THRESHOLD OF A MYSTERY
It was clear to us, or at least in part, what had occurred. The little
fragment of Space occupied by Central Park, was throughout both the
visions, what we had been seeing. The tower was there; the tower
had not moved—in Space. We had first seen it in some far-distant
realm—of Time. And it had moved, not in Space, but in Time. We had
glimpsed the tower almost stopping, frightening those savages who,
in what we call the Past, were roaming this little island of Manhattan.
The same Space. The same inclosing rivers. But no city back then. Or
perhaps, near the southern end, where the converging rivers merged
in broader water, there might just then have been a group of
struggling settlers. Cabins of hewn, notched logs, stockaded against
the marauding redskins of the adjacent forest. A dense forest then,
was north of the trail called "Maiden Lane." Far up there was this
Space which now we call Central Park, with the great New York now
around it, grown in three short centuries from the infant New
Amsterdam.
And the tower, immovable in Space, had come in Time to 1945. Had
paused. Now. This very morning. Had stopped; and frightened a
policeman of 1945, in Central Park. And then had become again a
phantom, and in another instant, wholly invisible.
I recall my surprise at Alan's apparent understanding of this
incredible thing which had come, all unheralded, upon us.
I found suddenly that there were things in the life of Alan which I did
not know. Things he shared with Nanette; but not with me. An
eagerness was in his manner as we discussed this thing. His dark
cheeks were flushed with emotion; his dark eyes had a queer glow of
excitement.
"I think, Ed, that I can understand a good many things of this. Things
father knew, in theory—things he told me—" He checked himself. And
when I questioned, he stopped me.
"Wait, Ed. It's confusing. It seems—tremendous." He stumbled over
the word, but repeated it. "Tremendous." And then he added: "And
perhaps—dastardly."
What could he mean by that? Nanette said: "But, Alan—that girl—
there was a girl, came here to New York this morning—"
The girl! The shadow girl, from out of the shadows! She, at least,
was something tangible now. We had seen her in Central Park this
morning. The television screen now was vacant. It was destined
never again to show us anything, but that we did not know. We had
seen a girl arriving? Then, if so, she must be here—in Central Park,
now.
Alan said: "I wonder if we should report it. That girl probably will be
found." He had been into one of the other rooms of the small
apartment a few moments before. He drew me there now. "Ed, I
want to show you something significant. Perhaps significant—I don't
know, yet."
Nanette followed after us. The bedroom faced south. We were high in
a towering apartment building, just east of Fifth Avenue.
Over the lower roofs of the city I could see far to the south. In the
waning starlight down there a single searchlight beam was standing
up into the sky.
"Where is it?" I demanded. "The Battery? A ship in the harbor? Or
Staten Island?"
Somewhere down there, a white shaft of light standing motionless. It
was fading in the growing daylight.
"On Staten Island," said Alan. "It's a small searchlight on the roof of
the Turber Hospital. It often stands like that. Haven't you ever
noticed it?"
I supposed I had. But never thought of it. Why should I?
Alan added musingly: "It's queer—because I was wondering if it
would chance to be there now, and there it is."
"But, Alan, see here—you're making a mystery of this. Heaven knows
it's mysterious enough of itself, without your adding more."

He smiled. I saw suddenly a grimness as the smile faded and he set

his wide, thin lips. There were things which he was beginning to
piece together. Things, involving us so soon into such a maelstrom of
events! But now, Alan only said:
"This Dr. Turber—Wolf Turber—have you ever heard of him?"
"No," I said. "What has he to do with this? Whatever it is, you've
guarded it very carefully from me, Alan."
There must have been a touch of bitterness in my tone. He laughed.
"Nonsense! I haven't known anything worth discussing."
Nanette touched me: "It was something father told us just before he
died. Just a theory of his—a suspicion."
"So inexplicable," said Alan. "But he was so earnest, that morning he
died. Telling us what might be things of scientific fact, but probably
would never be disclosed—to us or any one. Yet now it may be—
these things this morning seem to fit in. Ed, it's no secret—not from
you."
"Then," I said, "who is Dr. Turber? What is he to you?"
"Nothing. He was, in 1925, a young medical student. Then, for a
short while, he worked for father. He now owns the Turber Hospital—
a private institution, a sort of sanatorium. He is, in his way, a genius.
A specialist in nervous disorders. And father said he was—or would
have been, had he stuck at it—an eminent physicist. But he did not.
He left father—he stole, father thought, a large sum of father's
money. I don't know the details. They're not important. Nothing was
proved. He became—well, you might call him father's enemy.
Certainly they disliked each other. I've met him casually several times.
A scoundrelly sort of fellow, by his look. And that—of what I actually
know—is all."
We were back in the workshop. The television screen still glowed, but
it was empty of image. Nanette said gently: "Tell him, Alan, about Dr.
Turber, and me."
It gave me a start. Alan said: "He seems to have fallen head over
heels in love with Nanette. He had always liked her—"
"I was always afraid of him," she put in.
"And when Nanette grew up, even though then he was father's
enemy, Turber came to him—wanted to marry Nanette—"
I could well imagine it. Nanette was tall, slim, with long chestnut hair
incongruous in this day of short-haired girls. To me she was very
beautiful indeed.
Alan went on: "I won't go into details. His persistent attentions were
unwelcome. Father told him so, and Nanette told him."
"I was always afraid of him," she repeated.

Alan smiled wryly. "I threw him out once—a snaky sort of fellow. We
want none of him—do we, sister?"
"No," she said. "Tell Edward about Dr. Turber's life—father's theory."
"It wouldn't mean much to you, Ed. There were things—so father
thought—of mystery about this Turber. Things inexplicable. His
curious, unexplained absences from the hospital. Things about him
which father sensed. And the searchlight, that for no apparent reason
for years now has been occasionally flashing from the hospital roof. It
marks Turber's absence, I know that much."
"And Turber's assistant," said Nanette. "That Indian—whatever he is
—at the hospital."
"Yes. He, too. Father pieced it together into a very strange, half-
formed theory. I have always thought it must have been born of
father's dislike for the fellow. And father told it to me the morning of
his death. That, too, I felt, must have colored it. Father's mind, there
at the last, roaming a little—not quite clear. But this, Ed—this
morning—these visions of ours—we saw them, you know, we can't
deny that. They seem vaguely, to fit. Oh, there's no use theorizing—
not yet. That girl we saw—"
Upon the girl it hinged, of course. The vision was gone. And at best it
was only a vision. But the girl might be real—here in 1945.
We did not report what we had seen to the police. Perhaps we had
fancied that a girl came out of a phantom tower in Central Park this
morning. And, if we had seen it on the television, even so, it might
not actually have happened.
Had there actually been a policeman, there in the park, who had
seen it? And was there existing, here in New York today, this girl of
the shadows?
We waited, and the thing turned tangible indeed! Became a reality,
for presently we learned that it had touched others than ourselves.
The early afternoon papers carried a small item. Some of them put it
on the front page. But it was only a joke—a little thing to read, to
laugh at, and forget. There had been in actuality, a policeman at
dawn in Central Park; and he had been less reticent, more incautious
than ourselves. He had told what he saw. And the newspapers wrote
it:

Ghost of Eiffel Tower Invades Central Park

Policeman Fights Phantom

Something to laugh at, and forget. A chuckle, donated to a busy city

by earnest Officer Macfarland who undoubtedly was already sorry
that he had not kept his mouth shut.
And the girl?
The later afternoon papers carried another item. Who would connect
the two? Who, indeed! For this other item was still smaller,
unobtrusive, not even amusing. Nor novel—and therefore, worthy of
nothing but a passing glance:
Unknown girl found at gate of Central Park. Unable to
speak intelligibly. Victim of amnesia. Taken to Bellevue.
Later transferred to Turber Hospital, Staten Island.
Who would think anything of that? But we three knew that we stood
upon the threshold of a mystery, with its shadowy portals swinging
wide to lure us in.

CHAPTER III
THE GIRL PRISONER

We left Nanette at home and Alan and I started for the Turber
Hospital about three o'clock that same afternoon.
Was this the girl of our visions, now the "victim of amnesia" at Dr.
Turber's Sanatorium? Or was it merely some other girl whose
memory had gone, and whose prosaic parents soon would come to
claim her? Things like that frequently happened. We determined to
find out. Both of us were sure we would recognize her.
From the ferryhouse on Staten Island we took a taxi, a few miles into
the interior. It was an intensely hot, oppressive afternoon—the sun
was slanting in the west when we reached our destination.
I found the Turber Hospital occupying a fairly open stretch of country,
about a mile from the nearest town. It stood on a rise of ground—a
huge quadrangle of building, completely inclosing an inner yard. It
was four stories high, of brick and ornamental stone; balconies were
outside its upper windows, with occasional patients sitting in deck
chairs with lattice shades barring the glare of sunlight.
There were broad shaded grounds about the building—the whole
encompassing, I imagined, some twenty or thirty acres. Trees and
paths and beds of flowers. A heavy, ten-foot ornamental iron fence
with a barbed wire top inclosed it all. A fence which might have been
to keep out the public, but which gave also the impression of keeping
in the inmates. The place looked, indeed, very much like the average
asylum. There was an aura of wealth about it; but, unlike most such
places, also a look of newness.
"Turber built it in the last eight years," said Alan. "He's doing very
well—rich patients of the neurotic, almost insane but not quite,
variety."
There were some of them about the grounds now. Off at one end I
could see tennis courts with games in progress.
"Spent a lot of money," I commented.
"Yes—they say he's very rich."
Bordering the grounds was a scattered, somewhat squalid
neighborhood of foreigners. We had crossed a trolley line and
ascended a hill arriving at the main gateway of the institution. I
glanced back through the rear window of our taxi. We were on a
commanding eminence; I could see across the rolling country, over
several smoky towns to New York Harbor; the great pile of buildings
on lower Manhattan was just visible in the distant haze.
The gatekeeper passed us at Alan's request to see Dr. Turber. Our
taxi swung up a winding roadway to the porte-cochere at the side of
the building.
"Will he see us?" I demanded.
"If he's here, I imagine he will."
"But you're not, even outwardly, friends?"
He shrugged. "We speak pleasantly enough when we have occasion
to meet. So long as he lets Nanette alone."
We were ushered into the cool quiet of a reception room. The white-
clad nurse said that doubtless Dr. Turber would see us presently—he
was busy at the moment. She left us.
It was a fairly large room of comfortable wicker chairs; Oriental rugs
on a hardwood, polished floor; a large wicker center table strewn
with the latest magazines. A cool, dim room; there were broad
French windows, with shades partly drawn and additionally shrouded
with heavy velvet portieres across the window alcove.
We had seated ourselves. Alan drew his chair nearer to mine. He
spoke softly, swiftly, with an eye upon the archway that gave onto
the main lower corridor down which the nurse had gone.
"I was thinking, Ed—when Turber comes—we've got to have some
excuse for seeing the girl."
"Yes, but what?"
"Tell him—I'll tell him you're a newspaper man. Some of them have
been here already, no doubt. We won't go into it—you won't have to
say much."
I was, in actuality, a pilot in the mail service from Bennett Field down
the coast to Miami. I was off now, these three summer months. But
posing as a newspaper man was out of my line.
"I don't know," I said dubiously. "I have no credentials. If he asks me
—"
"I'll do most of the talking, Ed." He jumped up suddenly, went to
glance into the corridor, and came back. "Come here, I want to show
you something."
He drew me to the windows. We pushed the portieres aside, and
raised one of the shades. We were some ten feet above the level of
the paved inner courtyard. Alan murmured: "Just look, Ed—queer
construction of this place! I've often wondered, and so did father."
Queer construction indeed! The quadrangular building completely
inclosed this inner yard. At the basement level it was all normal
enough. Windows and doors opening from what seemed engine
rooms; the kitchen; the laundry. And at this first story it was normal
also. These windows through which we were looking; and other
windows and occasional balconies in each of the wings. But above
this first story there were three others and then the flat roof above
them. And in these three upper floors so far as I could see there was
not a window! Nothing but the sheer, blank stone walls!
"What would you make of that, Ed? Crazy architecture—they said
that when the place was built. There are no courtyard rooms at all in
the upstairs floors—nearly half the building goes to waste. Turber
designed it—"
"But what did he say?"
"Nothing much, I fancy. It was his own business. Perhaps, merely
that he could afford the luxury of all outside rooms for his patients.
And look at that inner building—"

The courtyard was perhaps two hundred feet long, by half as wide.
In its center was an oblong brick building, a hundred feet by sixty
possibly—and not quite as high as the roof of the main structure.
From the angle at which we were gazing, I could see the full front
face of this smaller building, and part of one of its ends. It had not a
window! Nor a door, except one, very small, at the ground in the
center of the front!
"Turber's laboratory," said Alan. "At least, that's what it's supposed to
be. That one door—nothing else. It's always locked. Nobody has even
been in there but Turber, and his Indian assistant. Father once talked
with the builders of this place, Ed. That laboratory is nothing but two
small rooms at the ground level here in front. All the rest is just four
solid brick walls inclosing an inner empty space! What's it for?
Nobody knows. But people talk. You can't stop them. Turber's
employees here. And most of all, his patients—not quite sane. They
talk—of ghosts—things mysteriously going on inside those walls—"
People—not quite sane—talking of things unknowable. But I was
wholly sane; and as I stood there, gazing at the shadows of twilight
gathering in this inner courtyard; the blank upper walls of the large
building turning dark with night; the smaller one, standing blank and
silent in the courtyard—the whole place seemed suddenly ominous,
sinister!

A step sounded in the room behind us. I started violently; I had not
realized how taut were my nerves. We dropped the portieres hastily,
and left the window. Turber?
But it was not he. A young man stood before us. He was dressed in
flannels and a shirt open at the throat. He carried a tennis racket.
"Well," said Alan. "How are you, Charlie? Been playing tennis? You
remember me, don't you?"
A good-looking young fellow. He said: "Do I? You were here once
before, weren't you? I saw you in here with Dr. Turber."
"Yes," said Alan. "Let's sit down, Ed. How are you, Charlie?"
We sat down. Charlie stood before us. "I've been playing tennis. Is
the doc coming here to see you?" His face clouded. "You're all right,
aren't you? My mother said—" He was addressing me. "My mother
said—but look here, don't pay any attention to your mother if she
says you're sick. Don't you do it! I did it, and my mother said I'll put
you in here and make you well. So look what happened to me—I'm in
here."
I met Alan's glance. Alan said: "Well, that's fine, Charlie. And you're
better, aren't you?"
"Yes." He hesitated; then he added: "I'm better, and I'd like to help
you get better. I was thinking that, last time I saw you. I like you—
very much."
"Do you, Charlie? That's nice of you."
"Yes. You're a friend of mine—'Friends sturdy and true' I was thinking
—that's us."
He turned suddenly away. He took a step toward the window, and
came back. His face had wholly changed; a look of cunning was on it;
his voice low, quivering, dramatic.
"You were looking out there when I came in. Strange things go on
out there—but you can't see them in the daytime!"
"Can't you?" said Alan. "I was looking—"
"I've seen them—at night. I've got a way to see them any time I
want to. From the roof. If you get put in here—I'll show you—maybe.
Because we're friends."

It galvanized Alan into action. He jumped to his feet and gripped

Charlie.
"I'd like you to show me."
"Yes, I can do it. There's a girl came this morning. I saw her—"
"A girl?"
"Beautiful girl. She was beautiful—I saw her. They took her upstairs. I
know where."
Alan gestured to me. "Watch out if anybody comes! Charlie, tell me!"
I moved nearer the corridor entrance. Alan and Charlie stood by the
window. I could hear them.
"She's sick, but her mother didn't bring her. Men brought her—in a
taxi like I saw you come in."
"Charlie, if I should come here—"
"I've got a key to the roof. You're not allowed up there. Nobody's
ever been up there but me. I'm too smart for them—'Keys to open
Bluebeard's room'—you can't open anything without a key. Keys to
open Bluebeard's—"
"Charlie, stop that!"
"Well, I have. It's dark. Nothing ever happens in the light. You can
see it from the roof, because you're higher up and you can look down
inside."
"Inside what?"
"His laboratory. That's what they call it. 'Four walls to hide what
devils do'—that's Shakespeare. I studied it, when I was in school. But
mother said I was sick—"
"Wait, Charlie. That girl—"
"She's sick, I guess. We're all sick. But she was frightened, too. I'm
not frightened. I passed them in the hall. She looked at me—I saw
she was frightened. I said then to myself I guess I can help that girl.
I'm smart—I've got keys."
If Turber should come! But the corridor was empty.
"You know which room is the girl's, Charlie?"
"Yes."
"You've got a key to it?"
"Key? I've got a key to Bluebeard's closet—"
Alan shook him. "The girl's room—where they've got her now."
"Key to Bluebeard's room—don't get excited—I'm not excited." He
was trembling. "When you come to live here—"
"Charlie, listen! I want to help that girl—get her out of here. She isn't
sick."
"I can get out of here—but my mother told me not to. I've got a key
to the little gate in the fence behind the tennis court. I've had it a
long time. You know how to make a key? You take wax and get an
impression—I had a locksmith make the key when I was home at
Christmas. Mother thought it was my trunk key—but it wasn't. I
thought I might use it to slip out and go home some night. Only
mother would be angry. And I had Bluebeard's key made at the same
time—that's the key to the roof, where you can see things—"
From the door I caught a glimpse of a man approaching along the
corridor.
"Alan! Here he comes!"
Alan said vehemently: "Charlie, listen! Get this right! Tonight, about
ten o'clock! Can you have your keys and come to the tennis court
gate?"
"Yes! Tonight—"
"Can you get there, alone? Tell nobody? Let nobody see you!"
"Yes. At night—dark deeds, alone." He heard Dr. Turber's step. He
added swiftly: "I'll be there—ten o'clock tonight! I can hide you in my
room. At eleven, they're all asleep—we'll go to the roof—I call it
Bluebeard's—"
"Not a word to anybody, Charlie! For the girl's sake!"
"Yes! And because we're friends—"
Alan pushed him away; and said, conversationally: "So you had a
good game, Charlie? That's fine—but you'd better go wash up for
supper."
"All right, I will. Mother said never be late for supper."
We all turned as Dr. Turber entered the room.

I saw Dr. Wolf Turber as a man of about forty, obviously of

extraordinary personality. There are many men in this world who
have a power, for good or evil, which marks them apart from their
fellows. A radiation—an aura—a something in their unconscious
bearing; a confidence, a flash of the eye, all unmistakable. Dr. Turber
was such a one. Marked for big things—good or evil.
He was, to me at least, at once physically repellent of aspect. A very
heavy, powerful frame, with wide shoulders, thick and solid; a deep
chest; long powerful arms. Had he stood erect, he might have been
fully six feet tall. But he was hunched. Not exactly a hunchback;
rather, a permanent stoop which had rounded his shoulders almost to
a deformity.
His head was massive, set low on a wide, short neck. Close-cropped
black hair, turning gray at the temples. A solid, wide-jawed face,
smooth-shaved, with dark eyes gazing through a pair of
incongruously dapper rimless glasses, from which a wide black ribbon
depended.
He stood before us; stooped, but with the strength of a gorilla
seeming to lie hidden in his squat frame, masked by the dapperness
of his clothes. Pointed patent leather shoes; gray trousers; a dark
gray jacket with a white waist-coat, to which the black eyeglass
ribbon was fastened. He stood with a hand toying with the ribbon.
"He annoyed you, Tremont? Charlie's a good boy. A little off mentally
—like most of them here."
Charlie had been summarily dismissed. Turber added: "You do not
bring the charming little Nanette. Where is she? I would far rather
see her than you, Tremont."
Alan, from his six-foot height, gazed down at Turber. He ignored the
reference to Nanette, and said:
"There was a girl found in Central Park this morning. Amnesia case,
the papers say. Transferred here from Bellevue. My friend Williams
here does some newspaper writing—he'd like to see her."
Turber's face remained calmly polite. His gaze went to me. It made
my heart leap—his quiet, keen scrutiny, as though without effort he
might read my thoughts.