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Show "Firedamp." "Firedamp" and "afterdamp," words brought Into terrible prominence promin-ence In many disasters In mines, pro-servo pro-servo the older English sense of "damp" vapor, and especially nox-!6us nox-!6us vapor. Precisely where the word camo from philology does not know, but tho earliest existence ot Its use quoted by Dr. Murray's dictionary Is Caxton'a (M80) "after the dragon sbal come a goot and thcr anal come out of his nostrel a domp that shal tetn2cnyhouger (and grote deth ot peplu." Bacon Is ono ot (he wrltbrs of his tlmo who speak of the "damps" of mines. "Damp" gradually came to be applied to visible vapors, such as ovenlng mists, and tho transition to tho sense ot moisture is obvious. But In "damping down" a furnace one finds a relic ot tho verb "damp" In tbo senso of "suffocate" |