The canary in the coal mine meaning

Throughout much of the 20th century, chirping canaries were staples of the coal mining industry. As coal miners descended into the earth—entering a harsh environment often home to poisonous gases like carbon monoxide—they would bring the yellow birds along as safety mechanisms.

Most of us see bright-feathered, warbling canaries as pets, yet these tiny birds were not always just household companions. In the nineteenth century they were used as exceptional risk predictors in mines. This was because they were particularly sensitive to carbon monoxide, a substance which led to numerous mining accidents in the aftermath of industrialisation. Thus, oddly, an increasing reliance on fossil fuels induced a new rapport with nature and animals. Risk management in mines became a major source of concern during the nineteenth century. The Term Frequency tool in Gale Primary Sources shows a great rise in discussion in the press about mines and risk between and While this upsurge of articles is also a direct consequence of the rising production of newspapers, it is also representative of increasing awareness of the risks tied to mining and attempts to reduce them through the use of supposedly safer equipment and risk-prediction technologies.

The canary in the coal mine meaning

Franklin Colliery Robert J. Grant Springhill No. Thomas Edison and the Chignecto coal mine. Howe in the Storr Pits. Dominion No. Steelmaking Coal. Stellarton, Mount William. Henry Whitney and the Dominion Coal Company. Pottery Mine. New Glasgow, Haliburton Pit. Lighting Strike in Westville. What does Colliery mean?

He concluded that carbon monoxide buildup was to blame, and he proposed using sentinel species in mines: animals more sensitive to poisonous gases than humans, which can be monitored to measure gas levels.

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On this day in , a mining tradition dating back to ended: the use of canaries in coal mines to detect carbon monoxide and other toxic gases before they hurt humans. At the time, it was the latest of many changes in the British mining industry, which was a source of great strife in the country through the s. Pit ponies, the other animal that went underground with human miners to haul coal, were also phased out by automation. The last of them retired in , wrote Clare Garner for The Independent. He suggested using a sentinel species: an animal more sensitive to the colorless, odorless carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases than humans. If the animal became ill or died, that would give miners a warning to evacuate. Because they need such immense quantities of oxygen to enable them to fly and fly to heights that would make people altitude sick, their anatomy allows them to get a dose of oxygen when they inhale and another when they exhale, by holding air in extra sacs, he writes. Relative to mice or other easily transportable animals that could have been carried in by the miners, they get a double dose of air and any poisons the air might contain, so miners would get an earlier warning. Miners are pictured holding the birds in small everyday cages and returning from the scene of an explosion with a canary in a special cage intended to resuscitate the bird after exposure. The modern carbon dioxide detector is certainly a less romantic image than a canary in an overused saying.

The canary in the coal mine meaning

Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day! Something or someone who, due to sensitivity to his, her, or its surroundings, acts as an indicator and early warning of possible adverse conditions or danger. Refers to the former practice of taking caged canaries into coal mines. The birds would die if methane gas became present and thereby alert miners to the danger. Wildlife in disaster movies assumes the role of the canary in the coal mine, fleeing the scene when catastrophe is imminent. Unaware that he had been given the test drug, John was used as a canary in the coal mine to see its effects on the human mind. See also: canary , coal , mine. Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

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In the nineteenth century they were used as exceptional risk predictors in mines. Hindi to English. Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Franklin Colliery Robert J. Canaries were used to detect poisonous gases well into the twentieth and even twenty-first centuries. Haldane designed a special cage, pictured below, to protect the canaries. We show you how. Many household appliances, such as furnaces, fireplaces, and stoves can put people in danger of CO poisoning in their own homes. Retake The Quiz. Watch on. If a miner saw that a canary was acting strangely or lost consciousness , they knew to leave the mine at once. Risk management in mines became a major source of concern during the nineteenth century. Thematic word lists. In the nineteenth century, coal mining developed into a vital industry, as steam engines and railways became increasingly widespread.

Most of us see bright-feathered, warbling canaries as pets, yet these tiny birds were not always just household companions. In the nineteenth century they were used as exceptional risk predictors in mines. This was because they were particularly sensitive to carbon monoxide, a substance which led to numerous mining accidents in the aftermath of industrialisation.

English idioms. Quiz English grammar. Korean to English. It has long been the custom or parties entering a mine after an explosion or fire to carry with them a small bird in a cage, and to judge by its behaviour whether or not the air was poisonous. British mines stopped using canaries in when electronic gas detectors, which were more effective, were introduced. Lighting Strike in Westville. Drag a word to its definition. English Usage. Congratulating someone shows you care about their successes or life events. Share results. English to Traditional. Try Again. Italian to English. When we say something is a canary in a coal mine, it means it is an early warning of danger.