The Canary In The Coal Mine Mac OS
- Like a canary in a coal mine, the biochip will detect hazards, including biochemical threats. To a certain extent, between MP3.com and Napster, digital music has become the canary in a coal mine in terms of privacy issues and business models. The prison guards are the canary in a coal mine of California politics. Find more words!
- Jan 27, 2021 When coal miners used to head down the mines, they took with them a canary as an early-warning system. If the canary survived, the air was safe to breath. If it wasn’t, it was time to leave. The term “canary” is now used in technology circles, referring to alpha test releases of software.
The phrase a, or the, canary in a, or the, (coal) mine denotes an early indicator of potential danger or failure.
A favourite of mine for several years now, Lady of Mine is the self-funded, independently-released 1989 debut LP by self-taught Italian-American musician Joe Tossini. After only owning a poor-quality digital version of the album, I was astounded to discover that Lady of Mine had been reissued two years ago. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 is an upcoming live-action/2D/3D computer traditional animated fantasy-romantic-musical-black slapstick comedy film and a sequel to the first 1988 film of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It will be produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. In association with Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Walden Media, Media Rights Capital, Reliance.
It refers to the former practice of taking live canaries into coal mines to test for the presence of toxic gases, particularly carbon monoxide, the illness or death of the canaries serving as an indication that such gases were present.
The earliest mention of this practice that I have found is from the Yorkshire Telegraph and Star (Sheffield, Yorkshire) of Friday 21st December 1906, which gave an account of the inquest that had been held the previous day at Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, on the four victims of an explosion at Arpeth pit:
The Canary In The Coal Mine Mac Os X
Mr. W. C. Blackett, a mining expert, said that along with the Mines Inspector he made an attempt to reach the scene of the explosion, taking with him a canary in a cage, a safety lamp, and an electric hand lamp. They were well equipped to explore the workings with safety. Upon reaching a point beyond which it had hitherto been impossible to penetrate, they got a competent man to test the place with a safety lamp, and finding only a small bluecap, he took a deep breath, and with the electric lamp and the bird he made a rapid advance, left the bird, and retired. Returning with the safety lamp, and finding the bird on its perch, he advanced again and again in the same way, until he and the inspector came to the place where a body was lying. He saw at once that the man had died from after-damp, and was not burned. Still advancing in this way, they presently came to a stentor where another man had been working. Here he saw the bird fall from its perch, and, incautiously taking a breath of the air himself, his knees gave way to a small extent, but he managed to scramble out into the better air, taking the bird with him. The bird recovered within three or four minutes, and again got on to its perch. It was most extraordinary to see the rapid effect which the carbonic monoxide had on the bird, and he was quite satisfied, after the experience with a bird in this way, that a bird was a comparative safe guide, and much to be preferred to using mice, as the fall of the bird from the perch could easily be seen.
It was not long before the image of a canary in a coal mine was used for analogies. For example, this is the beginning of an article giving the reasons “as to why Hendersonville should have a live Chautauqua”, published in the Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad Hustler (Hendersonville, North Carolina) of Thursday 29th July 1915:
Canary birds are placed in coal mines to protect the lives of the miners. If the atmosphere becomes foul, the canary stops singing and begins to show unmistakable signs of distress. Then the miners know the atmosphere must be changed quickly or they must get out.
Chautauqua Versus Canary.
A Chautauqua is to a town what a canary is to a coal mine. If the intellectual and moral atmosphere of this town is such that a Chautauqua can’t live in it, then we must change the atmosphere or get out.
The earliest instance of the phrase a, or the, canary in a, or the, (coal) mine that I have found is from the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, New Mexico) of Sunday 13th September 1964:
Coal Mine Runescape
It wouldn’t take much imagination to select the trout as a symbol of good luck and good health in the United States. The trout lives where it is allowed and encouraged to live; he leaves, or dies when his life becomes intolerable or he is ambushed by man. he is the canary in the mine . . . the warning x-ray . . . the Geiger counter. What troubles him must trouble us and warn us as a people because his element is the pure water we need for life.
Government expert with oxygen mask and bird
from Canaries help in mine rescue
The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Saturday 20th January 1912
BirdNote®
Canary in a Coal Mine
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[“Going to the Mine” - Bob Fox and Benny Graham in How Are You Off for Coals]
For at least 75 years, miners in Great Britain carried a live canary in a cage every day as they went down into the mines.
[Island Canary, domestic form song, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/79093, 0.07-.15]
So, how did this practice start? Miners began using canaries in 1911, based on the advice of Scottish scientist John Haldane. He reasoned that a singing bird would be a good indicator of carbon monoxide — the gas can build to deadly levels in mines, and it has no smell. When a canary began to weaken, or stopped singing, miners knew to get out of the mine — and quickly.
But why use a bird as an alarm instead of, say, a mouse? Haldane understood a bird’s breathing anatomy. And he knew that as birds breathe, they get a dose of air both as they inhale and as they exhale. Compared to mice — or to miners — canaries would get a double dose of toxic gases. Their reactions served as an early warning of danger.
The little birds with the big song served alongside British miners until 1986, when more humane electronic warning devices replaced them.
For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. 79093 recorded by Andrea L Priori.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Managing Producer: Jason Saul
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
© 2017 Tune In to Nature.org July/August 2017 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# canary-01-2017-08-10 canary-01
[Island Canary, domestic form song, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/79093, 0.07-.15]