Phlegmatized

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Phlegmatized is a term applied to an explosive that has had an agent added to stabilize or desensitize it. Sometimes this is desirable, to enable handling or to reduce the rate of combustion. Typical phlegmatizing agents include wax, paper, water, and paraffin. These agents are nearly always flammable themselves, or at least boil off easily. Normally, only explosives which may be cast are phlegmatized. See dynamite, a phlegmatized form of nitroglycerine.