420 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the target, simply indenting its face. A shell filled with the 

 powder was then fired, and not only broke the iron plate 

 and damaged the backing, but dislodged a mass of iron twen- 

 ty-two inches by fifteen. A second shot struck on the sound 

 plate, and, besides destroying the iron, so smashed the back- 

 ing as to render the target unfit for further experiments. In 

 another experiment a small explosive bullet was fired from 

 an Adams 6-ounce pocket revolver at the forehead of an old 

 horse. A small gray smoke was seen to escape from the 

 wound, and the animal fell completely dead. On examining 

 the wound, it was found that the skull was split, a large piece 

 of bone detached, and the brain behind completely destroyed, 

 being only a mass of gray and white matter devoid of con- 

 sistency. When the loose matter was removed, a hole was 

 left seven inches long by six inches broad. 12 A, August 11, 

 302. 



PRESERVATION OF WOOD BY SALT. 



Recent experiments, it is announced, prove that wood thor- 

 oughly impregnated with a strong solution of common salt 

 resists decay, and answers well for underground work in 

 mines and coal-pits. 15 A, December 9, 1871, 7G0. 



EXPLOSION OF GUN-COTTON AT STOWMARKET. 



Much excitement has been produced in England by the ex- 

 plosion of gun-cotton at the well-known works of Prentice 

 and Co., Stowmarket, resulting in the loss of nearly thirty 

 lives and in a great destruction of property. The precise 

 cause of the primary explosion was unknown ; but a second 

 explosion was produced in the attempt to rescue cartridges 

 from the burning building by means of a stick. This was at- 

 tempted, as appeared from the evidence, in consequence of a 

 report recently made on the subject of gun-cotton by Pro- 

 fessor Abel, of Woolwich, in which the public were assured 

 that, unless exploded by a fulminate, gun-cotton was perfect- 

 ly harmless, being like so much loose cotton when ignited 

 without detonation. It is generally understood, indeed, that 

 to obtain the full effect of gun-cotton it is necessary to fire it 

 by means of a percussion-cap or fuse. It is, of course, impos- 

 sible to state that no fulminate was present on the occasion 

 of the Stowmarket explosion, but it is not at all probable ; 



