77 6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



half apart) accurately fitting sheets of hard rubber ; the crushed 

 powder is shoveled into the trough, and a powerful hydraulic press 

 applied ; a screw-press would be dangerous, as particles of powder 

 might get into the thread of the screw, and be fired by the friction. 

 When removed from the press, the powder is in slabs of close texture, 

 not unlike slate in appearance. These slabs go next to the granulator, 

 in which they pass through a series of rollers, separated by sieves ; 

 as the broken powder passes from one set of rollers to the succeeding 

 one, the sieves are kept in constant agitation, the pieces which pass 

 through them falling to the bottom of the machine, where they are 

 collected. Each sort is then taken to a rotating reel of wire gauze, in 

 which, as it revolves, the dust is removed. If the powder is to be 

 glazed, the clean grains are placed in a slowly revolving drum, with a 

 very small quantity of plumbago, or black-lead ; if glazing is not re- 

 quired, as is the case with some sorts of powders, the same process is 

 gone through, the black-lead being omitted ; in this manner, the 

 grains are rounded off, and rendered smooth. 



The final step is.the drying, which is done in a steam-heated house, 

 the powder being spread upon shelves for this purpose. The finished 

 product is placed in oak kegs fastened with copper hoops, and care is 

 always enjoined to use no iron tool in opening them. These various 

 operations are conducted in buildings situated at a distance from each 

 other sufficiently great to prevent the explosion of one causing that of 

 another ; they are generally placed along the banks of some stream 

 from which the requisite power for operating the machinery can 

 readily be obtained. 



The manner in which the powder burns is greatly affected by varia- 

 tions in its manufacture : the greater the size of the grains, the more 

 slowly does the burning take place, as the combustion goes on upon 

 the surface, particle by particle ; the shape of the grain regulates the 

 amount of space taken up by the charge, .as also in some degree the 

 amount of surface exposed to the action of the flame ; the density 

 (depending upon the amount of pressure applied to the press-cake) 

 also affects the rapidity of the burning ; the lower the density, the more 

 quickly does the combustion take place. 



A desire to reduce the strain upon the walls of the modern guns 

 has led to many experimental trials of various sizes and shapes of 

 grain ; the principal credit for these ideas is unquestionably due to an 

 American ordnance-officer, Rodman. Much care has been taken in 

 this regard, and we now see much higher velocities given to projectiles 

 than heretofore, with, at the same time, less strain upon the gun. 



There are various other mixtures which are explosive in their char- 

 acter, but their use is prevented by various considerations, chiefly by 

 the fact of their greater sensitiveness to friction or percussion, and 

 their consequent greater danger, or by their corroding effect upon the 

 metal of which the gun is constructed. A powder which might prove 



