358 Sir Robert Robertson [May 6, 



WEEKLY EYEXIXG MEETING, 



Friday, May 6, 1921. 



Sir James Crichton Browne, J.P. M.D. LL.D. F.R.S., 

 Treasurer and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Sir Robert Robertson, K.B.E. D.Sc. F.R.S. M.R.I. 

 War Development of Explosives. 



It is not proposed to describe the great factories that arose during 

 the war for the manufacture of explosives, but to indicate by one or 

 two examples some of the conditions which led to developments. 



Production. 



The enormous weekly production was reached of 1500 tons of 

 trinitrotoluene, 300 tons of picric acid, 3000 tons of ammonium 

 nitrate, and 2000 tons of cordite. To produce these were required 

 such weekly quantities as the following : 6600 tons of pyrites, or 

 2700 tons of sulphur, 8300 tons of Chile saltpetre, 720 tons of 

 toluene (from 600,000 tons of coal), 162 tons of phenol (which 

 would have required 1.000,000 tons of coal, if synthetic production 

 had not been established), 700 tons of ammonia (from 250,000 tons 

 of coal), 374 tons of glycerine (from 2700 tons of fat), 700 tons of 

 cotton cellulose (from 1060 tons of wastes), and 1200 tons of alcohol 

 and ether (from 4200 tons of grain). 



These numbers indicate not only the magnitude of the production, 

 but also the interdependence of a large number of industrial chemical 

 activities, and, although many of the products were derived from our 

 own coal, it brings home the dependence of the country on overseas 

 transport of many of the essential substances, such as pyrites, 

 sulphur, Chile nitrate, and cotton. 



Firing and Detonation of a Shell. 



The Propellant. — The processes for the manufacture of cordite 

 and of its ingredients had been the subject of study, and considerable 

 advances had been made, so that it might fairly be claimed that this 



