PROGRESS IN EXPLOSIVES GUTTMANN. 299 



tained in such compositions, and it is open to question whether proper 

 tests are always carried out as regards their purity and stability under 

 all conditions. 



Fearing the lack of stability in smokeless powders, which in the 

 early days of their manufacture was not without justification, in- 

 ventors began to look around for so-called " stabilizers," that is to 

 say, additional ingredients, which would neutralize the nitrous acid 

 liberated on decomposition. Some people thought that if a little 

 ether alcohol was left in the powder it would act as a stabilizer, and 

 in order to prevent the rapid escape of the solvent on storage, a 

 little amyl alcohol was added, thus slightly raising the boiling point 

 of the solvent." As a matter of fact, this would merely constitute 

 absorption of the nitrous vapors, but would not prevent their being 

 given off again on heating. 



A better plan is the addition of " stabilizers," which would form 

 stable compounds with the nitrous acid ; for instance, aniline, which 

 the Nobel factory at Avigliana used in their gun cotton twenty-four 

 years ago, and which both they and the Italian Government employ 

 for service ballistite. Dij^henylamine and, it is said, vaseline would 

 act in a similar way. The stable compounds formed from stabilizers, 

 like amidoazobenzol and other aromatic nitro compounds, retain the 

 nitrous acid, and thus transform the reaction into a slow and regular 

 one, which keeps the powder in good condition as long as there is any 

 stabilizer left. The length of time a powder remains in good condi- 

 tion will therefore only depend on the proper constitution and manu- 

 facture of the powder. 



Stabilizers, like diphenylamine and aniline, will also reveal their 

 presence as soon as the powder goes wrong, since the compounds 

 formed with them by the action of nitrous acid show as spots or 

 stripes of peculiar colors, varying either in shade or intensity as de- 

 composition progresses. Since the French commissioners on the Jena 

 accident emphasized this fact, already known in Germany and Italy, 

 everybody speaks of " revelateurs," the addition of an indicator, as 

 being a panacea. As a matter of fact the author considers it onlj'- a 

 needlessly alarming arrangement, like an alarm thermometer, and 

 unnecessary with a good powder stored under proper conditions, but 

 which would cause commanders of warships to nervously watch their 

 stores after the faintest indication, without giving them any remedy 

 in midocean. The whole idea is not new, having been patented by 

 Nicholson and Price in 1871.'' 



What we must aim at is an explosive which is durable and stable 

 under all ordinary conditions of use, and even under some extraor- 



« Chambre des Deputes, " Rapport sur les causes de la catastrophe de 

 I'Jena," Paris, 1907. 



» British patent No. 2430, of September 15, 1871. 



