MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 375 



will also produce a powerful fulminating powder, but of course 

 would be too expensive for general use, even if that obtained from 

 mercury did not answer. Caps, no matter how good they may be, 

 should be kept free from moisture ; for if once wet, or even damp, 

 if not of very superior make, they are of course rendered more or 

 less uncertain in their action. They should fit the nipple exactly ; 

 for, if they be too small, they will be apt to fly ofl" when the first 

 barrel is discharged, or drop ofi" while carrying the piece ; neither 

 will they always explode on the first blow of the hammer if they 

 are not well down upon the pivot. 



Walker's caps are considered the best article imported for gene- 

 ral use. They are put up in small round tin boxes, and numbered 

 in accordance with their size. An English author very justly 

 remarks of these particular caps: — "I have used several thousands 

 of them, and never found one fail." Such has been our experience, 

 and we recommend them above all others. 



Percussion caps entirely water-proof can also be had. They 

 were introduced several years since, and for some kinds of shoot- 

 ing are very necessary and serviceable. These caps are simply 

 protected from the effects of moisture and even water itself by a 

 species of impermeable varnish ; those of superior make may re- 

 main in water for many hours without being in the least injured. 

 For wild-fowl shooting they possess incalculable advantages over 

 the ordinary cap, and a stock of them should be laid in, in antici- 

 pation of a prolonged shooting-excursion in the wilds of the 

 West.* 



* A slip from the Kew York Spirit of the Times : — 



SUBSTITUTE FOR PERCUSSION CAPS. 



A London paper says : — " Mr. Pepper is lecturing at the Polytechnic on a new 

 composition recently discovered by Messrs. Winniwarter and Gersheim, of Vienna, 



