402 Original Articles. [July, 
take to gun-cotton? The answers to these questions categorically 
will best introduce it to the English reader. 
I. Is gun-cotton stronger than gunpowder? The answer to this 
is, Yes, sixfold stronger. 
By this we mean that if we take a given weight of gun-cotton, say 
four ounces, if we bore a hole 14 inch in diameter and 3 feet deep, 
into hard rock or slate, in a quarry, and put 4 ounces of gun-cotton 
into it, it will occupy about 1 foot of its length, and the aperture 
being closed in the usual manner, and a matchline led from the 
charge to the proper distance from which to fire it; and if we next 
take 24 ounces of best gunpowder, bore a similar hole, and charge it 
similarly with gunpowder, and close it in the same way; it has been 
found that, on these being exploded, the 4 ounces of gun-cotton have 
produced greater effect, in separating the rock into pieces, than the 
24 ounces of gunpowder. The answer is, therefore, that in disruptive 
explosion the strength of gun-cotton is sixfold that of good gun- 
powder. 
But the disruptive or bursting power of gunpowder is not always 
the quality for which we value it most, nor the service we require of 
it. In mining rocks, in exploding shells, in blowing up fortresses, 
this property is what we value, and this work is what we require. 
But we do not want to burst our fowling-pieces, our rifles, our 
cannon. On the contrary, we want to use a force that shall project 
the projectile out of the gun without bursting the gun, without strain- 
ing the gun beyond a given moderate limit, which it shall be able to 
endure. We want therefore a service from gun-cotton which shall be 
the contrary of destructive to, or disruptive of, the chamber in which 
it does the work of giving motion to the projectile. 
This moderated and modified work, gun-cotton can also perform ; 
and it is the modern discovery of General Lenk, which has enabled us 
to moderate and modify gun-cotton to this gentler service. He dis- 
covered how to organize, arrange, and dispose mechanically of gun- 
cotton in such a way that it should be three times stronger than 
gunpowder. Accordingly, one of his charges of gun-cotton, weighing 
16 ounces, projected a 12-pound solid round shot with a speed of 
1,426 feet a second, while a charge of gunpowder of 49 ounces gave 
the same shot a speed of 1,400 feet a second. One-third of the 
weight of gun-cotton exceeded, therefore, the threefold weight of gun- 
powder in useful effect. 
II. Is gun-cotton more convenient than gunpowder? This isa 
larger and more various question than the former, and divides itself 
into various subdivisions. 
Tt is well known to sportsmen, to soldiers, to artillery-men, that 
gunpowder fouls a gun, A foul residue of soot, sulphur, and potash 
soils the inside of the gun after every charge. The gun must, some- 
how, be cleaned after a discharge; if not it fires worse, recoils more, 
and ceases to do its best. If the gun be a breech-loading gun its 
mechanism is dirtied, and works less easily. Gun-cotton deposits no 
residue, leaves the gun clean and clear, and the utmost it does is to 
leave a gentle dew of clear water on the inside of the bore, this water 
