262 Piifi-rvation cfGiinpcicJit: , 



2 . Preftrvat'icit of GiwpoivJcr. 



GUNPOWDER, by re.ifon of the nitre winch enters into its compoHtion, having been 

 partially deprived of its water of cryftallization, and the known attraction of charcoal for 

 humidity, is always foniewhat difpofed todeliqi:cfce;and although it docs not aiflually liquefy, 

 or become unfit for fome of the purpofcs to wLicIi it is applicable, yet, for thofe of the fportf- 

 man, to whom thequicknefs of its communication is of the higheft confequcnce, it is generally 

 in a ft:te very inferior to that in wjjich it would be found, if a greater degree of care was 

 taken in its prefcrvation. It is only when it has received but a very flight injury from damp, 

 that the mifchicf is capable of a remedy : when once it has become at all concreted, drying 

 it will no longer redore its power: the nitre will be found, on examination with a mag- 

 niacr, to have eryftallized, and the (Irength and quickncfs of the powder are confiderably 

 and permanently impaired -, probably even before this fymptom has appeared. It is evident 

 that no vcflel is fufficiently elofe to prevent this eireumftance from taking place, but fuch as 

 is perfe£lly air-tight. Tiierc cannot perhaps be a much ftrong.'r proof of the infufiicicncy 

 of the packages in general ufe for this purpofc, than the opinion of a confiderable dealer in 

 this article, to whom the matter was lately mentioned. He faid he was convinced that powder 

 would be found to " give" in fomc flates of the weather, though the vefiel wliich contained 

 it was ever fo clofe : a notion which may perhaps have contributed to prevent the adoption 

 of more eflcflual means. He added, that it is found to do fo in the tin caniRers, as much 

 as when packed in brown paper. The remedy is however extremely eafy. Nothing more is 

 neceflary, than to cut off the communication with the atmofphere : any veffel in which fait 

 of tartar can be preferved dry, will of courfe keep gunpowder in the fame (late of per- 

 feiTlion as when firft enclofed. For a quantity not exceeding a few pounds, which is not 

 intended to be frequently removed from place to place, common ten or tweive-ounce phials 

 anfwer extremely well; and if half a dozen of them be put into a cafe, there cannot perhaps 

 be a more convenient magazine. They (hould be filled as full as poflible, and the powder 

 well corked up at the mills, the corks being tied over with bladder and tinfoil. As, how- 

 ever, there might be fome danger of explofion from the accidental fra£lure of one of thefe, 

 if this method were to be adopted for large quantities, it would in that cafe be neceflary to 

 ufe fome other material than glafs ; and if, inftead of the Ilider now inferted into the tin 

 canifters, a turned brafs or pewter neck, like that of a common phial, and capable of being 

 likewife flopped with a fmall cork, were foldered into the top, they would alfo anfwer as well. 

 A projetlion would perhaps render them inconvenient for package ; and it would therefore 

 be proper that the neck (hould be funk into the top •, and, in order to get out the contents, 

 that it fliould be let into a femi-cylindrical hollow in the fide of the canifter. When corked 

 up, the top of the cork might be cut off, and the whole aperture covered with a plafler of 

 thick drying paint, or wax and turpentine, fpread on a piece of tinfoil. None of the fla(k5, 

 the bed of which are thofe of copper or tin, are fit for preferving the powder longer than 

 whilfl they are in ufe, during which the charger (hould be kept corked ; a precaution the 

 eflTcifls of which will be found confiderable. 



There are fome, perhaps, who may not conceive thefe remarks to be very materially con- 

 ducive to the general intcrefts of pliilofophy ; but he to whom it has frequently happened 

 to mifs an excellent crofs (hot, from his powder hanging (ire — qtiirque ipfe miferrima vidi — 

 *ill fcarcely confidcr this as the leaft important article in the September Journal. 



3. Gra- 



