——__ 
Mr. Sturgeon on the Ignition of Gunpowder, Sc. 445 
limit the generality of the solution. It was, however, not then 
known that an indefinite form to f gives but one solution, 
which therefore cannot be further limited. 
Cranford. J. HERAPATH. 
_ P.S. Since writing the above, I have turned my attention 
to the solutions of non periodical functional equations and 
other subjects connected with them; in which, with the help 
of an improved notation, I have met with a degree of success 
beyond what my most sanguine expectations could have an- 
ticipated. Indeed, if the views which have opened to me, 
should turn out as prolific as they seem to promise to be, they 
will entirely new face most of the instruments of analysis, and 
will leave but little to desire except the perfection of common 
algebra. 
LXV. On the Ignition of Gunpowder by the Electric Dis- 
charge; and on the Transmission of Electricity through 
Water, 8c. By Mr. W. Sturceon. 
To the Editor of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal. 
Sir, 
ig is generally admitted, that the present state of knowledge 
relative to the phenomena of electricity is enveloped in. 
much obscurity; and perhaps no instance of electrical action 
manifests our ignorance of this branch of science more, than 
that of igniting gunpowder. Yet, so little notice is taken of 
this isolated fact, that no satisfactory attempt at explanation, 
that I am aware of, has ever appeared in the pages of any 
writer on this subject. 
That gunpowder has frequently, by various individuals, been 
ignited by the electric fluid, is a truth that cannot be denied. 
But why those experimenters happened to succeed, and why 
others so frequently and still more constantly facil, are cir- 
cumstances the cause of which has hitherto been left unex- 
plained,—perhaps not understood. I am well convinced that 
no individual experimenter has been more embarrassed than 
myself, by fruitless attempts to ignite gunpowder by the elec- 
tric fluid: and although I have varied the experiment accord- 
ing to all the directions I could either read or hear of, yet I 
candidly confess that I never succeeded by any of them. 
Fruitless as these experiments were with respect to the object 
in view, it was observed, by passing the discharge of a jar through 
water (which is the method given by some authors), that the 
force of the shock is considerably abated ; and that the report 
Is 
