THE NITROGEN QUESTION—-MUNROE. 227 
The most complete and detailed figures relative to the produc- 
tion of explosives to be found anywhere are those presented in the 
reports on the census of manufactures of the United States for 1900 
and 1905, which are as follows, the gunpowder and blasting powder, 
which were combined in Table 1, being presented separately in 
Table 3. 
It is an interesting and important fact that, as with gunpowder 
so with all of the other explosives enumerated, a nitrogen-containing 
compound is employed in the manufacture of each and nitrogen re- 
mains as a component or constituent of each product. The quantity 
of nitrogen in one hundred parts of these explosives, together with 
its equivalent in real nitric acid and in sodium nitrate, is shown, 
together with other data relative to these explosives, in the following 
table: 
TABLE 4.—Per cent of nitrogen in certain of the more important explosives. 
Acid components (3) (4)a (5) | (6) (7) 
of nitrating Weight Weibkt Percent Equiva- | Equiva- 
mixture. of acid 0 ofcon. | lentof | lent of 
Explosive. per 100 | product faned HNO; | NaNO3 
ofraw per 100 of| Jithg. in 100 in 100 
(1) (2 mate- | raw ma- oa parts of | parts of 
H2S04 HNO; rial. terial. gen: product. |product. 
> 
IDES ARYAN KG El os ebpadenncaoor||Seacopusad|s-oucadcsdlsaouscepae 100 12. 20 54. 85 74.00 
(CHOON Es eaadastogoccpooncca Kenaccapoo|scapcecess| Epoqosaeuc 100 10. 40 46. 74 63. 00 
Guincotlonteesecceereces sess 78.6 21.0 | 1,200.0 150 13. 40 60. 30 81. 34 
Mercurie fulminates ss... -<ac--\-< 202-55 65.0 | 1,200.0 120 9.85 44. 33) 59.79 
NIOP LY CELOl Neeeee ee na secede 61.5 34.5 b 689. 7 b 228 18. 50 83. 25 112.30 
Piericiacid’s. -fsscise see 4 ae 26.6 55.8 400. 0 220 18. 30 82.35 111.08 
1, 900.0 | 
i D 2 9.5 2 5 
Byroxyliniforis.)bas-cee sce 56.0 29.0 te 000.0 145 12. 50 56. 25 75. 88 
a Factory yields. 
b Using artificial refrigeration, vide Census Bulletin No. 92 of 1905. 
e Nitrating in pots. 
4 Nitrating in centrifugals. 
In calculating the data for Table 4 the gunpowder is assumed to 
be composed of KNO,, 75 per cent; C, 15 per cent; S, 10 per cent; 
and the blasting powder of NaNO,, 74 per cent; C, 16 per cent; 5S, 10 
per cent; but variations from these compositions will be found in 
practice. However, it is believed that they represent very closely 
the averages of all commercial compositions so styled. Although 
a most important explosive, dynamite is omitted from the table be- 
cause the wide variations in the character and quantities of the com- 
ponents of this mixture as it occurs in commerce render it impossible 
to properly represent it by an average formula, though it is usually 
admitted that on the average dynamite contains 40 per cent of nitro- 
glycerol. The wide variation in nitrogen contents occurs in the dope 
or absorbent, which may contain from no nitrogen-containing com- 
