GUX COTTOX. 



417 



commenced his career as an author while a 

 young lawyer in the Temple, by writing pam- 

 phlets on "the topics of the day. In 1818 he 

 published a work of considerable merit on the 

 " Connection of Xatural and Revealed The- 

 ology." The next year he wrote against the 

 materialism of Laurence, and soon after took 

 orders in the Church of England, and became 

 minister of Laura Chapel, Bath, and in addition 

 to his clerical labors, rendered important ser- 

 vice to the Society for Promoting Christian 

 Knowledge. While at Bath, he published a 

 volume of Sermons and a Reply to Bishop 

 Coplestone, entitled. " Yiudicia) Analogic*/' 

 In 1823 he removed to London, and devoted 

 himself mostly to literary pursuits, publishing 

 several works, and writing articles for maga- 

 zines and reviews. From 1887 to 1813 he was 

 devoted assiduously, working seven hours a 

 day, to the great work of his life, the t; Xovum 

 Testamentum Hellenic*," in two volumes, in- 

 tended to show the close connection between 

 the Septuagint and the Xew Testament. This 

 work contains 40,000 quotations, all verified by 

 the original authorities. The next five years 

 were spent in preparing the u Scholia Hellen- 

 istica," also in two volumes, supplementary to 

 his Xew Testament. He was deeply imp: 

 with the value of the Septuagint, and made a 

 collection of all the known editions of it, and 

 all the literature relating to them, which he 

 presented to Lincoln College, Oxford. He also 

 established a Lectureship on the Septuagint at 

 Oxford, at his own expense. 



GFX COTTOX. The improvements in the 

 preparation of gun cotton have been such that it 

 is now manufactured in England either for pur- 

 poses of mining, engineering, or for artillery 

 use. Its nature and uses since the improvement 

 in its preparation have been very fully discussed 

 before the British Royal Institution. The state- 

 ments and explanations of Mr. John Scott 

 Russell on the subject are particularly instruc- 

 tive and valuable. In his opinion gun cotton is 

 a new power coming under the same category 

 as steam and gunpowder. It is highly danger- 

 ous to those who do not possess the nee-, 

 knowledge and skill ; but, like them, it enor- 

 mously extends human power, and, like them, the 

 skill to nse it can be rightly and certainly ac- 

 quired. 



1. 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 1J in. in diameter and 3 ft. deep, 

 into hard rock or slate, in a quarry, and put 4 

 oz. 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 match-line 

 led from the charge to the proper distance from 

 which to fire it ; and if we next take 24 oz. of the 

 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 oz. of gun cotton have 

 VOL. iv. 27 A 



produced greater effect in separating the rock 

 into pieces than the 24 oz. of gunpowder. The 

 answer is, therefore, that in disruptive explo- 

 sion the strength of gun cotton is sixfold that 

 of good gunpowder. 



But the disruptive or bursting power of gun- 

 powder 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 

 straining the gun beyond a given moderate 

 limit which it shall be able to endure. "VTe 

 want, therefore, a service from gun cotton 

 which shall be the contrary of destructive to, or 

 disruptive of, the chamber hi which it does the 

 work of giving motion to the projectile. 



This moderated and modified work gun cot- 

 ton can also perform ; and it is the modern dis- 

 covery of General Lenk which has enabled us 

 to moderate and modify gun cotton to this 

 gentler service. He discovered how to organ- 

 ize, 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 i$ 

 oz., projected a 12-lb. solid round shot with a 

 speed of 1,426 ft. a second, while a charge of 

 gunpowder of 49 oz. gave the same shot a speed 

 of 1,400 ft. a second. One-third of the weight 

 of gun cotton exceeded, therefore, the threefold 

 weight of gunpowder hi useful effect. 



2. Is gun cotton more convenient than gun- 

 powder ? This is a larger and more various 

 question than the former, and divides itself into 

 various subdivisions. 



It is well known to sportsmen, to soldiers, 

 and to artillery-men, that gunpowder fouls a 

 gun. A foul residue of soot, sulphur, and pot- 

 ash soils the inside of the gun after every 

 charge. The gun must, somehow, 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 be- 

 ing the condensed steam which forms one of the 

 products of its decomposition. Gun cotton is, 

 therefore, superior to gunpowder in not fouling 

 the gun, a result favorable both to quicker and 

 more accurate firing. 



It is further a matter of no slight convenience 

 that gun cotton makes no smoke. In mines, 

 the smoke of gunpowder makes the air nn- 

 breathable, and for some time after explosion 

 the miners cannot return to their work. In 

 boring the great tunnel of Mont Cenis through 

 the Alps, the delay from smoke of powder alone 

 will postpone the opening of the line for many 

 months. After a properly-conducted explosion 



