PICRIC POWDER. 



PORTUGAL. 



629 



PICRIC POWDER. The production of dy- 

 namite by Nobel appears to have beeii the 

 signal for numerous subsequent attempts to 

 utilize the highly-dangerous compound nitro- 

 glycerine, some of which have proved success- 

 ful. The object appears to have been to re- 

 place as far as possible the inexplosive silica 

 in M. Nobel's mixture, by explosive materials, 

 thus insuring a greater percentage of power 

 in the resulting compound. It was with this 

 view that Mr. Horsley mixed his original pow- 

 der witli nitro-glycerine, and it was the same 

 object that led Captain Schultze to incorporate 

 the latter ingredient with his gun-sawdust, or 

 wood-powder. This powder is sawdust puri- 

 fied from all resinous substances and digested 

 in a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids. 

 The result is a feebly explosive material only, 

 which is afterward strengthened by impregna- 

 tion with nitrates. This wood-powder Captain 

 Schultze mixed with 17 per cent, of nitro- 

 glycerine, which gave a powerful compound, 

 but one not equal in its results to dynamite. 

 Another method of taming nitro-glycerine has 

 been brought forward by Prof. Abel. It con- 

 sists in granulating gun-cotton and mixing it 

 with saltpetre and as much nitro-glycerine as 

 it will absorb; here the gun-cotton replaces 

 the silica in Nobel's dynamite. "With this com- 

 pound, to which Prof. Abel has given the name 

 of glyoxiline, some effective blasting and en- 

 gineering operations have been carried out, but 

 it has not yet found its way into commerce. 



Another method of applying nitro-glycerine 

 as a destructive agent has been devised by 

 Prof. Engels, and was brought prominently 

 before public notice about four months since. 

 This substance produced is termed lithofrac- 

 teur, and it is composed of nitro-glycerine, 

 with gun-cotton, the constituents of gunpow- 

 der, and infusorial earth as the absorbing 

 media. This material has been made and ex- 

 tensively used in Germany for more than two 

 years past, a large factory being in full opera- 

 tion in Cologne. The power of the compound 

 was proved in the workings of a limestone- 

 quarry, where some very successful shots were 

 fired in horizontal holes in the face of the 

 rock where powder would not have touched 

 it. In the green-stone quarries some vertical 

 shots proved the applicability of the com- 

 pound to shaft-sinking in hard ground, its dis- 

 ruptive power under these conditions being 

 very remarkable. It was, moreover, shown 

 by experiments with loaded rafts, sunk in the 

 river, that, for subaqueous operations or tor- 

 pedoes, lithofracteur was most suitable. Its 

 safety from explosion by concussion was illus- 

 trated by throwing a box of cartridges from a 

 height of 150 feet on to the rocky plateau 

 below, the result being that the box was 

 broken up and the cartridges were scattered 

 but none exploded. In some further experi- 

 ments made to show its safety in the event of 

 a railway or other collision, cartridges were 

 tied to the buffers of a mineral wagon and it 



was allowed to run down an incline of 1 in 8 

 and 500 yards long, being received at the bot- 

 tom by a stationary wagon. In all cases for 

 the experiments were repeated the car- 

 tridges were smashed between the buffers and 

 the wagons were smashed between them- 

 selves, but no explosion occurred. Like dyna- 

 mite and safety gun-cotton, lithofracteur only 

 explodes when under conditions of confine- 

 ment, or when fired in the open air with a 

 percussion fuse. 



Two other substances have been brought 

 forward within the past twelvemonth. The 

 first of these is Pertuiset powder, a French in- 

 vention, with which some experiments were 

 tried on horses about a year since. The Per- 

 tuiset powder was enclosed in bullets, and the 

 shattering effects were fully developed upon 

 the skulls, ribs, and legs, of the unfortunate 

 targets. 



The second is the picric powder of Prof. 

 Abel. The use of nitro-glycerine compounds 

 in shells had been tried with promising re- 

 sults, but inasmuch as confidence in these 

 preparations has not yet been fully established 

 in the army and navy, and as, moreover, the 

 power developed appeared to be in excess of 

 that required, it was necessary to look for an- 

 other material for shell-charges. Prof. Abel's 

 investigation of the question resulted in his 

 applying one of the salts of tri-nitro-phenic 

 acid or picric acid to this purpose. This acid 

 is largely produced from phenol or carbolic 

 acid, and forms a cheap and bright-yellow 

 dye. The acid itself burns quickly with a 

 brilliant flame, but its salts are all explosive 

 in a greater or less degree and detonate when 

 struck. Prof. Abel mixes the ammoninm- 

 picrate with saltpetre in certain proportions 

 which forms a bright-yellow powder, to which 

 he has given the name of "picric powder." 

 This powder, when lighted in the ordinary 

 manner, deflagrates very slowly. When, how- 

 ever, the mixture is strongly confined, as in 

 shells^ it explodes violently and exerts a de- 

 structive action less formidable than that of 

 gun-cotton or dynamite, but greater than that 

 of gunpowder. Some experiments were car- 

 ried out at Shoeburyness in July last, with 

 this powder used in shells, fired from a 9-inch 

 gun. The results, although not conclusive, 

 were nevertheless sufliciently satisfactory to 

 justify further experiments with this powder, 

 which appears likely to prove a useful explo- 

 sive agent for shell-charges. 



PORTUGAL,* a kingdom in Europe. King 

 Luiz I., born October 31, 1838 ; succeeded his 

 brother, King Pedro V., November 11, 1861. 

 Heir-apparent, his son, Carlos, born Septem- 

 ber 28, 1863. 



The ministry, appointed on September 13, 

 1871, was composed as follows : President of 



* For latest information concerning imports and ex- 

 ports, and movements of shipping, see AMERICAN ANNUAL 

 CYCLOPAEDIA for 1869; for detailed accounts of the Portu- 

 guese colonies and the army, see AMERICAN ANNUAL CT- 

 CLOPJEDIA for 1870. 



