PYROTECHNY. 



P/rotech. inexpert artist will find it convenient to take plenty of 

 ny- room in this direction, to enable him the easier to pack 



^-"~ v ~"-' away his mutations ; :n, expert Chinese will place in a 

 '""" di-pt'h of three inches what an English workman could 

 not crowd into six. Seven hoops will be required for 

 six mutations, that there may be six intervals, and they 

 are then to be framed into a cylinder, by means of 

 three Hat uprights of similar light materials. A cross 

 of the same description is to be made on the top of the 

 cylinder for supporting the mutations, and for fixing 

 the loop by which the drum is to hang when fired. 

 Six inches or eight, if this firework is of a large size, 

 will thus be left between each of the hoops. The 

 whole of this frame-work may be fastened by means 

 of string covered with a little glue. The case is then 

 ready to receive its charge, as it cannot be covered 

 with paper till that is arranged, and all the primings 

 and conductors fixed. But as we need not recur to 

 the case again, we shall here finish its description by 

 saying, that when the whole of the mutations have 

 been introduced and arranged, it is to be covered with 

 stout cartridge paper, sufficiently strong to prevent ac- 

 cidents, all over, which may then be further covered 

 with white paper and painted; or otherwise orna- 

 mented in any other manner that the artist may think 

 proper. 



The mode of making the mutations or transparent 

 pieces is as follows: and we will first take the simplest 

 case, that of a square lantern. Two squares of light 

 wood, but strong, are framed for the top and bottom, 

 in a firm manner, with glue ; and these, particularly 

 the bottom one, must have substance enough to bear 

 the pins for supporting wheels. They are connected 

 at the corners by strings, of the requisite length, so as 

 to form a skeleton, and there is further a diagonal piece 

 of wood, or a cross, as may be preferred, to be placed 

 in the top and bottom ; the upper one to support the 

 connecting string by which the lantern hangs, and the 

 lower to carry the illumination lights. The lantern is 

 not to be finished till all the fireworks are settled and 

 fixed ready for firing, in the manner we shall presently 

 describe ; after which it is to be covered with trans- 

 parent paper, painted with dark colours, or with white 

 paper, painted in transparent colours, such as those 

 used for window blinds. This covering must be so 

 thin as to allow the lantern to be pressed up, at least 

 as close as the space which it is to occupy in the 

 drum. 



Towers, castles, ships, pagodas, &c. are all made on 

 the same principles ; and as we could not detail their 

 construction to any useful purpose, they must be left 

 to the ingenuity of the artist. It is only necessary to 

 remember, that the transverse framing must always be 

 sufficiently strong to carry the pins for wheels, or to 

 support rockets, crackers, serpents outside, and lights 

 within ; and that the sides must be made of strings, 

 to allow them to be packed up within the body of the 

 case. The wooden part of a ship may be the gunwale 

 and the keel ; or if these are made narrow, they may 

 be fully framed with their masts, and the necessary 

 riggingl and laid on their sides in the case. The 

 same practice may be adopted for dragons and such 

 like objects ; and, when necessary, a little more room 

 may be allowed between the hoops for this class of 

 transparencies. We need say nothing more on the 

 method of painting and ornamenting all these figures 

 or mutations. The general principle is the same in 

 all; to use brilliant and transparent colouring, while 

 in all other points the artist is free to follow his own 



taste. It is now necessary to describe the fireworks, 



and the method of attaching and disposing them about y- 



the transparencies. / 



All those figures that are large enough to contain ri 

 one in thi -ir r.ivity, without risk of taking fire, are to d ' 

 be provided with an internal illumination light or 

 speckie, which in to be properly fixed on the middle 

 of the bottom frame. Ships, and such like objects, do 

 not admit of this ornament. These fires are made 

 according to the compositions described in another 

 partof this article, and which we need not therefore 

 repeat; and they may be varied by using different 

 coloured lights, either in the same piece in succession, 

 or in the different pieces. Before these are fixed in 

 their places, they must be primed and furnished with 

 a bit of quick match, and they nre then ready to be 

 introduced into the line of the communicating fire. 



The wheels used for this purpose cannot wdl be 

 made in the spiral form, as these occupy too much 

 room. They are single case wheels, perforated in the 

 middle, and bored with two lateral opposed holes at 

 the extremities ; but as the method of making these 

 has also been described elsewhere, we need not repeat 

 it. These wheels may be introduced in various ways, 

 according to the taste of the artist ; and, for example, 

 if the object be a lantern, one may be fixed on each 

 side of the bottom frame. The pin which carries them 

 is firmly fastened into that part, and then they are 

 laid parallel to it, and secured by two slips of very 

 slight paper. These also must be properly primed 

 with quick match, well secured, before any thing fur- 

 ther is done. 



Rows of crackers, made in the manner of the Chi- 

 nese crackers elsewhere described, are fixed, by means 

 of a bit of string or pasted paper, wherever they may 

 be required. If in a ship, they are disposed round the 

 gunwale; if in a castle, in the loop-holes, or on the 

 battlements, and so on. Where dragons are to be 

 used, a large cracker may be inclosed within the body, 

 which is to be fired last of all. Serpents may be dis- 

 posed in similar ways, but their heads must always be 

 so directed that they may fly downwards, or out of the 

 case, as they might otherwise get entangled in it above, 

 and fire some of the movements before their time. 

 This is an accident cautiously to be avoided through- 

 out the whole construction of the machine, as it would 

 entirely ruin the performance and spoil the effect. 

 All these, like the former, must be primed before they 

 are first fixed, as this is not so easily done afterwards. 



The only other fires that can be introduced, are 

 small gerbes, or spur lights; and these, like the 

 others, may be fixed in any convenient places; al- 

 ways taking care that their fire be directed outwards, 

 for the reason last mentioned. Sky-rockets, not ex- 

 ceeding an inch in length, may be fixed in some of the 

 movements. Their sticks are made of a slender piece 

 of slit bamboo ; but they must be so disposed outward 

 when the mutation piece falls, that they may fly oiT 

 clear of the drum. An ingenious artist will easily find 

 the means of managing this without any particular di- 

 rections. 



Supposing now all the pieces to be framed and pro- 

 vided with their several fires ready primed, a stoat 

 string is to be hung up to the ceiling of the artificer's 

 room. From the top downwards a mark is made, 

 as long as the drum, and about a foot or a foot and a 

 half, or even two feet or more, according as the ope- 

 rator may wish the piece to descend more or less 

 below it when it is lighted. The last or uppermost 



