CAPS, PERCUSSION. 



CAPSULES. 



602 



been used for shooting the arrow from a cross-bow. Next came into 

 use the wheel-lock, in the time of Henry VIII. ; this was a contrivance 

 by which sparks of fire were elicited from a furrowed steel wheel, by 

 friction against a piece of pyrites, or sulphuret of iron ; the trigger 

 acted on a lever and chain which made the wheel revolve, and also 

 brought the piece of pyrites down in contact with it, so that the grating 

 of the two together might produce a spark sufficient to kindle the 

 priming of the gun. The next improvement consisted in the substitu- 

 tion of a flat furrowed piece of steel for the wheel, and a piece of flint 

 for the pyrites. By gradual improvements made from time to time, 

 the complicated arrangement of the flint and steel assumed a consider- 

 able degree of perfection, and made the gun-lock a very curious piece 

 of machinery. The manufacture of these locks used to form an im- 

 portant branch of Wolverhampton trade ; while the manufacture of the 

 flints, especially during times of war, was largely carried on in various 

 parts of England and the Continent where the best flints were found. 



The employment of percussion caps, instead of the above con- 

 trivances, arose out of the discovery of certain chemical substances 

 which will explode by percussion or a blow without the aid of heat. 

 Such substances are called detonating or fulminating compounds ; and 

 the idea of employing them for firing muskets is said to have originated 

 in the following manner : About the year 1 793, on account of a 

 scarcity of saltpetre in France, the French government caused experi- 

 ments to be made to determine how far a certain preparation of 

 chlorate of potash would answer as a substitute for gunpowder. The 

 attempt was, from various causes, unsuccessful ; but it suggested to the 

 mind of Mr. Fordyce. a gentleman of Scotland, the thought of employ- 

 ing some such agent for igniting the gunpowder of a loaded gun. After 

 several experiments, he took to London, in 1806, a fowling-piece 

 having a lock, in which a small piece of apparatus struck smartly 

 against a morsel of fulminating mercury, exploded it, and caused the 

 ignition of the gunpowder. The principle was established, though the 

 details were still imperfect ; and Mr. Fordyce was encouraged by the 

 then Master-General of the Ordnance to make further experiments, 

 which he did. Fordyce proposed, as his reward, to be paid the price 

 of the gunpowder which would be saved by the government in two 

 years ; but changes of administration, and difficulties of various kinds, 

 interfered with the hoped-for progress of the method ; and it was not 

 till many years afterwards that its use became at all extensive in 

 England, or indeed anywhere. 



When however it became known that a slight blow would explode 

 certain powders, and that this explosion would ignite gunpowder, 

 numerous improvements became introduced by degrees. Various salts 

 and chemical compounds, such as some of the chlorates, nitrates, and 

 fulminates, will explode in this way ; the most familiar example of 

 which ii afforded by the " lucifers" or " congreves" now sold so cheaply 

 in the streets, and which ignite so readily by friction (in effect a series 

 of minute percussions). About thirty years ago Dr. Ure conducted a 

 series of experiments for the Board of Ordnance on certain points con- 

 nected with these detonating compounds ; such as the best proportion 

 in the ingredients for fulminating mercury and other varieties; the 

 beet mode of preparation ; the mode in which gases produced by the 

 explosion affect the iron- and brass-work of a gun ; the degree to which 

 moisture or damp injures the mixtures; the effect of difference ol 

 climate on them ; the best mode of protecting them from injury; and 

 the probable effect of the gases (reuniting from the explosion) on the 

 health of a close mass of men in an army. Dr. Ure gives the results oi 

 the experiments in his ' Dictionary,' in the course of which he states 

 that the French prepare forty thousand percussion charges from two 

 pounds and a half of fulminating mercury. 



When the method was first introduced, there was some difficulty in 

 causing the explosion of the mixture to ignite the gunpowder. But 

 this is now effected by putting the detonating mixture into a little 

 copper box or cell called a cap, which is adjusted over the touch-hole 

 and so arranged as to the other part of the lock, that a smart blow 

 striking the cap explodes its contents : the little cell itself is destroyed 

 so that a new one is required for each firing. The size of the cell, 01 

 " percussion-cap," the nature of the mixture, the quantity employee 

 with each charge, and the mechanism for firing it, have been the 

 subjects of many improvements, some of which were patented. The 

 caps are made in large numbers at Birmingham, in much the same 

 tnalmer as metal buttons ; blanks being cut out of sheet copper or 

 mixed metal, and stamped or pressed into the proper shape. 



Many contrivances have also been suggested for applying these caps 

 under a modified form to larger guns. Thus, Commander Henderson 

 in 1838, contrived a means whereby a ship's armourer could adapt 

 percussion caps to the common guns of a ship. The cap is applied to 

 the touchhole, covered with an iron cap, and exploded with a slight blow 

 from a mallet. 



The detonating compound, with or without the small containing 

 copper cap, has been applied to several varieties of shells to be fired from 

 mortars, and to explode only when the shell strikes against the object 

 against which it is directed. In ordinary circumstances a bomb-shell 

 or similar missile, has a fuse so attached to it as to ignite the gun 

 powder within after a certain space of time ; but the object of the 

 detonating shells is to dispense with such a fuse. Colonel Maceroni, 

 in 1826, proposed the use of shells in which a short tube was screwec 

 into one side of the shell, and a percussion-cap placed in the tube, just 



before the shell was to be fired from the mortar : the striking of the 

 shell against any solid object exploded the compound, ignited the 

 gunpowder, and burst the shell. 



Many other such shells have been from time to time proposed, of 

 which those by Captain Norton were a good deal noticed in the public 

 arints about sixteen years ago; the experiments at Woolwich, in 1842, 

 with these shells, were made with the view of determining whether 

 the shell would be certain to explode in striking the object. 



Percussion caps have now for some years been adopted universally 

 in the armies of Europe. For the English army they are manufac- 

 tured at Woolwich. The following are the various operations : 



1st. Copper is cut into sheets 24 in. long and 3^ in. wide. 



2nd. Each slip is smoothed and brought to its proper dimensions 

 by being passed between rollers. 



3rd. Crosses f in. in diameter are cut out of the slips. 



4th. The crosses are put into iron cylinders lined with copper and 

 made red hot. After remaining in this state for some time they are 

 plunged into cold water to anneal them. 



5th. After being pickled in dilute sulphuric acid to remove the oxide, 



6th. They are dried by being shaken in a bag of dried sawdust. 



7th. They are then oiled in a drum. 



8th. The crosses are then put under a die, which punches them into 

 the shape of a cap, making the government mark at the same time. 

 These caps differ from the ordinary caps in having a rirn like the 

 brim of a hat, in order to be more easily handled. 



9th. They are then cleansed from oil in a bag of sawdust. 



10th. They are then arranged by shaking into the holes of a brass 

 plate, which contains 1000, for the purpose of charging. 



llth. The plate containing 1000 caps is then placed in the charging 

 machine to be loaded with a composition, consisting of fulminating 

 mercury, chlorate of potash, and ground green glass. 



12th. The composition is pressed in by a machine having points 

 fitting into the caps. 



13th. The composition which has been pressed into the caps receives 

 a coating of varnish from a frame, to which are affixed a number of 

 small nipples corresponding to the caps, which being dipped into the 

 varnish carry the varnish into them. 



14th. The varnish in the caps having been hardened in a steam bath, 



15th. The varnish is glazed by polishing each separately in a lathe 

 with a projecting nipple which fits into the cap. 



16th. The caps being again shaken in a bag with fine sawdust are 

 fit for use. 



They are then packed in parcels of 25 each, which accompany the 

 packages of 20 cartridges. 



CAPSICINE is an alkaloid found in the capsules of Capsicum 

 annititm and^other species of Capsicum, which are used in the manu- 

 facture of cayenne pepper. It has a burning taste, and may be crystal- 

 lised. It is insoluble in water and ether, soluble in alcohol. It forms 

 crystallisable salts with sulphuric, nitric, and acetic acids. Its compo- 

 sition is unknown. 



CA'PSICUM or bird-pepper, a genus of solauaceous plants, of which 

 the botanical account has been given in the NAT. HIST. Div. 



The fruit or pod of several species of capsicum is used in different 

 parts of the world, and under different names, as a stimulating con- 

 diment with food, or externally as a rubefacient, or internally as a 

 powerful excitant to the nerves of the part with which it comes in 

 contact. The C. annuum, or Spanish pepper, the C. frutescens, or 

 Chilies, called also Cayenne pepper, and the C. baccatum, or bird- 

 pepper, are chiefly employed. They are natives of the East and West 

 Indies, South America, &c., and are of great utility, along with 

 different articles of food, in rousing the energies of the stomach when 

 impaired by the heat of the climate, and thereby assisting digestion. 

 Even birds have recourse to the seeds, and many parrots and other 

 birds die during their voyage or soon after they reach Europe for 

 want of this natural stimulant. The pods contain two distinct prin- 

 ciples : the one capsicin, an alkaloid, which is the acrid principle ; 

 the other an ethereal oil, which is the stimulating principle : it resides 

 chiefly in the external layers of the fruit and in the seeds. 



The bruised pods, or Cayenne pepper, may be employed in the form 

 of a cataplasm as a powerful rubefacient, which in many cases is pre- 

 ferable to common sinapisms. It is also of great service as a gargle, 

 either alone or in conjunction with cinchona and serpentaria in the 

 sore throat, when threatening to run into a state of mortification, of 

 scarlatina maligna. It may also be given internally with the same 

 adjuncts in the same disease. In fevers, both typhoid and intermittent, 

 it is often a useful accompaniment to Peruvian bark ; and in many 

 cases of dropsy from debility, along with iron it is of great benefit. 

 But it is in dyspepsia, dependent upon atony of the stomach, that it is 

 most serviceable. Vinegar which has acquired its virtues (Chili 

 vinegar) is the most suitable acompaniment to all kinds of fish at 

 dinner. One grain of Cayenne pepper, with four grains of blue pill, 

 is one of the most useful of all preventive agents against cholera. 

 Such a pill, taken every night for three or four nights at bed-time, is 

 invaluable. 



CAPSTAN. [WINDLASS.] 



CAPSULES. This name is given to two kinds of manufactured 

 articles, having very little relation one to another ; the one being as a 

 covering for the corks of bottles, the other as a receptacle for medicines. 



