526 POWDEKS WITH CHLORATE BASE. 



It will be seen that in general the values for the chlorate base 

 powders are much greater than those for the corresponding 

 nitrate base powders. 



The pressures exerted by the former are greater, for the two- 

 fold reason that the quantities of heat developed are greater, and 

 the gaseous volumes equal or greater. Hence these powders 

 will produce effects, both of dislocation and projection, superior 

 to those of the nitrate base powders. 



These conclusions agree perfectly with the known facts, 

 and it seems that they may be extended to incomplete combus- 

 tion powders. 



But, on the other hand, all the numbers given are far inferior, 

 with regard both to heat and gaseous volume, to those of gun- 

 cotton and dynamite (pp. 425 and 451). This inferiority will not 

 disappear, even for the greatest gaseous volumes which result 

 from incomplete combustion. 



From this point of view, therefore, the chlorate powders 

 do not exhibit any superiority over the new explosive sub- 

 stances sufficient to compensate for the exceptional dangers in 

 manufacturing and handling them. It is only as fuses that 

 their easy inflammation may offer certain advantages. 



