SCHONBEIN'S GUN-COTTON. 153 



allowance for wind, which is a paramount advantage. I 

 shall only add, that Mr. Lancaster's shooting appears to 

 me to be perfectly miraculous, and certainly better than 

 any I have heard authentically verified before. 



There is now almost a daily paragraph in every news- 

 paper about a new explosive material, called Gun-Cotton, 

 made, I believe, only by dipping cotton in a mixture of 

 nitric and sulphuric acids, with some simple ulterior 

 process. The following account, taken from the Athe- 

 naeum of October 17th, 1846, seems to be the best: 



SCHONBEIN'S GUN-COTTON. 



" We had the opportunity of witnessing, a few days ago, 

 a scries of highly interesting experiments made with the 

 above cotton, principally in order to test its relative force 

 and efficiency as compared with gunpowder. These were 

 carried on in the grounds of Mr. Barron, at Stanmore, 

 under the immediate superintendence of Professor Schon- 

 bein himself. In our present ignorance of the constituents 

 of the gun-cotton, it would be rash to speculate on its 

 ultimate use in a commercial point of view, since that 

 must depend on its cost as compared with that of gun- 

 powder : but there is no doubt of its being an extraordinary 

 motive agent, possessing far greater force than an equal 

 weight of gunpowder. Previously to trying its powers 

 with fire-arms, the Professor made several experiments to 

 show its explosive properties and perfect combustion. He 

 placed some gun-cotton upon a heap of the strongest and 

 most easily ignited sporting gunpowder. The cotton was 

 then fired by heated platinum wire ; and, although there 

 were innumerable points of contact between the cotton and 



