COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS OF GVNPOWDFR. 



all the sulphur and charcoal remaining a fixed mass upon the. filter. 

 Tin si- respective qiian'ities may be ascertained \\itlmut much diili. 

 cnltv. Tin- water containing the dissolved ^altpelrc, must be 

 porated by a gentle IK at ; the -altpefre cannot be evaporated by the 

 same decree of heat which evaporates the water; all the saltpetre 

 thc-n contained in the gunpowder, will remain after the water is 

 dispersed, and being carefully collected and weighed, it will shew 

 the quantity of saline matter contained in the powder. Dry the 

 mass of sulphur and charcoal, by laying the filtering paper con. 

 tain'mg it before the fire; it should be made as dry as the powder 

 was before it was dissolved in the water : in that state weigh the 

 saltpetre and charcoal ; and, when the experiment has been accu- 

 rately made, the weight of the saltpetre, added to that of the mix- 

 ture of sulphur and charcoal, will just amount to four ounces, the 

 weight of the powder. The quantity of saline matter contained in 

 any specimen of gunpowder, being thus ascertained, its quality 

 may be, known b> dissolving it in water, and crystallizing it; if 

 any part of it crystallizes in little cubes, it is a sign that it contains 

 sea-salt; or if any part of it, after being duly evaporated, will not 

 crystallize, it is a sign that it contains another sort of impurity, 

 cal rd by saltpetre makers, the mother of nitre, which powerfully 

 attracts the humidity of the air. 



Tin. 'gunpowder marked FF, was analysed in the following man- 

 ner. Twenty-four grains, by evaporating the sulphur, were re. 

 duced to nineteen ; these nineteen grains gave, by solution in 

 water and subsequent filtration and crystallization, sixteen graitu 

 of saltpetre; the charcoal, when properly dried, weighed three 

 grains. According to these proportions, 100 pounds of this kind 

 of gunpowder consisted of 



Saltpetre . . . 66^ 



Sulphur . . . 20| 



Charcoal . . . 12} 



lOOlbs. 



I tried this gunpowder in two or three other ways by taking 

 larger quantities of it, but the quantity of saltpetre was always 

 66 Ib. together with some f/actional part of a po-ind, from lOOlb. 

 of gunpowder. The powders marked with a single and a double 

 p, differ in the size of the grain, but they do not seem to differ, as 



