STARS. 



Another method of making Rockets with Start. 



Mix three ounces of saltpetre, with one ounce of sulphur, and 

 two drams of pulverised gunpowder; or mix four ounces of sul- 

 phur, with the same quantity of saltpetre, and eight ounces of puL 

 verised gunpowder. When these materials have been well sifted, 

 besprinkle them with brandy, in which a little gum has been dis. 

 solved, and then make up the star in the following manner. 



Take a rocket mould, eight or nine lines in diameter, and intro- 

 duce into it a nipple, the piercer of which is of a uniform size 

 throughout, and equal in length to the height of the mould. Put 

 into this mould a cartridge, and by means of a pierced rod load it 

 with one of the preceding compositions ; when loaded, take it from 

 the mould, without removing the nipple, the piercer of which passes 

 through the composition, and then cut the cartridge quite round 

 into pieces of the thickness of three or four lines. The cartridge 

 being thus cut, draw out the piercer gently, and the pieces, which 

 resemble the men employed for playing at drafts, pierced through 

 the middle, will be stars, which must be filed on a match thread, 

 which, if you choose, may be covered with tow. 



To give more brilliancy to stars of this kind, a cartridge thicker 

 than the above dimensions, and thinner than that of a flying-rocket 

 of the same size, may be employed ; but, before it is cut into 

 pieces, five or six holes must be pierced in the circumference of 

 each piece to be cut. When the cartridge is cut, and the pieces 

 have been filled, cement over the composition small bits of card, 

 each having a hole in the middle, so that these holes may correspond 

 to the place where the composition is pierced. 



REMARKS. 



1. There are several other methods of making stars, which it 

 would be too tedious to describe. We shall therefore only shew 

 how to make ttoiles d pet, or stars which give a report as loud as 

 that of a pistol or musket. 



Make small saucissons, as taught in the third section ; only, it 

 will not be necessary to cover them with pack-thread : it will be 

 sufficient if they are pierced at one end, in order that you may tie 

 to it a star constructed according to the first method, the composi- 

 tion of which is dry; for if the composition be in the form of a 



