of a new detonating Compound. 5 



was poured into a glass containing it, it expanded into a glo- 

 bule of elastic fluid, of an orange colour, which diminished as 

 it passed through the water. 



I attempted to collect the products of the explosion of the 

 new substance, by applying the heat of a spirit lamp to a glo- 

 bule of it, confined in a curved glass tube over water : a little 

 gas was at first extricated, but long before the water had 

 attained the temperature of ebullition, a violent flash of light 

 was perceived, with a sharp report; the tube and glass were 

 broken into small fragments, and I received a severe wound 

 in the transparent cornea of the eye, which has produced a con- 

 siderable inflammation of the eye, and obliges me to make this 

 communication by an amanuensis. This experiment proves 

 what extreme caution is necessary in operating on this sub- 

 stance, for the quantity I used was scarcely as large as a 

 grain of mustard seed. 



A small globule of it thrown into a glass of olive oil, pro- 

 duced a most violent explosion ; and the glass, though strong, 

 was broken into fragments. Similar effects were produced by 

 its action on oil of turpentine and naphtha. When it was thrown 

 into ether there was a very slight action ; gas was disengaged 

 in small quantities, and a substance like wax was formed, which 

 had lost the'characteristic properties of the new body. On alco- 

 hol it acted slowly, lost its colour, and became a white oily sub- 

 stance, without explosive powers. When a particle of it was 

 touched under water by a particle of phosphorus, a brilliant 

 light was perceived under the water, and permanent gas was 

 disengaged, having the characters of azote. 



When quantities larger than a grain of mustard seed were 

 used for the contact with phosphorus, the explosion was always 



