Experiments upon Gunpowder. 85 



were intimately mixed with water in a vessel of any 

 kind, and kept in suspension by shaking or stirring them 

 about; and if a hole were opened in the side or bottom 

 of the vessel, the water would not run out without tak- 

 ing the particles of the solid body along with it. And 

 in the same manner I conceive the solid particles that 

 remain after the explosion of gunpowder to be carried 

 forward with the generated elastic fluid, and, being car- 

 ried forward, to retard its motion. But to return from 

 this digression. 



As it appears from these experiments that the relation 

 of the velocities of bullets to their weights is different 

 from that which Mr. Robins's theory supposes, it re- 

 mains to inquire what the law is which actually obtains. 

 And first, as the velocities bear a greater proportion to 

 each other than the reciprocal sub-duplicate ratio of the 

 weights of the bullets, let us see how near they come to 

 the reciprocal sub-triplicate ratio of their weights. 



Velocity of the Bullet. 



Here the velocities computed upon the last supposi- 

 tion appear to agree much better with the experiments 

 than those computed upon Mr. Robins's principles ; 

 but still there is a considerable difference between the 

 actual and the computed velocities in the three last ex- 

 periments in the table. 



