90 Experiments upon Gunpozuder. 



provided of uncommon strength, on purpose for the 

 experiment. Its length in the bore is 13.25 inches, the 

 diameter of the bore is 0.55 of an inch, and its weight 

 7 Ibs. 2 oz. It is of the best iron, and was made by 

 Wogdon ; and the accuracy with which it is finished 

 does credit to the workman. 



This barrel being charged with one sixteenth of an 

 ounce (= 27.34 grains) of aurum fulminans^ and two 

 leaden bullets, which, together with the leather that was 

 put about them to make them fit the bore without wind- 

 age, weighed 427 grains, it was laid upon a chafBng- 

 dish of live coals, at the distance of about 10 feet from 

 the pendulum, and against the center of the target of 

 the pendulum the piece was directed. 



Having secured the barrel in such a manner that its 

 direction should not alter, I retired to a little distance, 

 in order to be out of danger in case of an accident, 

 where I waited, in anxious expectation, the event of the 

 explosion. 



I had remained in this situation some minutes, and 

 almost despaired of the experiment's succeeding, when 

 the powder exploded, but with a report infinitely less 

 than what I expected ; the noise not greatly exceeding the 

 report of a well-charged wind-gun ; and it was not till I 

 saw the pendulum in motion, that I could be persuaded 

 that the bullets had been discharged. I found, however, 

 upon examination, that nothing was left in the barrel, 

 and from the great number of small particles of revived 

 metal that were dispersed about, I had reason to think 

 that all the powder had exploded. 



The bullets struck the pendulum nearly in the center 

 of the target, and both of them remained in the wood; 

 and I found, upon making the calculation, that they had 



