GUNPOWDER. 185 



Anno 1410, saltpetre three parts, brimstone two parts, 

 charcoal two parts. 



Anno 1480, saltpetre eight parts, brimstone three parts, 

 charcoal three parts. 



Anno 1520. The making best powder, saltpetre four parts, 

 charcoal one part, brimstone one part. 



Anno 1647. The best sort now made, saltpetre six parts, 

 brimstone one part, charcoal one part. 



The musket powder is now commonly made of saltpetre five 

 parts, brimstone one part, charcoal one part. 



The cannon powder, saltpetre four parts, one part charcoal, 

 one part brimstone. 



The Bishop of Llandaff] in his essay on the Composition and 

 Analysis of Gunpowder, states, " that in the proportion in which 

 they are combined, the manner of mixing, the goodness of the 

 ingredients, and the drying of the powder after being made, 

 its strength and excellency consists. Saltpetre, in its crude 

 state, whether it be brought from the East Indies or made in 

 Europe, is generally, if not universally, mixed with a greater or 

 less portion of common salt : now a small portion of common 

 salt injures the goodness of a large quantity of gunpowder ; 

 hence the very finest saltpetre bejomes necessary to be used in 

 its formation. The purest sulphur is that sold in the shops 

 under the name of flowers of Sulphur ; but the roll sulphur being 

 much cheaper than the former, and being also of a great degree 

 of purity, it is the only sort which is used in the manufacturing 

 of gunpowder. With relation to the charcoal, it has been 

 for the most part believed that the coal from soft and light 

 woods was better adapted than the hard and heavy ones to the 

 making of gunpowder: thus Evelyn says of the hazel, that * it 

 made one of the best coals used for gunpowder, being very fine 

 and light, till they found alder to be more fit.' An eminent 

 French chemist ( M. Baume) has shewn from actual experiment, 



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