GUNPOWDER. 



or else' that it has too much charcoal in it; 

 so also, if rubbed upon white paper, it 

 b uckens it more than good powder does; 

 but if it be of a kind of azure colour, 

 somewhat inclining to red, it is a sign of 

 good powder. 2 By touching; for if, in 

 crushing it with the fingers' ends, the 

 grains break easily and turn, into dust, 

 without ieeimg hard, it has too much coal 

 in it ; or if, in pressing it under the fin- 

 gers upon a smooth hard board, some 

 grains feel harder than the rest, it is a 

 sign the sulphur is not well mixed with 

 the nitre. Also by thrusting the hand into 

 the parcel of powder, and grasping it, as 

 if to take out a handful, you will feel if it 

 is rtry and equal grained, by its evading 

 the grasp and running mostly out of the 

 hand. 3. By burning; and here the me- 

 thod most commonly followed for this pur- 

 pose with us, says Mr. Robins, is, to fire a 

 small heap of it on a clean board, and to 

 attend nicely to the flame and smoke it 

 produces, and to the marks it leaves be- 

 hind on the board; but besides this un- 

 certain method, there are other contriv- 

 ances made use of, such as powder-triers, 

 acting by a spring, commonly sold at the 

 shops, and others again that move a great 

 weight, throwing it upwards, which is a 

 very bad sort of eprouvette. 



The best eprouvette consists in a small 

 cannon, the bore of which is about one 

 inch in diameter, and is usually charged 

 with two ounces of powder, and with 

 powder only, as a ball is not necessary, 

 and the strength of the powder is accu- 

 rately shewn by the arc of the gun's re- 

 coil. The whole machine is so simple, 

 easy, and expeditious, that, as Dr. Hutton 

 observes, the weighing of the powder is 

 the chief part of the trouble, and so accu- 

 rate and uniform, that the successive re- 

 petitions,or firings, with the same quantity 

 of the same sort of powder, hardly ever 

 yield a difference in the recoil of the one 

 hundi-eth part of itself. 



To recover damaged powder. The me- 

 thod of the powder merchants is this : 

 they put part of the powder on a sail- 

 cloth, to which they add an equal weight 

 of what is really good, then 'with a sho- 

 vel they mingle it well together, dry it in 

 the sun, and barrel it up, keeping it in a 

 dry and proper place. 



Others again, if it be very bad, restore 

 it by moistening it with vinegar, water, 

 urine, or brandy ; then they beat it fine, 

 sift it, and to every pound of powder 

 add an ounce, or an ounce and a half, 

 or two ounces (according as it is de- 

 cayed) of melted ni^re, juicj afterwards 



these ingredients are to be moistened and 

 well mixed, so that nothing may be dis- 

 cerned in the composition, which may be 

 known by cutting the mass, and then they 

 granulate it is as usual. In case the pow- 

 der be quite spoiled, the only way is to 

 extract the salt-petre with water, in the 

 usual way, by boiling, filtrating, evapo- 

 rating, and crystallizing, and then with 

 fresh sulphur and charcoal to make it up 

 afresh. 



On the subject of gunpowder, see also 

 Euler on Robins's Gunnery, Antoni Exa- 

 men de la Poudre", Baume's Chemistry, 

 and Thompson's Experiments in tUe Phi- 

 losophical Transactions for 1781. 



Soon after the discovery of the oxyge- 

 nated-muriatic acid and its ,combination 

 with potash, it was found that this oxy- 

 muriate produced a much more violent 

 detonation with combustible bodies, than 

 is afforded by nitre. It has been esti- 

 mated to possess more than double the 

 force ; but on account of this extraordi- 

 nary power of gunpowder made with the 

 ne*w salt, and some fatal accidents by its 

 exploding, in consequence of friction or 

 percussion, to which it is liable, as well 

 during the manufacture as afterwards, 

 this m,odern compound has not been 

 brought into use in military operations, 

 but is likely to continue among the arti- 

 cles of scientific curiosity. 



GUNPOWDER and COMBUSTIBLES. No 

 person shall make gunpowder but in the 

 regular manufactories established at the 

 time of making the statute 12 George Ilf. 

 c. 61, or licensed by the sessions, pursu- 

 ant to certain provisions, under forfeiture 

 of the gunpowder, and two shillings per 

 pound ; nor are pestle mills to be used 

 under a similar penalty. 



Only forty pounds of powder is to be 

 made atone time under one pair of stones, 

 except Battle-powder, made at Battle 

 and elsewhere in Sussex. 



Not more than forty hundred weight 

 to be dried at one time in one stove ; 

 and the quantity only required for im- 

 mediate use to be kept in or near the 

 place of making, except in brick or stone 

 magazines, fifty yards at least from the 

 mill. 



Not more than twenty-five barrels to 

 be carried in any land carriage, nor more 

 than two hundred barrels by water, un- 

 less going by sea or coastwise, each bar- 

 rel not to contain more than one hundred 

 pounds. 



No dealer to keep more than two 

 hundred pounds of powder, nor any per- 

 son? not a dealer, more than fifty pounds,, 



