384 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



bis name. The ingredients used in the manufacture of gun- 

 powder are pretty generally the same all over the world, each 

 maker having, of course, his own ideas regarding the propor- 

 tions of the three articles — nitre, charcoal, and sulphur — to be 

 employed. 



English sporting powder is not so powerful as the American, 

 but is of very superior quality. The average proportion of in- 

 gredients composing the English powder, put up in small tin 

 canisters or wrapped in cartridge-paper for the use of Sports- 

 men, is as follows : nitre 78 parts, charcoal 12, sulphur 10. 



Dupont's powder, we believe, is more generally used by Sports- 

 men throughout our country than any other ; it is much more 

 powerful than the English powder, and contains larger propor- 

 tions of nitre. 



This powder is put up in small tin canisters of a pound each, 

 and in this way is entirely protected from the moisture that is 

 so hurtful to it. Of its quality we need say nothing, as its long 

 celebrity is a sufficient guarantee of its worth. 



When put up in this way expressly for the use of Sportsmen, 

 Dupont's powder costs nearly double what it does when pur- 

 chased in small six-pound kegs; but the universal satisfaction 

 it affords, and the convenience and safety of carriage, give it a 

 decided preference in the eyes of most Sportsmen, notwith- 

 standing the additional price asked for it. 



VARIETIES OF GUNPOWDER. 



The principal and most appreciable difference in the manu- 

 facture of gunpowder is its division into coarse and fine-grained, 

 glazed and unglazed. 



The first variety — the coarse-grained powder — is used prin- 

 cipally for all species of large fire-arms, and undoubtedly is the 

 most powerful of the two kinds ; at all events, we have arrived 

 at this conclusion from experiments tried while Duck-shooting, 

 and we are supported in our observations by many respectable 

 authorities ; that is, we wish to be understood that an ounce of 

 coarse-grained powder is more powerful than an ounce of fine- 

 grained powder, both of the same manufacture and of equal 

 proportions. The superior strength or projectile force of the 



