130 Experiments to determine 



oiled leather under it, was pressed down upon the end 

 of the barrel by the same weight which was employed 

 for that purpose in the first experiment, namely, a can- 

 non, weighing 8081 lbs. 



In order to give a more perfect idea of the result of 

 this important experiment, it may not be amiss to de- 

 scribe more particularly one of the principal parts of the 

 apparatus employed in it, I mean the barrel. This bar- 

 rel (which though similar to it in all respects, was not 

 the same that has already been described) was made of 

 the best hammered iron, and was of uncommon strength. 

 Its length was i\ inches ; and though its diameter was 

 also i\ inches, the diameter of its bore was no more 

 than \ of an inch, or less than the diameter of a com- 

 mon goose quill. The length of its bore was 2.^5 

 inches. Its diameter being i\ inches, and the diame- 

 ter of its bore only \ of an inch, the thickness of the 

 metal was i^^ inch ; or it was 5 times as thick as the 

 diameter of its bore. 



The charge of powder was extremely small, amount- 

 ing to but little more than -^-^ of a cubic inch ; not so 

 much as would be required to load a small pocket pistol, 

 and not one-tenth part of the quantity frequently made 

 use of for the charge of a common musket. 



I should be afraid to relate the result of this experi- 

 ment, had I not the most indisputable evidence to pro- 

 duce in support of the facts. This inconsiderable 

 quantity of gunpowder, when it was set on fire by the 

 application of the red-hot ball to the vent tube, ex- 

 ploded with such inconceivable force as to burst the bar- 

 rel asunder in which it was confined, notwithstanding its 

 enormous strength ; and with such a loud report as to 

 alarm the whole neighbourhood. 



