330 Recent Changes in British Artillery Materiel. [July, 



i. Whether the employment of gun-cotton is attended 

 with such uncertainty or peril as should induce the 

 department to relinquish its manufacture, and its use 

 for those military purposes for which it has hitherto 

 been considered peculiarly valuable. 



2. Whether its manufacture, in all its various stages, is a 



dangerous process, and one that should not be 

 carried on near an inhabited neighbourhood, and 

 whether additional precautions to those now in force 

 seem necessary. 



3. Whether the storage of gun-cotton, either wet or dry, 



is necessarily attended with danger in magazines, on 

 shore, or on board of ship, under any or all conditions 

 of temperature. 



4. Whether, either in a pure or impure state, it is liable 



to spontaneous combustion, and, if so, whether such 

 combustion would result in explosion or in mere 

 ignition. 



5. The nature of buildings best suited for the storage of 



gun-cotton. 



The committee will, however, report upon any points in 

 addition to those above enumerated which may arise in the 

 course of their investigation, and to which they may con- 

 sider it desirable to draw attention. 



The question of safety, for transport and storage, of the 

 substance called " lithofracteur," is also to be investigated 

 by the committee. 



The committee, after a careful review of the documents 

 in their possession, and of the evidence of officers and 

 others respecting the use and application of compressed 

 gun-cotton, principally as regards its employment for 

 military purposes, consider that its use is not only un- 

 attended by either uncertainty or peril, but that the material 

 as an explosive agent is effective, certain, safe, portable, 

 and easy in employment. They therefore feel that they are 

 warranted in the expression of a strong opinion of its great 

 value for military engineering purposes generally, and for 

 submarine mining. 



As regards storage no extended experience has been 

 gained by the officers who have used it at Chatham and 

 elsewhere, but within the limits of twelve months no change 

 has been observed. 



The evidence respecting the stability of a material which 

 has been in practical use during a comparatively short 

 period, is necessarily meagre, time forming an essential 

 element in determining upon this important quality. 



