1871.] War Science. 55 



the troops. It is to make sure, therefore, that manufactured 

 articles of this nature are in no way of a doubtful character, 

 but that they may be relied upon in all climates and under 

 all conditions, that very severe chemical and physical experi- 

 ments have to be carried out, and considerable expense is 

 not unfrequently incurred in the purchase of necessaries as 

 shall be absolutely beyond suspicion. 



Again, such stores where it is a fact of every day notoriety 

 that adulteration exists to a greater or less extent, as, for 

 instance, in soap, paints, emery, serge, white-lead, &c, special 

 analyses must, in every case, be made ; in soap, the amount 

 and nature of the fatty matter has to be considered ; in 

 paints, the basis thereof to be ascertained ; in emery, the 

 genuine corundum requires to be separated from the mag- 

 netic oxide or other earths usually found in admixture ; the 

 serge must be made up entirely of wool, and absolutely 

 free from cotton threads, which in cartridge bags would 

 retain fire and smoulder in the guns, thus igniting subse- 

 quent charges rammed into the piece ; white-lead contains 

 as an adulterant a greater or less proportion of sulphate of 

 baryta, and so on with very many other army stores. 



Beyond the examination of military supplies, there exist, 

 besides, many other subjects of a scientific nature to be con- 

 sidered by this busy little department at Woolwich. The 

 wants of militar)' men, in regard to new compositions, 

 explosives, applications, and improvements, require to be 

 satisfied as they arise, and these necessarily originate lengthy 

 experimental investigations. The employment of gun- 

 cotton in warfare, which has just been decided upon, shows 

 the care and attention which many of these subjects entail. 

 It is well known that for' some time after Schonbein's 

 discovery of this explosive, all attempts to utilise it in the 

 same way as gunpowder proved unavailing, and chemists 

 and military men, one and all, found themselves compelled 

 to abandon the task. A fresh impetus was, however, given to 

 the subject some twelve or fifteen years since by an Austrian 

 officer, Captain von Lenk, who, by manufacturing the 

 material in the form of twist or yarn, instead of wool, as 

 was formerly the case, and by making certain other minor im- 

 provements, was enabled to produce a material which burned 

 steadily and uniformly, and not with that ungovernable 

 violence which had hitherto characterised its combustion. 

 Despite these valuable modifications, however, the Austrians, 

 in 1863, abandoned altogether what appeared to many a 

 most promising investigation, and the English Government 

 thereupon took up the matter where it had been left by 



