496 The Recent Gun-Cotton Bxplosion. [October, 



a short time the manufacture and application of the 

 material was commenced. For several years affairs went 

 on exceedingly prosperously, if we except one fatal accident, 

 and confidence increased so much among the miners and 

 and quarrymen by whom the pyroxylin was employed, that 

 an enlargement of the Works soon became necessary to 

 meet the increasing demands. 



The mode of manufacture at Stowmarket underwent 

 a change in 1868. It will be remembered that soon after 

 attention had been called to the subject at the British 

 Association, a committee was appointed by Government to 

 inquire systematically into the subject. General Sir Edward 

 Sabine, K.C.B., the President of the Royal Society, was 

 appointed chairman of this body, which consisted of several 

 members of the British Association, and officers from 

 the scientific corps of the army. The decision of this 

 Committee was decidedly in favour of pursuing an investi- 

 gation of the properties of gun-cotton, with a view to 

 its probable employment in military and industrial affairs ; 

 and another Committee— that on Floating Obstructions — 

 which included among its members officers of high rank 

 and attainments in the Engineers and Royal Navy, not only 

 confirmed this dictum, but before separating in 1868, 

 expressed a decided belief in the importance of pyroxylin as 

 an agent for mining and torpedo purposes. The favourable 

 opinions thus expressed were, it is but fair to state, based 

 upon results obtained with the compressed or pulped form 

 of the material devised by Professor Abel ; and it is not to 

 be wondered at, therefore, that after such favourable testi- 

 monies from scientific officers representing every branch of 

 the Service, that the Stowmarket Gun-cotton Company 

 should set aside the Austrian mode of manufacture for that 

 of Mr. Abel, which had been so universally commended. 



Of the safety of manufacturing this compressed gun- 

 cotton, and of its perfect stability when properly prepared, 

 there can hardly be a doubt ; but that our readers may 

 judge for themselves of the manufacture, we will briefly 

 detail the points in which the process differed from the 

 earlier method of Von Lenk. Instead of the costly yarn 

 previously employed, a good quality of cotton-waste was 

 used for conversion into pyroxylin, and this after being 

 steeped for some forty-eight hours in the acids, was well 

 cleansed and subsequently beaten into pulp. In this form 

 it was put through the poaching process, where by means of 

 paddles the disintegrated mass was perpetually kept sus- 

 pended in water until all trace of acid or other impurity had 



