THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Jan, 1, 1865. 



258 PROPERTIES AND USES OF GUN-COTTON. 



attention, and, in England, experiments were made upon it by Tesche- 

 niacher, Taylor, Gladstone, and others, with a view to its utilization as 

 a substitute for gunpowder. Messrs. Hall, of Faversham, commenced 

 its manufacture upon a considerable scale ; but their works had not been 

 long in operation before an explosion, attended with loss of life, took 

 place, which put a stop to further proceedings, until Hadow, in 1854, 

 elaborately investigated the subject ; and to him is due the credit of 

 having first given us correct notions of the mode of formation and com- 

 position of gun-cotton. 



In France, likewise, the matter occupied much attention ; and during 

 the winter of 1846 gun-cotton was made the subject of numerous experi- 

 ments, and its manufacture established at the Government powder works 

 at Bouchet, near Paris. The results of the trials, made under the direc- 

 tion of Piobert, Morier, &c, showed that to produce equal effects from 

 gunpowder to those which were the result of a given weight of gun-cotton, 

 it was necessary to employ a double quantity of sporting powder, three 

 times the w x eight of musket powder, and four times the weight of cannon 

 powder. These promising experiments were, however, put an end to, 

 at that time, by disastrous explosions, one taking place in 1847 and 

 two in 1848. 



In Austria the experiments were unfavourably reported upon by 

 the German Commission, but, fortunately for the future of gun-cotton, 

 one of its members, Baron von Lenk, devoted himself to the study of it, 

 so that in 1852 the Austrian Government were induced to reconsider 

 their jxrevious decision. A manufactory was established near Vienna, 

 and extensive trials weve made of it in gunnery. The results attained at 

 that time for such purpose were not so satisfactory as the employment 

 of the material for mining and similar operations, although forty batteries 

 of a peculiarly constructed gun were used. But in 1862 the further pro- 

 gress of the investigations were arrested by an explosion at Lichening. 

 Another Austrian committee, however, gave so favourable a report upon 

 gun-cotton, that the disfavour into which it had fallen was removed. Early 

 in 1862, the Austrian Government communicated full details respecting the 

 manufacture and mode of applying gun- cotton to the British Government. 

 At the meeting of the British Association in the autumn of that year, 

 General Sabine directed the attention of that body to this subject, and 

 the result was, the appointment of a committee to report upon the 

 mechanics and chemistry of gun-cotton. This committee, composed of 

 the most eminent chemists and engineers, presented their report to the 

 Association at Newcastle in 1863, which contains the information com- 

 municated by Baron von Lenk as well as the results of the researches 

 of Air. Abel. Subsequently a committee of investigation was appointed 

 by the Secretary at War, composed of scientific, military, and naval 

 men, fully to investigate the properties of Lenk's gun-cotton in rela- 

 tion to its application in military, engineering, and industrial purposes. 



Such, then, is the history of gnn-cctton up to the present time ; and 



