THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Jan. 1, 1865. 



262 PROPERTIES AND USES OP GUN-COTTON. 



on, and which, in spite of every care, cannot be removed. Light has 

 some decomposing effect npon it, but it has been kept unaltered for 

 fifteen years. The unchangeability of gun-cotton is a very grave 

 matter, and will be fully settled before it is generally employed ; for 

 there is no doubt that if, by decomposition, acidity can be generated, 

 it will be fatal to its employment. 



If the danger of the manufacture is compared with that of gun- 

 powder, gun-cotton has the greatest advantage. All the operations 

 adopted in the manufacture of the latter substance are perfectly harm- 

 less, and contrary to what happens with gunpowder. In every stage, 

 except the last one, the cotton is wet or damp, and therefore not 

 explosive, and the drying is effected in a chamber kept at the required 

 temperature by means of hot air, and is from thence conveyed either to 

 storage houses or prepared for use. At Hirtenberg, where large quan- 

 tities are annually made and stored up, no explosion has occurred after 

 an experience of twelve years — a strong proof of the indisposition of 

 gun-cotton to explode spontaneously. There have been, it is true, two 

 or three explosions on the Continent, but they were traceable to obvious 

 causes, such as neglect of proper precautions in the dryiug or spinning 

 apparatus ; and it is a pregnant fact that, in a very large proportion of 

 the other cases of explosions, both gunpowder and gun-cotton were 

 stored in the same building. 



We have thus endeavoured to give a summary in a brief manner of 

 the present state of the question, and it will be readily admitted that 

 the researches of Baron von Lenk, resulting in the production of a 

 uniform and stable gun-cotton, places the matter in a very different 

 position to that in which it stood previous to his investigations. Judging 

 from the reports of English and foreign chemists, mechanists, and mili- 

 tary and naval officers, there is every reason to believe that gun-cotton 

 will prove a powerful rival to gunpowder for every purpose for which 

 that compound is used. In this country we believe that, as yet, it has 

 not been tested practically to any very great extent, although General 

 Hay speaks well of the exploits of gun-cotton as a rifle-cartridge. It has 

 become an article of commerce, being largely manufactured by Messrs. 

 Prentis, of Stowmarket, for sale, and has met with a most favour- 

 able reception for mining and engineering purposes, being more safe, 

 manageable, and powerful than gunpowder. 



York. 



