42 



CHARCOAL 



ground, or put in water for a continuance. It 

 may be preserved for any length of time ; and 

 in the tombs of many ancient nations, entire 

 pieces of charcoal are frequently found. But 

 this substance is chiefly used and required in 

 the composition of gunpowder. The quantity 

 thus consumed, and especially in the time of 

 war, is immense ; and it is doubtful whether 

 all the old women, who ever roasted chestnuts, 

 consumed a hundredth part of the quantity 

 which government has made use of in a month. 

 But besides the great use of it as an ingre- 

 dient in gunpowder, it is also wanted, on 

 many occasions, in the polite and mechanical 

 arts. Painters draw their outlines with it ; 

 and some of their colours are composed of it. 

 It is the best thing known as a polisher for cop- 

 per and brass plates. When refined, it forms 

 an excellent tooth-powder: it corrects, when 



