5.3 Wooden Matches for Artillery. 
Drying the Wood . 
Before the matches are saturated with nitrate of lead, 
the wood must be perfectly dry. For this purpose the 
wood should have been cut and stored at least a twelve- 
month ; and the matches, after they are shaped, he ex- 
posed for half a day to the heat of a stove at 30° (by 
what thermometer is not mentioned ; probably 90°, or 
perhaps 100® Fh.) For want of a stove they may be put 
into a baker’s oven, when the bread is drawn. 
Furnaces and Boilers . 
The fabrication of the matches requires two furnaces 
and two boilers, The shape of the boilers should be 
that of a fish-kettle, narrow, and three quarters of a yard 
long. Their size should be proportional to the quantity 
to be made at a time. The furnaces should be construct- 
ed so that the heat may act uniformly on every part of the 
bottom of the boiler. The first boiler must be of copper, 
well tinned, and provided with a plate of the same me- 
tal, to press down the matches, and keep them immersed 
in the boiling solution. The second boiler may be ei- 
ther of copper or of cast iron, placed on a sand bath, and 
having no direct communication with the fire. It should 
have a lid fitted to it very closely ; and handles to lift it 
up when necessary. 
Preparation of the JSTitrate of Lead. 
To make this salt, nitric acid, or aqua fortis, must be 
saturated with red oxide of lead, or with litharge : but as 
it is necessary that the salt should be neutral, and have 
no excess either of acid or of base, some precautions in 
this operation are necessary. If the acid be too much 
concentrated, the salt will unite in a mass, crystallize 
confusedly, and contain a great deal of uncombined ox 
