Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 81 
mixture of chlorate of potash with charcoal alone, defla- 
grates as violently as gunpowder, and is far more readily 
inflamed by percussion than the latter; while a mixture 
analogous to gunpowder, containing chlorate of potash in 
place of saltpetre, detonates violently when struck with 
moderate force, and acts far too destructively, on account 
of the rapidity of its explosion, to admit of its safe employ- 
ment in firearms. 
Many years ago a mixture known as German or white 
gunpowder, and consisting of chlorate of potash, ferro- 
cyanide of potassium, and sugar, was proposed and tried 
without success as a substitute for gunpowder; and since 
then many preparations of similar character have been sug- 
_ gested for employment either as blasting and mining agents 
or for use in shells, or even for all the purposes to which 
gunpowder is applied. The most promising of these, 
claimed as discoveries by Mr. Horsley and Dr. Ehrhardt, 
are mixtures of chlorate of potash with substances of per- 
manent character and readily obtained, containing both 
carbon and hydrogen ; such as tannic and gallic acids, and 
some kinds of resins. These mixtures are much less 
violently detonating than most of the explosive mixtures 
containing chlorate of potash, while, if well prepared, they 
are decidedly more powerful, as explosives, than gunpowder. 
For blasting purposes, some of these mixtures probably 
possess decided advantages over ordinary blasting powder, 
and possibly they may also be susceptible of employment 
for sporting purposes; but they are not applicable to fire- 
arms used for war purposes, because, in order to ensure the 
requisite uniformity of action, the ingredients must be sub- 
mitted to proper processes of incorporation, &c., such as 
are applied to the manufacture of gunpowder} and this 
treatment would render the mixtures far more violent, and 
consequently destructive in their action upon firearms, than 
if used in the form of crude mixtures. 
A comparatively very safe application of chlorate of 
potash to the production of a substitute for gunpowder was 
made about six years ago by a German chemical manufac- 
turer, M. Hochstadter. Unsized (blotting) paper was 
thoroughly soaked in, and coated with, a thin paste con- 
sisting of chlorate of potash, finely divided charcoal, a small 
quantity of sulphide of antimony, and a little starch, gum, 
or some similar binding material, water being used as the 
solvent and mixing agent. The paper was rolled up very 
compactly and dried in that form. In this manner, very 
