Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 87 
Prussian artillery officer, who was entrusted by his govern- 
ment a few years ago with the investigation of gun-cotton, 
appears to have come to the conclusion that finely-divided 
wood offered greater prospect of conversion into a con- 
trollable explosive agent than cotton wood. The ultimate 
result of his investigations has been the production of a 
“gun-sawdust,’ the explosive properties of which depend 
in great measure on its impregnation with a considerable 
proportion of an oxidizing agent, either saltpetre or a mix- 
ture of that salt and nitrate of barium. The wood, having 
been reduced to a tolerably uniform state of division, is 
submitted by Captain Schultze to purifying processes for 
the separation of resinous and other substances from the 
lignin, and the product is converted by digestion in a 
mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids into a very feebly ex- 
plosive material, which leaves a considerable carbonaceous 
residue when burnt. The product after purification is im- 
pregnated with a sufficient proportion of nitrates to give it 
rapidly explosive power, the oxidation of the carbon being 
now almost complete. The objects which appear to be 
aimed at by Captain Schultze in following this method of 
manufacturing a wood-gunpowder, are, the production of a 
more gradually explosive material than is obtained by the 
most perfect action of nitric acid upon wood-fibre, and the 
possibility of preserving the material in a slightly explosive 
and therefore comparatively harmless form, until it is re- 
quired for use, when it may be soon rendered powerfully 
explosive by impregnation with the nitrates. It is asserted 
that this powder is considerably more powerful than gun- 
powder asa mining agent; and that, by its employment 
in mines, the operators are enabled to return. to work 
sooner than when gunpowder is used, because there is little 
or no smoke produced by its explosion. The latter is an 
undoubted advantage which Schultze’s powder shares with 
gun-cotton. Advantages arealso claimed for this material 
when employed in firearms, and it is possible that when 
applied to sporting purposes, it may compete successfully 
with gunpowder in this direction also; but its behaviour as 
an explosive, and the peculiarities of its structure, afford 
little promise of its advantageous employment in arms for 
military and naval purposes. 
Important progress has been made in the history and 
the application of gun-cotton since its study was resumea 
in this country about three years ago. Very considerable 
quantities of the material have been manufactured at the 
H 2 
