( sn ) 
Aet. 'KlLXll.^^Observations on the Nature of Flamie, drawn 
from several Experiments performed with an Apparatus for 
Discharging Ordnance without the use of a Match or Prime- 
Tube, By John Beuchae, M. W. S., and Lecturer on 
Chemistry in Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author 
^ThE apparatus with which the following experiments were 
performed, Was suggested by Lieut.-Col. Udney Yule, for dis- 
charging ordnance upon Mr Forsyth’s plan, and will be under- 
stood from Plate IX., and the explanation of it given at the end 
of this paper. In all these experiments, the new fulminating 
powder used, was exploded by a stroke from a wooden hammer 
weighing nearly 1 lb. The stroke was applied to that part 
marked C of Fig. I. and CD was brought down previous to the 
discharge, so as to rest upon I. The end F was rested upon a 
table, and the other end E was held in the hand. 
I. I first directed my attention to such experiments as I 
thought most satisfactory in proving the application of the ap- 
paratus to the firing of ordnance of every description ; and for 
this purpose the first seven experiments have been selected. 
Exp, 1. — A piece of flannel was put over the bottom of a 
tube 15 inches long (See PI. IX. Fig. 1. B.), and immediately 
below, and close to it, was tied two folds of paper, with a quan- 
tity of gunpowder. Upon exploding a grain of the new ful- 
minating powder at the top (A), the flame was forced down the 
whole tube, and the gunpowder was fired. When the gun- 
powder is wrapped in a single piece of thin paper, it often hap- 
pens that the flame forces through without firing it. When 
this takes place, the whole or a part of the gunpowder is scat- 
tered about, and the paper is rent asunder, without any appear- 
ance of combustion. 
Exp. % — The first experiment was repeated, the gunpowder 
being surrounded by flannel. Upon exploding the fulminating 
powder at the top, the flame pierced the flannel, and inflamed 
the gunpowder. 
Both these experiments prove, that the flame of the new ful- 
minating powder can descend through a tube 15 inches deep, 
• This communication is drawn up from three papers on the subject read before 
the Wernerian Natural -History Society, and published in their Memoir^, vol. iii. 
