Mr Deuchar m the Nature of Flame, B7S 
pierce a, piece of flannel, and fire gunpowder. And supposing 
the tube to represent the touch-hole of a gun, and the flannel 
and gunpowder to be a substitute ; for , the cartridge, then we 
may conclude that the gun would be discharged, although the 
cartridge Were 15 inches distant from the fulminating powder, 
which never occurs, even in the largest pieces, of ordnance. An 
objection, however, arises as to the above conclusion ; that it may 
be owing to the tying being very close, and the flame having no 
room to spread, that the gunpowder was inflamed in the 1st and 
Sd experiinents, and that when applied to the gun the. flame 
may be lost over the surface of the cartridge. To answer this 
objection, the two following experiments were perforrned. 
Exp, S .- — ^A quantity of gunpowder was scattered over the 
bottom of a circular tin canister, (See Pi. IX. Fig. 1. KLMN.) 
8 inches deep, and nearly 3 in diameter. Over the powder was 
laid a piece of cartridge flannel. The tube (AB) was made to 
descend into the canister, to within S inches of the flannel ; and 
then a grain of the fulminating powder was exploded at the top. 
The result was quite satisfactory, the flame pierced the loose 
flannel, and fired the gunpowder. 
Exp, 4.— A tube 14 inches long, was bent at the 10th inch 
from the top, so as to present 4 inches out of the straight line 
in which the flame formerly proceeded, and through which it 
must now pass before it could issue from the under end, (See 
Plate IX. Fig. 1, OP.) Upon exploding the powder as before, 
the flame issued from the bent end of the tube. 
Exp, 5.-^In order to ascertain whether the apparatus were 
apt to clog up, or miss firing from repeated use, it was dischar- 
ged 130 successive times, and never failed to produce the pro- 
per effect ; and still the apparatus did not require to be cleaned 
for future use. 
Exp. 6.— In order to determine the temperature at which the 
new fulminating powder would spontaneously explode, a number 
of experiments were made. In one of these there were placed 
upon a circular tin plate, at three situations, with 2 inches in« 
tervening, forming, as it were, the points of an equilateral tri- 
angle, sulphur, gunpowder, and the fulminating mixture, one 
grain of each ^; below the centre of this triangle, was put a ta- 
