72 
CAPTATN NOBLE AND MR. F. A. ABEL ON EIRED GUNPOWDER, 
Table II. — Results of Analysis of Gunpowders employed in these Investigations and of 
those used by other Investigators. 
Components per cent. 
Description of Gunpowders employed in experiments. 
Pebble powder. 
Waltham Abbey. 
Rifle Large-grain. 
Waltham Abbey. 
Rifle Pine-grain. 
Waltham Abbey. 
Fine-grain. 
Waltham Abbey. 
Spanish Spherical 
Pebble powder. 
Saltpetre 
Potassium sulphate 
Potassium chloride 
Sulphur 
f Carbon 
fc: 
[Ash 
Water 
74-67 
0 09 • 
1007 
12-121 
rs 
0-23 J 
095 
74-95 
015 
10-27 
10-86 j 
in ™ 
0-25 J 
Ml 
75-04 
014 
9-93 
10-67 1 
°' 52 1409 
2-66 f 14 09 
0-24 J 
0-80 
73-55 
0- 36 
10-02 
11 -36V 
0 49 1 , ..-a 
2 57 f i459 
017j 
1- 48 
75-30 
027 
0-02 
1242 
8-651 
iSM 1 * 4 
0-63 
0-65 
Gunpowders employed by other Investigators. 
Bunsen and 
Schischkoff. 
Sporting-powder. 
Karolyi. 
Austrian cannon- 
powder. 
Karolyi. 
Austrian small- 
arm powder. 
Linck. 
Wiirtemburg 
cannon-powder. 
Federow*. 
Russian powder. 
Saltpetre 
Sulphur 
f Carbon 
Charcoal ... \ Imogen - 
| Oxygen 
l_Ash 
Water 
77-99 
9-84 
7-691 
®'41 1 J1.J7 
307 r 11 17 
traces J 
73-78 
12-80 
10-88 1 
P82 13-39 
0-31 J 
7715 
8-63 
11-781 
0- 42 14-27 
1- 79 f 14 
0-28 J 
74-66 
12-49 
12-31 j 
0-54 j 12-85 
7418 
9-89 
10-75 1 
0-43 e „ 
3-31 \ 14-83 
0-34 J 
1-10 
It will be seen that the several English service-powders of Waltham-Abbey manu- 
facture did not differ from each other very importantly in composition ; the most note- 
worthy points of difference are the somewhat low proportion of saltpetre in the F. G. 
powder and the slightly higher proportion of carbon in the pebble powder. 
The charcoals contained in these powders presented some decided differences in com- 
position, as is shown by the following comparative statement : — 
Pebble. 
R. L. G. 
R. F. G. 
F. G. 
Carbon 
. 85-26 
80-32 
75-72 
77-88 
Hydrogen 
. 2-98 
3-08 
3-70 
3-37 
Oxygen 
. 10-16 
14-75 
18-84 
17-60 
Ash . . . 
. 1-60 
1-85 
1-74 
1-15 
coal in the P. 
powder is 
somewhat more 
highly burned 
than 
R. L. G., and decidedly more than the F. G. charcoal; that contained in the R. F. G. 
powder is prepared from a different wood to the others, which is known to furnish a 
comparatively quick-burning charcoal. Although, however, the charcoals themselves 
differ very decidedly from each other, it will be seen that the percentages of carbon in 
the gunpowders do not present great differences, the widest being between the P. and 
R. F. G. powders. 
The Spanish spherical pebble powder was specially selected from various other foreign 
* This is the only analysis of powder, by foreign investigators of the subject, in which the proportion of 
water, existing as a constituent of the powder experimented with, is given. 
