GUN-COTTON. 
115 
common. If an expressive, convenient, but empirical name be desired, by all means let 
us have the common English name in popular use. If, on the other hand, a scientific 
term be required, let us, in the name of all that is scientific, build up this name accord¬ 
ing to the orthodox rules of science ; but we protest against a name like pyroxylin, which 
leads to nothing but the inference that science is not indigenous to the soil of England. 
Most European governments have attempted to utilize gun-cotton in warfare. Soon 
after its discovery, Messrs. Hall, the well-known gunpowder makers at Faversham, com¬ 
menced its manufacture upon a considerable scale ; their factory had, however, not been 
long in operation before a very disastrous explosion occurred, by which a number of men 
lost their lives, and this was ascribed to the spontaneous ignition of the gun-cotton : the 
manufacture was therefore abandoned in England. 
As early as the winter of 1846 a French manufactory was established at the Govern¬ 
ment powder-works at Bouchet, near Paris, and much valuable information was obtained 
respecting the comparative value of gun-cotton and gunpowder; but three disastrous 
explosions occurring within a year (one taking place in a magazine near which it was 
believed that no one had been for several days) put a stop, until quite recently, to fur¬ 
ther experiments. 
In Austria, experiments were likewise instituted, and although the committee of the 
German Confederation pronounced unfavourably upon it, one of the members, General 
Lenk, devoted himself assiduously to its study, and with such success that the Austrian 
Government were induced to reconsider their adverse determination. The manufacture 
was commenced upon a large scale, and above forty batteries of guns were furnished 
with this agent, and successfully used. The complete supersession of gunpowder by 
gun-cotton was considered certain, when an explosion, which took place at the Austrian 
gun-cotton magazines at Limering, again put a stop (to some extent) to its use in artil¬ 
lery. Another Austrian committee, however, reported so favourably on its value, sta¬ 
bility, and non-liability to spontaneous explosion, that gun-cotton was again restored to 
favour. 
The very favourable accounts respecting the value of gun-cotton for warlike purposes, 
which were from time to time received by our government, led to experiments on a con¬ 
siderable scale in this country. The manufacture of this agent is now in full operation 
both at the Government powder-works at Waltham Abbey, and also at a large private 
manufactory at Stowmarket. 
The great danger in tbe case of the early gun-cotton was its liability to spontaneous 
explosion, and whilst there remained the slightest suspicion of such a possibility, its em¬ 
ployment for war puposes was out of the question. The investigations of General Lenk 
have shown that this accident is due to imperfect preparation, and that by adopting the 
precautions which he has pointed out, its spontaneous ignition is impossible. It has 
been very clearly established that the lower nitro-compounds of cellulose,—that is, cotton 
in which only one or two atoms of hydrogen are replaced by hyponitric acid, are much 
more easily decomposed than the compound in which the replacement has proceeded to 
its fullest extent. Tri-nitro-cellulose, or true gun-cotton, is a remarkably stable com¬ 
pound under all possible atmospheric conditions; but it is by no means easy to ensure the 
complete conversion of cotton into this body, and it has been shown to be in the highest 
degree probable that the explosions which put a stop to the early attempts at utilizing 
gun-cotton were due to its incomplete conversion. The directions given by Schonbein, 
although successful on the small scale, fail when tried with large quantities, and to 
General Lenk is due the credit of devising a process of manufacture which gives an abso¬ 
lutely uniform and true chemical compound when working on the largest scale. Ordi¬ 
nary gun-cotton is generally made by saturating cotton-wool with a mixture of one part 
of concentrated nitric acid and three parts of oil of vitriol, and allowing the mixture to 
stand at rest for one hour; it is then thoroughly washed and allowed to dry in the air. 
This process is tolerably successful when only about half-an-ounce of cotton is treated at 
one time, but it is found to be ineffectual in making a uniform and safe material for war 
purposes. The most important of the precautions recommended by General Lenk are, 
the cleansing and perfect desiccation of the cotton as a preliminary to its immersion in 
the acids ; the employment of the strongest acids obtainable in commerce ; the steeping 
of the cotton in a strong mixture of acids after its first immersion and its partial conver¬ 
sion into gun-cotton; the continuance of the steeping for forty-eight hours; and the 
thorough purification of the gun-cotton so produced from every trace of free acid: this 
