50 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
THE 
EXAMINATION AND PROOF OF GUNPOWDER, 
AS CARRIED ON AT THE ROYAL GUNPOWDER FACTORY, WALTHAM ABBEY. 
CAPTAIN F. M. SMITH, K.A. 
ASSISTANT SUPEEINTENDENT. 
The examination and proof of new gunpowder, as now carried on at 
Waltham Abbey, has for its object to ascertain :— 
(1) If the powder have a proper colour; a proper amount of glaze ; 
a sufficiently hard and crisp texture; and if it be free from dust and 
perfectly clean. 
(2) If it has been properly incorporated. 
(3) If the grains be of the proper size and shape, and if the different 
sizes of grains present be in the proper proportion. 
(4) If the powder be of the proper density. 
(5) If the action of the powder, when fired, be uniform and up to a 
fixed standard. 
(6) If it contain the proper proportion of the three ingredients; and 
(7) If it possess a sufficient power to withstand the absorption of 
moisture. 
The two latter points have hitherto been determined in the Chemical 
Department, Eoyal Arsenal. 
Each stoving of powder is proved separately. The stoving—that is, 
the total amount taken out of the stoves each morning—is taken as the 
unit, as it is the result of one day's work. The powder, therefore, of 
which it is composed, has not only been made under exactly the same 
conditions, but has been to a great extent intermixed throughout in 
the granulating, dusting, and glazing processes, and is therefore prac¬ 
tically uniform. 
Taking the various divisions of the proof seriatim : — 
I. Colour ; glaze ; hardness and crispness ; and freedom from 
Dust and foreign matters. —In the case of powder made at Waltham 
Abbey, the above points would of course be well attended to in the 
course of manufacture, and any variations in them would be checked at 
the time, so that the finished powder would not be subjected to proof 
