THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
75 
On the minor considerations attending the use of Gun-cotton. 
I have now touched upon all the most important points relating to the 
application of gun-cotton to military purposes. The minor points, such as 
the manner in which it is prepared for the construction of cartridges, the 
bursting charges of shells, or the destruction of obstacles, present no 
difficulty because the cotton is made up into such forms as are best suited to 
each kind of work. On the whole it appears that gun-cotton is more 
manageable and more convenient to handle than gunpowder; it is certainly 
lighter, when estimated by the quantity to produce corresponding effects, 
and it occupies less bulk in packing, unless, when formed into artillery 
cartridges, it is arranged so as to occupy an exact amount of space. 
Lastly, there remains the important point of expense; a question which 
need not be discussed here, but would have to be considered if the adoption 
of gun-cotton were seriously contemplated. The permanent loss or gain 
would mainly depend on the comparative cost of the substances used for gun¬ 
cotton and gunpowder, and of the machinery or labour employed in com¬ 
pounding the separate ingredients; but any such change in the ammunition 
would entail more or less alterations in the rest of the materiel and require 
a further outlay on that account. Baron von Lenk states that with raw 
cotton at its present high price it costs rather more to produce a pound of 
gun-cotton than a pound of gunpowder, but as one pound of gun-cotton is 
equal in effect to three pounds of gunpowder when used with fire-arms, and 
to six pounds in mining operations, the balance is considerably in its favour. 
There does not appear to be any additional expense attendant on the applica¬ 
tion of gun-cotton, and there might, on the whole, be some little saving, for 
the freedom from fouling and from injury by damp tend to diminish the 
number of side-arms and stores, and to simplify the arrangements for 
conveyance and storage. 
History of the Invention and its Development. 
The foregoing remarks have, I hope, described the properties of gun¬ 
cotton sufficiently well for any one to understand the advantages to be 
expected from its use, and to perceive the defects which may prevent its 
adoption. I now propose to give a slight sketch of its history, in order to 
fill up the interval between its first introduction to public notice and the 
appointment of the present Committee of inquiry. 
The invention of gun-cotton dates from 1846, and is generally attributed 
to Professor Schonbein of Basle, though the name of Professor Bottcher 
is often associated with his. These two brought it into notice in Germany 
during that year, and the former exhibited specimens of it in the autumn 
to the British Association when they assembled at Southampton for their 
Annual Meeting. It was the first explosive compound of the kind, but an 
inflammable compound partaking of the same nature had been discovered by 
Braconnet in 1833, and an application of this discovery to military purposes 
had been suggested by M. Pelouze in 1838. 
The compound produced by Braconnet was called xyloidine; and consisted 
of wood shavings, sawdust, starch, or some linen fabric, treated with highly 
