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should make the most of such expressed opinions, but we must confess that 
its best supporters had almost provoked this unfavourable disposition by the 
secrecy in which they had hitherto kept the whole subject. Any artillerist 
who was not immediately interested in the cotton side could procure no 
satisfactory explanation of the present state of things'; he could neither leam 
the improvements which had undoubtedly been made to the manufacture, nor 
find out the cause of the existing defects. 
Almost simultaneously with the above unfavourable reports there occurred 
some slight accidents at Vienna, Verona, and Pola, such as the exploding of 
filled shells, and, in one case, of a mining charge which was in course of 
preparation. Lastly came an explosion at Simmering, near Vienna, in a 
magazine which contained considerable quantities of gun-cotton and gun- 
powder. The cause of the explosion was never conclusively ascertained, 
but the general belief was that the cotton, still rather damp and closely 
compressed, had taken fire spontaneously. The error of this opinion was 
shown by many authorities both at home and abroad, but it held its ground, 
certain journals supported it, and the opponents of gun-cotton turned it to 
the best advantage. 
It is hard to decide whether these mishaps or the imperfections of the 
system caused the new artillery to be laid aside. There is still some 
obscurity about this point. But it is quite clear that too much importance 
was attached either to the first successes or the late events. If there were 
objections of so serious a nature as to entail the rejection of the system, 
they must have shown themselves strongly enough and early enough to have 
saved the useless expense of equipping so many as thirty batteries. 
The gun-cotton, and the gun-cotton guns were abandoned; the manu¬ 
facture was stopped; the experiments and practice were discontinued; the 
batteries were withdrawn from the army and replaced by smooth-bores; 
some of the materiel was even broken up. The Artillery Committee was 
instructed to proceed with the construction of new guns for powder charges, 
but was at the same time charged with the further trial of gun-cotton. The 
(< Gun-cotton Direction 99 remained in existence, but its inactivity was almost 
equivalent to a complete extinction. 
The industry of the Artillery committee was great, and the plans which 
they tried were numerous, but they had found none to suit their require¬ 
ments when Baron von Lenk made one more effort in support of his long 
cherished object. A favourable opinion from the Engineer Committee as to 
the keeping qualities of the gun-cotton aided his endeavours and led to a new 
commission being appointed. It consisted principally of scientific men 
from civil professions, including the most able professors of the University 
and the Polytechnic Institution at Vienna, but its president was a military 
man, General Baron von Kempen; he was not connected with the Artillery 
or the Engineers, but was held to be a man of shrewd judgment and 
impartial feeling. 
The members of the Commission began their work with laudable zeal; 
they put the qualities of LenlCs cotton to every kind of proof; and it 
narrowly escaped being once more and for ever condemned.* Eor as 
# “ Es fehlte wenig dass die Schiesswolle auch dieses Mai und dann wahrscheinlich fur immer bei 
Seite gelegt wurde.” The writer, who is evidently in favour of replacing gunpowder by some kind 
