Gunpowder

“ The size of the projectile, the length of the cannon being settled, what would be the quantity of powder necessary to produce impulsion?
It is generally asserted that gunpowder was invented in the fourteenth century by the monk Schwartz, who paid for his grand discovery with his life. It is, however, pretty well proved that this story ought to be ranked amongst the legends of the middle ages. Gunpowder was not invented by any one; it was the lineal successor of the Greek fire, which, like itself, was composed of sulphur and saltpetre. ”

“ Around the Gunpowder Plot has gathered a mass of fabulous embellishment too curious to be passed over in silence. This has chiefly attached itself to Guy Faukes, who, on account of the desperate part allotted to him has impressed the public mind far more than any of his associates, and has come to be erroneously regarded as the moving spirit of the enterprise. ”

“ FIRE-ARMS. The invention of gunpowder—or rather its use in war—appears at first sight a device little calculated to promote the general progress of mankind. But it has been pointed out by some historians that the introduction of gunpowder into Europe brought about the downfall of the feudal system with its attendant evils. In those days every man was practically a soldier: the bow or the sword he inherited from his father made him ready for the fray. ”

“ It is well known that the continued action of a lesser force, will produce a much greater effect, than a greater amount of power applied suddenly; hence mild gunpowder is more suitable for rifle shooting than strong, or that which evolves the whole of its gas instantaneously. Time is necessary for the entire combustion of a charge of gunpowder, consequently more mild gunpowder can be fired out of a long, than out of a short barrel, as if fired out of a short barrel, some of the grains might be ejected unconsumed. ”

“ It would be so much more useful than bare grain for the fowls."
His brothers burst into a roar of laughter, and I must confess I found it no easy matter to keep my countenance.
"Come, Ernest," said I; "now we have had our amusement, tell the little fellow what gunpowder really is."
"It is not seed at all, Franz," Ernest explained. "Gunpowder is made of charcoal, sulphur, and saltpeter, mixed cleverly together; so you see it cannot be sown like corn, any more than shot can be planted like peas and beans." ”

“ If gunpowder be thoroughly wetted, then may it be considered wholly spoilt. In burning, gunpowder evolves much heat, much smoke; it also deposits much foulness. On the debtor side of gunpowder must be reckoned, also, the danger attendant on manufacture. It would be a great advantage if possible to devise a gunpowder that should acquire its usefully-dangerous qualities with the very last manufacturing touch, whereby in every incipient stage it might be stored without possibility of risk. ”

“ To those who like to observe coincidences, it may be of interest that the septcentenary of the discoverer of gunpowder should have coincided with the outbreak of the greatest war under which the world has yet groaned, even though gunpowder is no longer employed as a military propellant. ”

“ Exploding readily enough for all convenient needs, it never spontaneously explodes—a great point in its favor. Then its power of water-absorption not being very great, it stores tolerably well. But, more than any thing else, gunpowder has held its long and almost exclusive sway over guns and gunners owing to the two following circumstances: it can be made of any desired percentage composition, and it may be corned or grained to any degree of coarseness or fineness. As employed for different purposes, it is necessary that gunpowder should have various strengths. ”

“ Science requires that there should be no excess, no waste, no unnecessary recoil, and all that combined with the utmost range of projectile; this will have to be defined accurately before we can clearly or truly say we are masters of the science of gunpowder. True it is that the granulation of gunpowder gives a clear road to its attainment; but it will be a wearisome journey to reach the summit: yet it must and will be effected, and the nation that first attempts and carries out the attainment, will evince a real love for and mastery of science. ”

“ As compared with other explosives, gunpowder or black-powder has certain advantages. It is cheap, easily ignited, insensitive to shock, and stable at moderately high temperature; it burns regularly, and its residue is non-corrosive. But it is weak in power, and produces much smoke. It is excellent for armour-piercing shell and for rings of time-fuses. Gunpowder made in different countries varies in composition, but for rifle, cannon, and sporting powders it, usually contains 74 to 75 parts of saltpetre, 9 to 14 parts of sulphur, 12 to 16 parts of charcoal. ”

“ The two hundred men of whom de Courson speaks are convicts employed solely in the more dangerous processes of the manufacture of gunpowder. They are a rough, surly, discontented lot, who live segregated from their fellow-workmen in compounds, which are under special supervision, and they are subject to special discipline. Personally, I should say that even so with these restrictions it was pleasanter to manufacture gunpowder in the factories of La Frontenay than in the jails of Caen or the galleys of Brest. ”

“ And it was out of this intolerance that the famous Gunpowder Plot grew. The scheme was to blow up with gunpowder the Parliament House, while Parliament was in session, and so destroy the king and members of Parliament. There was a vault under the building which the conspirators hired as a salesroom for wood and coal. They put in stealthily thirty-six barrels of gunpowder and then covered these with the wood and prepared a train so that the whole could be fired at once. ”

“ It is infinitely more probable that the passages in the two poems which mention gunpowder and cannon were interpolated by the scribes of after-ages than that the Hindus wantonly broke the first and strongest law of human nature, the law of self-defence. There can be no reasonable doubt that the recipe for gunpowder in the Sukraniti is an interpolation. The proportions are given in the first place as 5:1:1, and then it is added, “if the powder is to be used for a gun,” let them be 4:1:1, or 6:1:1.238 And why not 5:1:1 also? ”

“ Gunpowder, fired by the concentrated rays of the sun, leaves only ashes and a rapidly-disappearing veil of smoke. It has impressed upon the ether vibrations which are forever undergoing rapid transformations. ”

“ The oldest recipe for gunpowder is Roger Bacon’s. If the solution of his anagram which I have ventured to propose be accepted, the proportions of the ingredients in 100 parts were:—
The French recipe of 1338 being incomplete (Table VIII.) , the next complete recipe for gunpowder is that given in the MSS. of Dr. John Arderne of Newark, who began to practise as a surgeon before 1350:415— “Pernez j. li. de souffre vif; de charbones de saulx (i. weloghe) ij. li.; de saltpetre vj. li. Si les fetez bien et sotelment moudre sur un pierre de marbre, puis bultez le poudre parmy vn sotille couer-chief ”

“ The evidence available to us appears to establish principally two points: that the true history of the Gunpowder Plot is now known to no man, and that the history commonly received is certainly untrue. ”

“ The true banisher of armour was gunpowder, for when once the thickest armour, which human energy would permit of being worn, could be penetrated, it became but an encumbrance to its wearer. Though gunpowder was introduced as a missile propellant on the battlefield as early as the twelfth century, it was not until the close of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries that its influence began to be felt, and it is interesting to note that directly it became apparent that the hand gun would beat armour carried by men, other means of carrying it were introduced. ”

“ Winter, in fact, makes no direct statement that the powder was moved, and it is therefore fair to take this removal as included in what he says about the faggots.
As for the quantity of the gunpowder used, the opinion of the writer discussed in the Edinburgh Review (January, 1897) , appears reasonable enough:—
“Apart from the hearsay reports, Father Gerard seems to base his computations on the statement that a barrel of gunpowder contained 400 pounds. ”

“ Not until the invention of gunpowder was the aspect of society essentially changed. A bit of charcoal, a nitre-crystal, and a few grains of sulphur mixed together, made up a powder that rent mountains and crushed walls. At once all the then prevailing systems of attack and defence were overthrown. The nation most advanced in technical matters became the most powerful. With a few thousand blunderbusses, a handful of adventurers conquered a new continent. The history of the invention of gunpowder is as yet a myth. Very likely, an accident was the main cause. Science claims no reward. ”

“ Gunpowder was first known in England about five hundred years ago. It is not only used to discharge firearms, but in the more peaceful occupations of quarrying stone, mining, and to get rid of rocks both below and above water ”

“ The inventor of gunpowder tho’ he is cursed by many ignorant people but his invention has been a very great service towards preservation of Mankind, gunpowder is a thing which makes a great noise like lightning and thunder keep mankind distant with an awe. ”

“ Two charges of gunpowder of equal weight may, from variation in manufacture, or a slight difference in moisture, or climatic influence, throw two projectiles in succession from the same gun to widely distant spots. The atmosphere when compressed is not subject to such influences or variations, and has a less violent action than gunpowder. ”

“ Sometimes the incautious operator, tired with his fruitless efforts, would sprinkle gunpowder over the tinder, to make it take fire more readily, and whilst puffing at a long-desired spark, the gunpowder would explode in his face and nearly215 blind him. ”

“ Gunpowder in its most efficient form is a slow-burning composition, which exerts a relatively low pressure and continues it for a long time and to a great distance. High explosives, on the contrary, in their most efficient form, are extremely quick-burning substances, which exert an enormous pressure within a limited radius. Ordinary black gunpowder consists of a mechanical mixture of seventy-five per cent. ”

“ The means how to have compassed so great an act, was not to be performed by strength of men, or outward violence, but by a secret conveyance of a great quantity of gunpowder in a vault under the Upper House of Parliament, and so to have blown up all out of a clap, if God out of his mercy and just revenge against so great an abomination had not destined it to be discovered, though very miraculously, even some 12 hours before the matter should have been put into execution. ”

“ When gunpowder explodes, it is not consumed by a detonative wave, but burns from the surface, and the more strongly it is confined, that is to say, the higher the pressure under which it is burned, the more rapid is its combustion. Although the action is rapid, it is yet much slower than is the action of detonation of high explosives.
The name gunpowder is a misnomer, for gunpowder is no longer a powder, but is made in the form of hard and dense grains or sticks, according to the use for which it is intended.
A gunpowder is smoky when its products of combustion are not all gaseous. ”

“ Thank God, our troops are sufficient in number and in courage, and we have now abundance of gunpowder, though at one time we had reason to fear we should run short of that important article.186 The enemy, when they lately retired from our walls, left an immense quantity of sulphur and saltpetre, of which we prepare every day no less a quantity than two talents of gunpowder. Our provisions are in abundance, at least for three months to come. We have, moreover, entered into a friendly intercourse with the Hungarians in the enemy’s army. ”

“ When gunpowder is used, means must be adopted to protect it from the water, since a small proportion of moisture is sufficient to lessen, in a very important degree, the force developed, while a large proportion of moisture will destroy altogether its explosive properties. ”

“ An instrument to test the comparative strength of different kinds of gunpowder is yet a desideratum in projectile science; and we cannot doubt that such an instrument will be produced, when the importance of the granulation of gunpowder is more generally known and appreciated. ”

“ And if I catch Hare-Lip trying to bust your head, Hoo-Hoo, I’ll fix him with that same gunpowder. Granser ain’t such a fool as you think, and I’m going to listen to him and some day I’ll be boss over the whole bunch of you.”
The old man shook his head sadly, and said:
“The gunpowder will come. Nothing can stop it—the same old story over and over. Man will increase, and men will fight. The gunpowder will enable men to kill millions of men, and in this way only, by fire and blood, will a new civilization, in some remote day, be evolved. ”

“ Gunpowder is composed of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, three chemicals which it will have been gathered from the previous pages play a prominent part in very many of the pyrotechnic compositions. In some compositions their proportion is apparently identical with that of gunpowder, yet they do not form gunpowder as they are not milled, and are consequently not so intimately mixed. Compositions containing these ingredients have frequently an admixture of mealed gunpowder, the function of which is to give additional fierceness when required, as is the case in some rocket mixings. ”