Modern Guns and Smokeless Powder
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg W. Sage 1S91 /\:,JM^n? ^I'tClfl ofseo Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030760072 : : MODERN GUNS AND SMOKELESS POWDER. ARTHUR RIGG JAMES GARVIE. LONDON E. & F. N. SPON, 125, STRAND. NEW YORK SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 12, CORTLANDT STREET. 1892. MODERN GUNS AND SMOKELESS POWDER. PART I. INTRODUCTION. Gunpowder, the oldest of all explosives, has been the subject of many scientific investigations, sup- ported by innumerable experiments ; but Nature guards her secrets well ; and to this day it cannot be said that the cycle of chemical changes brought about by the combustion of gunpowder is thoroughly understood. Its original components vary, but are generally about 75 parts potassium nitrate, 15 parts carbon, and 10 parts sulphur, with other ingredients some- times added. These materials, when simply mixed together, burn with considerable vigour, but cannot rank as an explosive until they have been thoroughly incorporated, so that the different molecules are brought into such close proximity that each finds a neighbour ready and willing to combine on the smallest encouragement. Heat furnishes the necessary stimulus, by pro- 2 MODERN GUNS AND SMOKELESS POWDER. moting chemical activity ; and, when combined with concussion, the molecules are driven closer to- gether, and this intimate association accelerates their combination. The effect of mere concussion is shown to greater advantage when any of the more dangerous ex- plosives, such as iodide of nitrogen, are subjected to experiment.
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