The National Register.
London, England, 1814-10-16 00:00:00

OCT. 16.

FULMINATING BALLA —MOllddy, C. Pianca, of Exeter-Change,
Strand, was,soltudotied on an information laid against him, for
to Lavender, the officer, six tire balls, called fulminating peas,"
%%nick bring thrown on the ground with fort*, or pressed by the foot.
explode with a great noise. The information was tinder the Act of
William, which makes it M. penalty " to sell, or expose for sale,
serpents, rockets, or other fireworks."
Mr. Bankes, optician. Strand, stated, that although unconcerned
with Mr. Piavers, he felt interested for an ingenious -iiireigner, who
was at present abroad, and consequently ambled to defend himself.
He would undertake to prove, that these balls or peat, coed not be
called fireworks ; and to demonstrate this, the opinions of the counsel
had been taken, who .4n/et' that the articles did not fall within the
Rivalling of the Act of William. There was nothing like tire in them,
for divas explosion would not ignite gunpowder. He would 'prove
this by experimeut. (Here one of the peas was thrown with great
on the ground, which exploded with a flash.)
the Magistrates interrupted the exrePriments, observing, that the
flame hie!' they had seen sufficiently satistied..their minds. They
required no terrible experiments.
Mr. !lattices said, that there were various sort% of fire or flame,
galvanic. electric, &c.; and according to the preteut doctrine, the
sun itself, which looked like flame and imparted beat, was not
fire..

Mr. Fielding observed, that the Act did not restrict itself to arti-
cles made of gip:ponder, for it never mentioned gunpoirdtr—it spoke
of "fire-works." It contemplated the genus generalissinium utfire—
every species of tire that the chemist's power could produce. If
these peas produced fire, them came they within the Act. But how
was tire defined ? Johnson called it " the igneous element," and
in the present inAnnee the igneous element had been elicited—there
had been produced an ignited spark. The proof of that fact It as
enough.
Mr.•Colgiihnon asked to what use these balk could be turned ?
Mr. Hanker replied, that they could be of no use, but to demon-
strate the fact that they did not produce any ignited spark, as the
3lagistrates imagined, he wished to try the experiment which he
wits before going to make, namely, to explode one at the balls sur-
rounded with gunpowder, which explosion would not ignite. The
experiment had been successfully tried over and over again, at the
Royal Institution, in the presence of Sir H. Davey. (Mr. B. then
.pulled mit of his pocket a canister of gunpowder, for the purpose of
exploding a ball in the (Tittle of it, to show that its explosion would
not ignite powder ; but the Magistrates would not allow the experi•
men% Mr. B. however, tried it on a smaller scale, by folding about
half an ounce of poasd. r in a paper, enclosing at the same time a
pea, bud Oleo pressed the paper with the foot when the ball exploded
at the same time igniting the gunpowder, and burning the paper ! !)
Mr. Bankes, after having thus refuted himself, stated that he must
give pp the defence of the balls, but assured the Nlagistrates, that
he felt himself' so convinced of the truth ut what he had asserted,
th et he would willingly have exploded one of the balls in the centre
of a barrel of onnpois der !
Tirt Magistrates thinking further proof could not be Desired, pro-
nounced the party convicted. Penalty, 31.
Mr. Pianea's daughter, as.d the keeper of the depot in the Strand,
attended fur Mr. P.
OH Tuesday, at the same office, J. Cooper, of Drury-lime, Che-
mist, as summoned on an information :or selling Lavender, the
officer, six fire-works, called Detortatiug Balls, being a similar pre-
paration to the Fultuniating Peas ; and he also was convicted in the.
rioalty of; 1. It is intended to appeal against these convictions.