Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1846-11-19
FROM THE BALTIMORE AMERICAN.
EXPLODING COTTON.

the claimants for the honor Of having invented
the explosive, gives the following directions
for making the preparation:
'For making exploding cotton the common
well cleaned staple must be dipped in highly
concentrated acid ofsaltpetre, (the acid which
use is made by dlsliiling ten parts dried salt
petre. and six parts oil Of vi;riol or sulphuric
acid J then it is put into fresh water which is
often changed, and care must be taken to loos-
en- thoroughly the cotton, which, from the
process, becomes matted after which, it must
be well dried. Thus the exploding article is
in state Of preparation for the gun barrel"
Prof.. O. then adds -
"The effects Of this article astonish every
body who witness them. The smallest guam
tlty explodes with the quickness of Illuminating
quicksilver powder, if struck with hammer
on an anvil II put into a gun, a smaller
quantity in weight will do as much execution
as gunpowder. 1t is used precisely in the
same manner as gunpowder--a piece of pa
per being necessary between il and the ball or
shot, as in ordinary firing. The ignition is
always certain from the explosion q percus-
ion cap"
From another report on the subject, made
by Prof. OTTo, after further investigations, we
take the following extracts
sit seems that no other acid than that pro.
cured by the distillation of ten parts of saltpe-
tire, and SIX parts of oil of vitro, will confer
upon raw cotton Its explosive power. Hydri-
ate Of nitric acid (satpetersawsydriat) dis
solves the cotton In good proper acid, the
cotton becomes transparent, and the fibre
is not injured or dissolved. The acid by dis
tillation first procured is the best. Cotton Dip
ped into il tor half minute, and then quickly
pressed between glass plates, or boards, and
washed afterwards until il IS entirely free from
acid, and subsequently dried, produces u su-
perior article. Using the acid a second time,
an inferior article is made; but If after having
been washed and dried it is again dipped into
the acid, it becomes excellent. A repetition Of
the manipulation necessarily augments the ex-
ploding quality. Cotton may even remain in
the acid longer than half a minute. That
which has laid in il as long as twelve hours
was found TO be very explosive.
sit is important that the cotton be well
washed when ii is taken out Of the acid for il
any remains in it, a saltpete favor will attach
to it when dry, and when exploding will leave
on anything white an acid tlncture. The WV
id explosion of small ball of the article on a
white china plate, is the criterion TO test its
good quality by. 1t must flash like gunpow-
der, and leave no dust behind it, If particle
even is seen 1t cannot be used in guns. II al
so appears TO be necessary that the cotton, az
ter having been dipped into the acid and press
ed, be Immediately put into a large quantity OF
water. If the cotton be put into an insufficient
quantity Of water, it (the cotton) gets heated /;
and small quantities Of cotton are also prefera-
BILE; for, if large, il forms into knots of Blu
ish green color, which are so firm, as not to be
| easily loosened. The more the prepared ari-
Gle resembles the one in its natural state, the
better and more powerful it is. With 5-4ths
or 6-4ths of gran-4e0 grams equal to an
English ounce-bas Of inch diameter were
driven through boards one inch thick. With
6 grams, bullet was driven from rife, at a
distance of As steps, into an oak plank, TO the
depth of an inch and, with four or five grams,
efiectual shots have been made with fowllng-
pieces. The more readily the cotton explodes,
the greater the care TO be taken in handling it.
Common gunpowder, for which this disco
very is intended to be 4 substitute, it must be
recollected, is composed of rs parts ofnitre, 5
Of charcoal and 10 OF sulphur. The sulphur
readily ignites and fires the charcoal, genera
ting sufficient heat to convert the solid nitro in
| to gas of many thousand times its bulk
thus creating the explosive force, which drives
the bullet from the gun. The only use of the
sulphur is TO convey the fame with greater ra-
pidty through the mass. II does not possess
the slightest explosive power.
| Now cotton, being woody fibre, in an ex-
tremely minute state of subdivision, represents
| charcoal in another form, and when dipped in
nitric acid and then immersed in water, be-
comes impregnated with nitro; or in other
| words, il is genuine gunpowder, with IFS iflam-
mabe nature for ignition, carbon or charcoal
for generating heat, and nitro for explosion
Inasmuch as cotton is probably purer carbon
than charcoal. and nitric acid is known to fur
nish oxygen with more rapidlty than nitro IT.
self, these materials are, undoubtedly. better
| calculated TO generate a more rapid and COM
plete combustion than the materials which enter
into the composition of gunpowder.
Having thus given the reader an account of
the manner in which the explosive is made,
we append notice Of some experiments made
with il al the War Office few days ago, at
which the President and his Cabinet were pre-
sent. The preparation used was that sent to
President Polk by Prof SHoNpEiN. The
Union says
| The envelope being unsealed, a mass Of cot
ton, Of deeper yellow tinge than common,
/ presented itself-and weighing about GO or 10
/ grains. Col TALcoTT, the head of the Ord
nance Bureau, and Mr.. ROBERTSON, American
| Consul at Bremen, proceeded TO make some ex.
periments. A small quantity of the prepared
cotton was laid upon a white sheet otpaper.-
| When touched with another piece ofpaper, on
fire. the cotton instantaneously exploded, pro-
ducing a small volume of smoke, and leaving
slight Stains with very small particles on the pa
per. The best gunpowder was then exploded.
| il produced more smoke and left larger stains
thus showing that the combustion was more
complete in the former than in the latter case.
| A small quantity of cotton was then thrown
over some grains of gunpowder, but both ex-
poded together. In this respect, as well as in
the stains upon paper, the tests failed On ap-
| plying to the tongue these particles, which
were left upon paper by the combustion of cot
ton alone, it presented the alkaline taste-show-
| ing that the fluid in which the cotton was i'm
mersed was not completely prepared-a por
ton of the potash from the nitro had been de-
posted in the vessel, and in dipping the cotton
into il it had imbibed some of the alkali, or some
Of the nitre itself.
Upon Col. TALcoTT's putting some of the
cotton into a gun. with cap on, an explosion
took place with comparatively little noise. On
loading the gun second time with about ten
grains OF cotton, a wad of paper upon il, and