Giant Powder

Cheiiiistry itselt is at a loss to estímate be power ot' nitro-glyoenne, and yet his uew agent of death is twenty per cent. stronger. ïhat our readers ui.ty bo mabled to forin a faint conception of the danger of such apreparatiou vvu wiii give ;i brief descnption ui' the procesa by wliich nitro-glvcerine, giaut and Hercules piiw'der are supposed to be nanufsctured, and of the extreme cautiun necesS;iiy in their inaiiuiactuio. In the manufacture ot nitro-glycerine two tubes, each aüout a qurrter ot' an inoh in diameter and six niches iu length, lead into i single tube of doublé tlieir capacity, butof the same ltiiigth. Nitric acid is introduced into oue and sulphuric acid mto tlie other oí' these small tubos. The large tubo oontains glycerine. The two aeuls are then torced. quite gradually into the glycerine, and the chciuieal combination thus fonns an explosivo ot incalculable power, So powert'ul and daugerous is this article th.tt not in ounce ot' it is allowed in the mairufaotory, while this little tube, six inchea longand half au inch in diameter, is being llled, and tuis tube is kept coustantiy swathed in ice dunug the procoss. To iiiako giant powder, ïliis nitro glycerine is allowud to drip upou i clay (similar to meersehitum) importtd trom Gjiiuany. The uly is the ouly peit'uut ai)8orbeut of nitio-glyceiine known. As Ileicules powder is darker, it is bulieved tliat that explosive is manufacturcd by the sau.e procesa, charuoal, an imperfect absorbmeut, being usit tnstead uf said quality of ulay. lf, in the manufacture of mtroglycerine, a stioug tube is kept swathed in ice, íuid a quantity of the liquid ouly six inches in longth and half an inch in diameter is allowed in the building at the same time, no wonder that General Von Bokkelen, with his preparation twenty per cent. more poworful, remarkcd that he would have it handled thermometer in hand!