Serpents.
1. Serpents.—These Serpents are generally made about six or eight inches long, and about half an inch in diameter, they are sometimes made strait, and sometimes with a choak in the middle of them; the name which they bear, probably rose from the hissing noise which they make when fired, or from the zigzag or vibrating directions in which they move when properly constructed, on their being projected from the hand. [Fig. 17] represents a Serpent complete, where A C, the length of the case, may be about six inches for an ordinary size. These cases must be made of some strong paper, and rolled in a former about one-fourth of an inch diameter, or somewhat more, and having choaked or tied one end up close, with strong twine, fill the case about two-thirds of the way with some of the composition described in the general Table in [Section VII], rammed moderately hard in the mould proper for the diameter of the case, and then it is either choaked in the part B. that is, pinched with a piece of twine, so as to leave a very small aperture, or some obstructing body, such as a small piece of paper, or a vetch seed is introduced, and the remainder of the case must be filled with grained or corn powder. Lastly, this other extremity is to be well secured with twine, and is commonly dipped into melted pitch: the other end must be now untied and a little moistened meal powder is introduced, over which a piece of touch-paper being properly fastened, the Serpent is completed.
If the Serpents are not choaked towards the middle, instead of moving in a zigzag direction they will ascend and descend with an undulating motion, till the fire is communicated to the grained powder in the part B C, when they will burst with a loud report.
To introduce the compositions into small cases, a quill cut into the form of a spoon will be found very useful. The trouble of first temporarily choaking and tying the ends of the cases may be dispensed with, if the mould in which they are rammed have attached to them a foot and nipple as described in the article Rockets.
The common squibs, or such as are of small dimensions, may be made with still less trouble, for the cases being rolled, pasted, and dried as before, one end may be permanently tied and sealed, or dipped into hot pitch, after which they may be filled in the following manner:——first put in a small quantity of grained powder, which with your rammer and mallet ram down quite hard, then fill up the case as before with the composition, ramming it hard down in the course of the filling two or three times; this done, cap it with touch paper, as before directed, and the Squib is fit for action.