| Nitrocellulose, insoluble | 71·0 |
| ” soluble | 7·1 |
| Metallic nitrates | 7·5 |
| Nitro-compounds | 7·6 |
| Paraffin | 5·5 |
| Moisture | 1·3 |
HERCULES POWDER.—The name of a brand of American dynamite.
HERCULITE.—This name has been given to several explosives. One was a mixture of sawdust, camphor, potassium nitrate and other substances, which was used for blasting. There was a coal-mine explosive of this name on the Permitted List, made by the British Explosives Syndicate, Ltd.—
| Date of Permit | 22-6-14 |
| Nitroglycerine | 33 |
| Collodion cotton | 1 |
| Potassium perchlorate | 27 |
| Wood meal | 10 |
| Ammonium oxalate | 29 |
Limit charge | 16 oz. |
| Power (swing of ballistic pendulum) | 2·72” |
but the permit has been repealed.
HIMALAYITE.—A high explosive made from potassium chlorate, potato starch and a drying oil. The chlorate and starch are first heated together with water, and when dry the oil is mixed in. The explosive is said to have been adopted by the Portuguese for filling shell. It passed the chemical tests in England, but no licence was taken out for its manufacture.
HUDSON’S EXPLOSIVE.—A stiff [blasting gelatine] made by incorporating nitroglycerine and collodion cotton together with the aid of acetone. It was tried in America in 1889 for filling shell, but is not used now for this purpose.
HYGRADE COAL POWDER NO. 2 is an American coal-mine explosive on the Permissible List. It is a nitroglycerine explosive.
*IDEAL POWDER is a shot-gun powder made by Nobels.
IMPERIALITE is of no practical importance, but is interesting, as its history is that of the explosive one meets in the comic papers. The Marquis R. Imperiali had large private means and some knowledge of chemistry. He took out patents for a number of explosive mixtures and built a small factory in N. Italy, which started work in 1911. An explosion occurred the first day and killed five of the fifteen workers. Imperiali escaped and re-erected his factory. The day after it was restarted it blew up again and Imperiali was killed. The composition of the explosive that was being made is not known, but several of the mixtures for which Imperiali had taken out patents were decidedly dangerous.