| For Summer. | Another. | ||||||
| 1. | Saltpetre, | 17 | oz. | 2. | Saltpetre, | 16 | oz. |
| Sulphur, | 3½ | — | Sulphur, | 4 | — | ||
| Meal-powder, | 1½ | — | Charcoal, | 7½ | — | ||
| Charcoal of oak, | 8 | — | |||||
| For Winter. | Another. | ||||||
| 3. | Saltpetre, | 17 | oz. | 4. | Saltpetre, | 44 | oz. |
| Sulphur, | 3 | — | Sulphur, | 4 | — | ||
| Meal-powder, | 4 | — | Charcoal, | 16 | — | ||
| Charcoal of oak, | 8 | — | |||||
| Another. | Another. | ||||||
| 5. | Saltpetre, | 16 | oz. | 6. | Sulphur, | 3 | oz. |
| Sulphur, | 2 oz. | 3 drachms. | Saltpetre, | 20 | — | ||
| Charcoal, | 6 | oz. | Charcoal, | 8½ | — | ||
Chinese Composition for rockets of honour.
| Saltpetre, | 5 | ounces. |
| Sulphur, | 1¼ | —— |
| Charcoal, | 2½ | —— |
| Meal powder, | 1 | —— |
| Pulverized cast iron, | 2½ | —— |
Two compositions for rockets of any caliber are given by Bigot; (p. 122); viz.
| Rockets of Honour. | ||
| Meal powder, | 2 | parts. |
| Saltpetre, | 10 | —— |
| Sulphur, | 2½ | —— |
| Charcoal, | 5 | —— |
| Cast iron, pulverized, | 5 | —— |
| Particular Composition. | ||
| Saltpetre, | 16 | parts. |
| Sulphur, | 4 | —— |
| Charcoal, | 9 | —— |
| Antimony, | 2 | —— |
In the old authors on fire-works, there are a variety of formulæ for sky-rockets, which will be found in the following table:
| Kinds of Rockets. | Meal powder | Saltpetre | Charcoal | Steel | Sulphur | REMARKS. | |||||||
| lb. | oz. | lb. | oz. | lb. | oz. | lb. | oz. | lb. | oz. | ||||
| Rockets, | 4 oz. | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Do. | 8 oz. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Do. | do. | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Do. | 1 lb. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1½ | 0 | 4 | ||
| Do. in general, | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Do. | do. | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Do. large fly, | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Do. of a middling size | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Do. | do. | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Do. water, | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | The proportion of | ||
| charcoal is certainly too great. | |||||||||||||
| Do. | do. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4½ | ||
| Do. | do. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Do. | do. | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Do. | do. | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Do. | do. | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8½ | ||
| Do. | do. | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8½ | 0 | 0½ | 1 | 0 | Sea-coal, | 1 oz. |
| saw-dust, | ¾ oz. | ||||||||||||
| coarse char. | ¼ oz. | ||||||||||||
| Do. | do. | 1 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | Sawdust, | 2 oz. |
| Do. | do. sinking | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| charge, | |||||||||||||
The charcoal ought not to be pulverized very fine. It should be passed through a coarse wire sieve, and the impalpable powder then separated, by submitting the sifted charcoal to the same operation in a finer sieve. The fine charcoal may be used for small fire-works.
The instructions, heretofore given, for the mixture of compositions must be attended to; as, for instance, when we have weighed the powder, nitre, and sulphur, the whole are to be incorporated in a mortar, and then passed three times through a large sieve. Afterwards add the charcoal, which is mixed thoroughly with the hand. (See the [Mixture of Substances], part second). With respect to the rammers, the mode of charging, &c. see [section iii], of part second.