| Worsted, | 10 | ounces. |
| Meal-powder, | 10 | pounds. |
| Alcohol, (spirits of wine,) | 3 | pints. |
| Vinegar, (white wine,) | 3 | —— |
In the preparation of quick match, the following method is sometimes pursued; viz. soak the cotton well in a hot solution of saltpetre; then remove it and lay it in a trough with some mealed powder, moistened with spirits of wine, which is to be worked in by the hand. It is afterwards drawn through meal-powder, and dried upon a line or reel.
[CHAPTER III.]
Port fires (lances à feu) are a species of fuse of a slow composition, designed for different purposes, and particularly for guns, when they are to fire rapidly. The paper, is first rolled in cases. The rod or mandril should be of hard wood, 16 or 18 inches long, and 51/2 lines in diameter. Two brass rods to load them, one of 17 inches in length, the other of only 8, are required. A wooden rammer, with a heavy head, may be used. A small funnel with a spout 51/2 lines in diameter, and a ladle to lift the composition, are also required. The instructions of M. Bigot for the formation of Port-fire are that the paper must be cut in bands, 31/2 to four inches wide, and 15 inches long, and six strips of this paper are to be arranged on a level table, one above the other in such a way, that each strip extends about half an inch beyond the next below it, and pasting the projecting parts of it; that the wooden rod is then placed upon the upper strip, near the side, and the paper is rolled several times round it; pressing it at the same time, and shutting the case, thus formed, at one end, by bending the paper up 3 or 4 lines on the rod, and striking it on the table to flatten it; that the rod is then removed, and the case is dried, which is afterwards filled by introducing the composition through the funnel, and ramming it as fast as it falls down; which is done by alternately raising and lowering the copper rod, without drawing it entirely out; that in charging, care must be taken to beat it uniformly, with such a force, that the paper may not be torn, and the composition equally solid throughout; that when the composition is within an inch of the end of the paper case, a tow match is put over it, of 11/2 inches in circumference, the two ends of which project from the paper case, and are covered with priming paste; and finally, that the port-fire is finished, by pasting upon its end a small bit of paper, which is torn off, when the match is to be used.
Port-fires are tied up in a sheet of paper, in parcels of ten.
Composition of Port-fires.
| KINDS OF PORT-FIRE. | Meal | Saltpetre. | Sulphur. | Charcoal. | |
| powder. | Rosin. | ||||
| To last 12 min. moistened with linseed oil. | 10 | 12 | 6 | ||
| —— 10 do—do | 19½ | 7¼ | ½ | ||
| —— 7 do—commonly used. | 19½ | 8 | ½ | ½ |