[27] A solution of muriate of copper gives a green, of sulphate of copper and muriate of soda, a light green; of sulphate of copper, and ammonia in excess, a deep blue; a decoction of cochineal, or of brazil wood, and a solution of tin, a deep red or scarlet, &c. These solutions may be used for that purpose.
[28] Having mentioned in this article, the use of candles for illumination, it may not be improper to observe, that they were also employed for cooking, as will appear from the following incident. In 1172, Henry II, of France, collected together the feigners of Languedoc, in order to mediate a peace between the count of Toulouse, and the king of Arragon, at which Guillaume Gros de Martel gave a sumptuous dinner, the viands being all cooked by the flame of wax tapers!
[29] In the Archives des Découvertes et des Inventiones Nouvelles, are several new inventions and improvements, relative to fire arms, among which are the following: New fire arms, invented by Pauly, which are said to carry a ball double the distance of ordinary muskets, and to possess other advantages; for a particular account of which, the reader is referred to the Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement, No. 99; another kind, by MM. Pauly and Prelat, which primes itself, &c. and goes off by percussion; an improvement in guns by using platina bushing, &c. by Lepage, with the use of priming, composed of powder made of chlorate of potassa in lieu of saltpetre; the improvement of Regnier in guns; improvement in the use of platina for guns, to be used with the oxymuriated powder, by Debourbet; a gun which fires fourteen times in succession without new loading, by M. Henri; an improved carabine, which is discharged by percussion, by M. Gosset, &c.
[30] Since 1792, musket-balls are seven-twelfths of an inch in diameter, and twenty go to the pound instead of eighteen. In the British service, eleven bullets to the pound are used for the proof of muskets, and fourteen in the pound, or twenty-nine in two pounds, for service; seventeen for the proof of carbines, and twenty for service; and twenty-eight in the pound, for the proof of pistols, and thirty four for service. The diameter of musket-bullets differs but one-fiftieth part from that of the musket bore; for if the shot but just rolls into the barrel, it is sufficient.
The diameter of any bullet is found, by dividing 1.6706 by the cube root of the number, which shows how many of them make a pound, or it may be done in a shorter way. From the logarithm .2228756 of 1.6706, subtract continually the third part of the logarithm of the number of bullets in the pound, and the difference will be the logarithm of the diameter required. Thus the diameter of a bullet, whereof twelve weigh a pound, is found by subtracting .3597270, a third part of the logarithm of 12, from the given logarithm .2228756; or, when the logarithm is less than the former, a unit must be added, so as to have 1.2228756, and the difference .8631486 will be the logarithm of the diameter sought, which is .7297 inches; observing that the number found will always be a decimal, when the logarithm, which is to be subtracted is greater than that of the pound; because the divisor is greater than the dividend in this case.
Hence, from the specific gravity of lead, the diameter of any bullet may be found from its given weight: for, since a cube foot weighs 11325 ounces, and 678 is to 355, as the cube 1728 of a foot, or 12 inches, is the content of the sphere; which therefore is, 5929.7 is to 16 ounces, or a pound, as the cube 1728 is to the cube of the diameter of a sphere which weighs a pound; which cube therefore is 4.66263, and its root 1.6706 inches, the diameter sought.
[31] A term used in the French Navy, to signify a wooden case or box, in which cartridges are brought out of the powder-magazine for the purpose of serving the guns; also a spoon or ladle, made of copper, and fixed to a long pole, which serves to convey gunpowder into a piece of ordnance.
[32] If sugar of lead cannot be had, and a substitute is required which in fact is the same, we may dissolve white lead in vinegar, until the latter is saturated. This may be used with water in the same manner, using, however, more of it as it is in solution.
[33] Lee's adventure, just related, brings to mind another, by a man of same name, not, however, with a submarine torpedo, or any thing of that kind; but with a sublunar aerostatic vessel, made about two or three years ago, at Camden, opposite Philadelphia. This was a balloon of an oblong shape, intended to float in the air like a ship on water, and furnished with oars or wings. It was filled with hydrogen gas. The object was to direct it, (a desideratum in aerostation), like a vessel on water; but the aeronaut, having arose in his car to the height of a lombardy poplar, which came in contact with it, and judging a retreat was preferable, leaped on a limb, where he had the misfortune to be caught by the seat of his pantaloons, and appeared, as it were, suspended between heaven and earth, to the no small diversion of thousands of spectators. The balloon ascended to some height, and then turned, throwing out his sand bags, &c. which, in the city, were taken for the unfortunate aeronaut, and produced, of course, a contrary feeling. Lee called on me the next day, and, in explanation of the cause, observed, that, when he ascended to the height mentioned, he found the centre of gravity was shifting, and thought it prudent not to venture. I observed, that it was well he changed his gravity, but was sorry to find, that he had transferred his centre a posteriori.
[34] A friend, who was a prisoner on board of Hardy's ship, very facetiously observed, such was the dread of torpedoes by the British, that they were literally afraid of eating a potato, lest it should contain a torpedo!