Of Tailed Stars.
Those sort of stars are called tailed stars, because there are a great number of sparks issue from them, which represent a tail like that of a comet; of those stars there are two sorts, which are rolled, and drove; when they are rolled they must be moistened, with a liquor made of half a pint of spirit of wine, and half a gil of thin size, of this as much as will wet the composition enough, to make it roll easy; when they are rolled, sift meal powder over them, and set them to dry.
When tailed stars are drove, the composition must be moistened with spirit of wine only, and not made so wet as for rolling; one and two ounce cases rolled dry, are best for this purpose; and when they are filled, unroll the case within three or four rounds of the charge, and all that you unroll cut off, then paste down the loose edge; two or three days after the cases are filled, cut them in pieces five or six eighths of an inch in length, then melt some wax, and dip one end of each piece into it, so as to cover the composition; the other end must be rubbed with meal powder wetted with spirit of wine.
Of Drove Stars.
Cases for drove stars, are rolled with paste, but are made very thin of paper; before you begin to fill them, damp the composition, with spirit of wine that has had some camphor dissolved in it; you may ram them indifferently hard, so that you do not break, or sack the case, and to prevent which they should fit tight in the mould: they are drove in cases of several sizes, from eight drams to four ounces; when they are filled in half ounce cases, cut them in pieces, of three quarters of an inch in length; if one ounce cases, cut them in pieces of one inch; if two ounce cases, cut them in pieces of one inch and a quarter in length, and if four ounce cases, cut them in pieces one inch and a half in length; having cut your stars of a proper size, prime them at both ends, with wet meal powder; stars of this sort are seldom put in rockets, they being chiefly intended for air ballóóns, and drove in cases, to prevent the composition from being broke by the force of the blowing powder in the shell.
Of Rolled Stars.
Rolled stars are commonly made about the size of a musket ball, though they are rolled of several sizes, from the bigness of a pistol ball, to one inch diameter; and sometimes they are made very small, but then they are called sparks; great care must be taken in making of stars, first, that the several ingredients be reduced to a fine powder; secondly, that the composition be well worked and mixed together. Before you begin to roll, take about a pound of composition, and wet it with the following liquid, enough to make it stick together and roll easy; spirit of wine, one quart, in which dissolve a quarter of an ounce of isinglass; if a great quantity of composition be wetted at once, the spirit, will evaporate, and leave it dry, before you can roll it into stars; having rolled up one proportion, shake the stars in meal powder, and set them to dry, which they will do in three or four days. But if you should want them for immediate use, dry them in an earthen pan over a slow heat, or, in an oven: it being very difficult to make the stars all of an equal size, when the composition is taken up promiscuously with the fingers; therefore I shall here set down a method by which you may make them very exact, which is thus: When the mixture is moistened properly, roll it on a flat smooth stone, and cut it into square pieces, making each square, large enough for the stars you intend; there is another method used by some to make stars, which is by rolling the composition, in long pieces, and then cutting off the star, so that each star will be of a cylindrical form; but this method is not so good as the former, for to make the composition roll this way, it must be made very wet, which makes the stars heavy as well as weaken them. All stars must be kept as much from air, as possible, otherwise they will grow weak and bad.
Of Scrolls for Sky Rockets.
Cases for scrolls, should be made four or five inches in length, and their interior diameter three eighths of an inch; one end of these cases must be pinched quite close, before you begin to fill, and and when filled, close the other end, then in the opposite sides make a small hole at each end, to the composition, in the same manner as in Tourbillons; and prime them with wet meal powder: you may put in the head of a rocket, as many of these cases as it will contain; these cases being fired turn very quick in the air, and form a scroll or spiral line. They are generally filled with a strong charge, as that of serpents, or brilliant fire.
Of Swarmers or small Rockets.