Part 26 (1/2)

lb. oz.

Meal-powder 0 3-1/2 Saltpetre 0 4 Sulphur vivum 0 2 Camphor 0 2

BRILLIANT STARS.

lb. oz.

Saltpetre 0 8-1/2 Sulphur 0 1-1/2 Meal-powder 0 0-3/4

Worked up with spirits of wine only.

COMMON STARS.

lb. oz.

Saltpetre 1 0 Brimstone 0 4 Antimony 0 4-3/4 Isingla.s.s 0 0-1/2 Camphor 0 0-1/4 Spirits of wine 0 0-1/4

TAILED STARS.

lb. oz.

Meal-powder 0 2 Brimstone 0 2 Saltpetre 0 2 Charcoal (coa.r.s.ely ground) 0 0-3/4

STARS OF A FINE COLOUR.

lb. oz.

Sulphur 0 1 Meal-powder 0 1 Saltpetre 0 1 Camphor 0 0-1/4 Oil of turpentine 0 0-1/4

RAINS.

GOLD RAIN FOR SKY-ROCKETS.

lb. oz.

Saltpetre 0 8 Brimstone 0 2 Gla.s.s-dust 0 1 Antimony 0 0-3/4 Bra.s.s-dust 0 0-1/4 Saw-dust 0 0-1/4

SILVER RAIN.

lb. oz.

Saltpetre 0 8 Brimstone 0 2 Charcoal 0 4 Steel-dust 0 0-1/4

_To fix one Rocket on the top of another._--When sky-rockets are fixed one on the top of another, they are called _towering rockets_, on account of their mounting so very high. Towering rockets are made after this manner: Fix on a pound rocket a head without a collar; then take a four-ounce rocket, which may be headed or bounced, and rub the mouth of it with meal-powder wetted with spirit of wine: this done, put it in the head of a large rocket with its mouth downwards; but before it is put in, stick a bit of quick-match in the hole of the clay of the pound rocket, which match should be long enough to go a little way up the bore of the small rocket, to fire it when the large rocket is burnt out. As the four-ounce rocket is too small to fill the head of the other, roll round it as much tow as will make it stand upright in the centre of the head: the rocket being thus fixed, paste a single paper round the opening of the top of the head of the large rocket. The large rocket must have only half a diameter of charge rammed above the piercer; for, if filled to the usual height, it would turn before the small one takes fire, and entirely destroy the intended effect: when one rocket is headed with another, there will be no occasion for any blowing powder; for the force with which it goes off will be sufficient to disengage it from the head of the first fired rocket. The sticks for these rockets must be a little longer than for those headed with stars, rains, &c.

_Caduceous Rockets._--They are such as, in rising, form two spiral lines, by reason of their being placed obliquely, one opposite to the other; and their counterpoise in the centre, which causes them to rise in a vertical direction. Rockets for this purpose must have their ends choked close, without either head or bounce; for a weight at the top would be a great obstruction to their mounting. No caduceous rockets ascend so high as single, because of their serpentine motion, and likewise the resistance of air, which is much greater than two rockets of the same size would meet with if fired singly.

The sticks for this purpose must have all their sides equal, and the sides should be equal to the breadth of a stick proper for a sky-rocket of the same weight as those you intend to use, and made to taper downwards as usual, long enough to balance them, one length of a rocket from the cross stick, which must be placed from the large stick six diameters of one of the rockets, and its length seven diameters; so that each rocket, when tied on, may form, with the large stick, an angle of 60 degrees. In tying on the rockets, place their heads on the opposite side of the cross stick; then carry a leader from the mouth of one into that of the other. When these rockets are to be fired, suspend them between two hooks, or nails, then burn the leader through the middle, and both will take fire at the same time. Rockets of 1 lb.

are a good size for this use.

_Honorary Rockets._--These are the same as sky-rockets, except that they carry no head nor report, but are closed at top, on which is fixed a cone; then on the case, close to the top of the stick, is tied on a two-ounce case, about five or six inches long, filled with a strong charge, and pinched close at both ends; then in the reverse side, at each end, bore a hole in the same manner as in tourbillons, to be presently described; from each hole carry a leader into the top of the rocket. When the rocket is fired, and arrived to its proper height, it will give fire to the case at top; which will cause both rocket and stick to spin very fast in their return, and represent a worm of fire descending to the ground.

There is another method of placing the small case, which is by letting the stick rise a little above the top of the rocket, and tying the case to it, so as to rest on the rocket: these rockets have no cones.