Show i At the Traps It Is incorrect to speak of the discovery discovery dis dis- Is- Is cover covery o of gunpowder for this compound compound com com- com j pound poun of or saltpetre charcoal and antI sul eul- has been developed develop passed developed d passed through ugh many stages cs and there Is no evidence on which to pin down Its In Invention In- In to ono one man says saya a writer in All Outdoors In England Roger Bacon Is considered considered considered consid consid- ered the tho Inventor and antI while this Is a disputed point it Is evident that Bacon makes tho most Important reference to gunpowder In In a communication bearing the tho early date of 14 1242 In this and other of his writings Bacon Ba- Ba BaCon Bacon Ba Ba- I con makes maltes no mention of or guns uns or the use of or powder as a propellant but merely as an explosive an and destructive e I power Tho rho first mention of gunpowder as a n propellant Is In a document no now In tho the National l' Library In Paris This bears tho the date dato ato of ot 1331 and md describes an Iron weapon called pot ot de e fu for tor propelling bolts bolt to together ethor with some orno salt saltpetre petro and sulphur to make mako powder for the same About the time of or Elizabeth tho the manufacture man man- manufacture of ot gunpowder was WI carried onas Onas on onas as a crown mono monopoly ol and regulations respecting gunpowder g were made In n tho the reign of James I In 1623 Powder mills were In existence In En England d about the middle of the sixteenth con cen tury tun However no Roger er Bacon In his anagram anagram ana nna- gram gives tho the first recipe for tor gunpowder gunpowder gun gun- powder as being composed of ot saltpetre charcoal 9 sulphur 9 Th The Tho composition of or used se 1 In Indifferent n different countries varies consider consider- a ably bl The composition of or English powder Is I I I f now saltpetre now saltpetre charcoal ll O sulphur 1001 For making tho the brown or pow coco der er us d In tho the big bg guns of Germany German tho following recipe Is 13 Ull tined d Saltpetre Salt Salt- petre 78 is charcoal 19 sulphur 3 I. I In making this powder the tho charcoal Is not burnt black but roasted until brown nn and Is made mao Irom somo variety varlet of or straw and not of ot wood Smokeless ss and oven noiseless poI powders pow pow- I ders ers seem to have ha been sought for dur dur- ing tho whole gunpowder period Ito I-H In 1756 one was experimented with In France but was abandoned Modern smokeless powders are arc certainty certainly less noisy than black powders mainly be because because because be- be cause of ot the tho absence of or metallic salts which while gaseous In the gun sun are aro ejected as ns solids when coming Into contact con con tact with the tho air The adoption by 11 the French government government government govern govern- ment of tho comparatively el smokeless nitrocellulose of ot Paul In 1987 1887 practically put an end to the tho old oM forms forma of rs The Tho first smokeless powder was mado mao In In 1865 by Col Cot E. E b by nitrating wood meal and anda a adding slum and barium nitrates |