Charcoal

One of the ingredients of gunpowder. It is made by distilling small sticks of wood in closed retorts. Willow, alder, poplar, and dogwood are some of the woods used. In distilling the heat should be kept below redne . Charcoal should be light in weight, and have a velvety fracture. It inflames at about 460° Fahr. Its composition and properties vary with the nature of the wood and mode of distillation employed. Charcoal obtained from light wood is the best for gunpowder, as it is more combustible and easy to pulverize, and contains le earthy matters. Willow and poplar are used for this purpose in the United States and black elder in Europe. The wood must be sound and should not be more than 3 or 4 years old, and about 1 inch in diameter; branches larger than this should be split up. It is cut in the spring when the sap runs freely, and is immediately stripped of its bark. The smaller branches are used for fine sporting powder. The operation of charring may be performed in pits, but the method now almost universally used in making charcoal for gunpowder is that of distillation . For this purpose the wood is placed in an iron ve el, generally of a cylindrical form, to which a cover is luted; an opening with a pipe is made to conduct off the gaseous products, and the wood is thus exposed to the heat of a furnace. The progre of distillation is judged of by the color of the flame and smoke, and sometimes by test-sticks , which are introduced through tubes prepared for the purpose.