Gunny

(Com.) A coarse sackcloth made in Bengal of the fibres of two species of cor chorus. Rice, saltpeter, pepper and other articles exported from the East are packed in bags or sacks made of this material; they also form a considerable article of exportation. Gun Plains, in Michigan , a township of Allegan co. Gun'port, n. ( Naut .) A port-hole; an opening in a warship's side for the cannon. Gun'powder. An intimate mixture of niter, charcoal and sulphur, in proportions which vary slightly in different countries, and according to the uses to which it is applied, the powder made by the American and French governments being 75 parts saltpeter, to 12:5 sulphur and 125 charcoal, while in England the government use, 10 parts sulphur and 15 parts charcoal. The action of G. is dependent on the rapid oxidation of the charcoal by the nitre and the sudden evolution thereby of heated gas. Many other chemical detonating compounds have been proposed, but none of them are equal to G. as at present manufactured; the principal objections to their use being the comparative danger attendant on their manufacture and transport, and the too sudden evolutions of gas at the time of their ignition. This substance, known to the Chinese at an early period, is described in an Arabic MS. of the year 1249, and also in the works of Roger Bacon (1214-1292), who is regarded by some as the author of the invention, though other authorities ascribe it to the German monk, Berth old Schwartz, in 1320. Experiments, with a view to rendering G. non-explosive, were made by Piobert in France in 1835, and by Fadéieff, profe or of chemistry at St. Petersburg, between 1840 and 1844. Gale completed, at Westminster, 1865, a series of public demonstrations of his proce for securing the same result by mixing the G. with finely powdered gla , from which it is sifted before use. SMOKELESS GUNPOWDER.-Within late years a number of gunpowders have been invented which, while greatly surpa ing the old form of powder in explosive force, have also the property of producing little or no smoke, a result likely to be advantageous in some of the exigencies of battle, though it may be disadvantageous in others. The first general information obtained in regard to these powders was in connection with the Lebel rifle, the small-caliber repeating arm of the French, whose adoption caused a very general reconstruction of small arms throughout Europe. The powder adopted for this arm was largely noisele and practically smokele , and since its adoption numerous experiments have been made with new explosives, so that a varied list of smokele powders now exists. These may be divided into three cla es, of which the first is composed of cellulose nitrate (either the soluble or insoluble variety); the second cla adds to the above nitroglycerine or other organic nitrates; and the third adds nitro derivatives of hydrocarbons, such as picric acid and the picrates. With each of these some oxidizing agent may be employed, such as pota ium nitrate, and such retarding agents as tannin and lycopodium. Of these powders, Indurite, the one in use in the U. S. Navy, belongs to the first cla ; Ballistite, used by the Italians, and Cordite, by the British, to the second cla ; and Peyton powder to the third cla . The smokele character of these explosives is due to the fact that the products of their combustion are wholly gaseous while ordinary G. yields 55 per cent. of finely-divided solids. The object in using these powders was not originally to do away with smoke, but to obtain greater explosive power, it being a debated question whether the presence of smoke on the battlefield may not be in many cases an advantage. In rapid-fire cannon, however, as in magazine small-arms, the value of smokele powder is obvious, since a cloud of smoke would greatly impair the efficiency of these weapons. In regard to explosive power, these powders are found to impart much higher velocities to projectiles than ordinary G. The best of them are those that give maximum velocity with minimum pre ure within the gun chamber, and which undergo no change affecting their power of service under the exposures incident to war. In the trials of Indurite at the Indian Head proving grounds, it was found that a 26 lb. charge of this material, fired from a 6-inch gun, gave to a 100 lb. ball an initial velocity of of 2,469 feet per second and exerted on the chamber a pre ure of only 13-96 tons. So far as explosive force in blasting is concerned, a series of experiments made before the Board of Fortification and Ordnance gave rank to the following explosives as follows: Per unite B, 17-57; Per unite C, 15-61; Per unite D, 13-66; Explosive Gela poses of state policy and Protestant zeal, a greater mystery was thrown over it. See FAWKES (GUY). Gun'powder River, in Maryland , enters the Chesapeake Bay between Harford and Baltimore cos. Gun'reach, n. Same as GUNSHOT, q. v. Gun'-room, n. ( Naval .) In the British service, the room of the gun-deck of a ve el of war, occupied by the lieutenants as a me -room. - In the American service, the term ward - room is exclusively applied to this room. Guns, (gōōns.) [Hung. Kæszeg.] A town of Hungary, on the Güns, 20 m. S. of Oedenberg. Manuf . Silks and woollens. This town was the first that succe fully resisted Solyman the Magnificent, when in 1532 that monarch threatened to conquer all Europe. Pop . 8,600. Gun's hot, n. ( Mil . ) The reach or range of a gun; the space to which an effective shot can be thrown. a. Made by the shot of a gun; as, a gunshot wound. Gun's Island, an island of Ireland, off the coast of co. Down, Ulster, abt. 3 m. N.E. of Ardgla .