The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

PYROTECHNIC MIXTURES 57
and moisten with brandy and make into a stiff paste into
which you will mix half a pound of ground glass, or of crystal
in small grains, not in powder, which you will pass
through a screen or sieve. Then, mixing well with the said
paste, you will form balls of it, of whatever size you please
and as round as you can make them, and then you will let
them dry. If you wish to have green fire, it is necessary
merely to add a little verdigris to the composition. This is a
very beautiful fire and thoroughly tested, and it needs no
other primer to fire it than the end of a lighted match, for,
as soon as the fire touches it, it inflames forthwith. It is
beautiful in saluting a prince or nobleman to have such
agreeable hand fire balls before setting off any other fireworks.
5
Audot, whose little book 6 we take to be representative of the
state of the art at the beginning of the nineteenth century, had
a slightly larger arsenal of materials.
Iron and steel filings. "They give white and red sparks. It is
necessary to choose those which are long and not rolled up, and
to separate them from any dirt. They are passed through two
sieves, in order to have two sizes, fine filings and coarse filings.
Those of steel are in all respects to be preferred. It is easy to
procure them from the artisans who work in iron and steel."
Ground and filed cast iron. "Cast iron is used in the fires which
are designated by the name of Chinese fire. Two kinds, fine and
coarse. The cast iron is ground in a cast iron mortar with a cast
iron or steel pestle, and then sifted."
Red copper filings. "This gives greenish sparks."
Zinc filings "produce a beautiful blue color; it is a substance
very difficult to file."
Antimony (sulfide) "gives a blue flame. It is ground up and
passed through a screen of very fine silk."
Yellow amber. "Its color, when it burns, is yellow. It is used
only for the fire of lances. It is very common in the drug trade.
It ought to be ground and passed through a sieve."
Lampblack. "It gives a very red color to fire, and it gives rose
in certain compositions."
Yelloiv sand or gold powder. "It is used in suns where it produces
golden yellow rays. It is a reddish yellow sand mixed with
5 Hanzelet Lorrain, op. cit., pp. 256-258.
6 Anon. (L.-E. Audot), "L'art de faire, a peu de frais, les feux d'artifice,"
Paris, 1818.