The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

COMETS AND METEORS 99
an electric one. The two comet star compositions given below are
due to Weingart; 46 that of the green meteor to Allen F. Clark.
Potassium nitrate
Barium perchlorate
Barium nitrate
Meal powder
Sulfur
Fine charcoal ... ...
Antimony sulfide
Lampblack
Aluminum
Dextrin . .
Comets
6
6
1
3
3
3
1
1
2
Green Meteor
Some manufacturers apply the name of meteors to artifices
which are essentially large Roman candles, mounted on wooden
bases and shooting four, six, eight, and ten stars 1% inches in
diameter. They are loaded in the same way as Roman candles
except that a special device is used to insure the certain ignition
of the stars. Two pieces of black match at right angles to each
other are placed under the bottom of the star; the four ends are
turned up along the sides of the star and are cut off even with
the top of it. The match being held in this position, the star is
inserted into the top of the case and pushed down with a rammer
onto the propelling charge of gunpowder which has already
been introduced. Then coarse candle comp is put in, then gunpowder,
then another star in the same manner, and so on. The
black match at the side of the star keeps a space open between
the star and the walls of the tube, which space is only partly or
loosely filled with candle comp. The black match acts as a quickmatch,
insuring the early ignition of the propelling charge as
well as the sure ignition of the star. Electric stars, spreader stars,
and splitters are used in meteors. Splitter stars are made from
the same composition as snowball sparklers (see below); the
composition for stars, however, is moistened with much less water
than for sparklers. They split into bright fragments while shooting
upward and burst at the top to produce a palm-tree effect.
46 Op. dt., p. 121
4
2
1
1