Powder mill for gunpowder
Date
22 July 1663
Creator
Unknown, Artist
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p286
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 350mm
width (page): 230mm
width (page): 230mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Figure of a trough of a powder mill used to make a new kind of gunpowder (designed by Prince Rupert), which was more powerful than the best English powder. The trough, which is an oval shape, should be about 19 inches deep and at its widest breadth, 14 inches to the centre. The manner of making the gunpowder (mixing 2 ounces of brimstone and 2.5 ounces of coal to every pound of saltpetre) was reported and ordered to be registered at the meeting of 22 July 1663.
Object history
At the meeting of the Royal Society on 22 July 1663, ‘[Sir Robert Moray] related, that prince Rupert had made a new kind of gunpowder, in strength so far exceeding the best English powder, that trial being made with a powder-trier, it was found to be in the proportion of 21 to 2. It was desired, that a trial of it might be made before the society’ (Birch 1:281). The text and figure are printed in Birch 1:281-85.
Related fellows
Prince Rupert (1619 - 1682, German) , Natural philosopher
Associated place