On rendering gunpowder non-explosive / by J.S.G. Ryley.

Date:
[1865?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On rendering gunpowder non-explosive / by J.S.G. Ryley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Similar results were obtained with large-grained blasting powder ; and, moreover, a package of the gunpowder, mixed with bone ash, when placed in a furnace, did not explode. Notwithstanding the success of my experiments, tried both by myself and confirmed by my friend Dr Eddy, in London, who tried them agreeably to my description before he submitted my invention to General Lefroy, I was sur- prised to find that, on 16th January 1865, the Secretary of State for War directed General St George, Director of Ordnance, to inform me that my method had been duly considered, but that it was not found to possess sufficient advantage to warrant its adoption. I was thus led to believe that the authorities at the War Office did not look with favour on this or any similar plan for protecting the lives of the lieges from disastrous ex- plosions, and therefore I was scarcely prepared to find that, eight months subsequently, when a similar process was sub- mitted to the War Office authorities at Woolwich and else- where, it was considered sufficiently novel and efficacious as to command the unqualified praise and admiration of not only the Secretary of State for War, who witnessed it at Wimbledon, and marked his approbation of the same by having it re-exhibited, at his express desire, before the Ordnance Select Committee at Woolwich. Moreover, all the leading journals of the day in July and August 1865 noticed the exhibition of the non-explosive gunpowder as an inven- tion of the very highest importance, and one of them spoke of it as one of the wonders of the present age. Indeed, the experiments were witnessed and praised by Royalty itself. The process which succeeded mine was covered by a pro- visional protection patent for six months, which bears date June 1865, being eight months after Dr Eddy had communi- cated my method to the war authorities. Finding that all the credit of the invention was given to another as the discoverer of the identical plan originally proposed by me, I again communicated with the War Office authorities on 7th October 1865, claiming priority, but was surprised to find, instead of the Secretary of State for War acknowledging my right by complying with my reasonable