GUN POWDER 429 GUNTER shattering of the chemical structure and a re-arrangement of the atoms in a new structure, which is as nearly instanta- neous as any process known to nature. It has been stated that for several centuries after the introduction of gun powder, its composition remained prac- tically unchanged. This does not mean that no improvements were made. There are several factors besides the nature of the ingredients of the powder which in- fluence its behavior. Of these, the most important are the size, shape and density of the grains. A large grain burns more slowly than a small one, and a dense grain more slowly than a light one. And slow burning means less violence of ex- plosion and more gradual and progres- sive development of pressure. The rate of burning is still further affected by the shape of the grain — a grain which ex- poses a large surface to ignition burning more rapidly than one of smaller sur- face. Taking advantage of these facts, artillerists designed many forms of pow- der grains of varying degrees of effec- tiveness, but hampered always by the limitations of expansive power inherent in the chemical composition of black powder. It was early recognized that certain of the high explosives would be ideal for gun powders if they could be tamed into the slow and regular burning needed for a propellant. It was realized not only that their power was enormously in excess of the maximum to be hoped for from black powder, but that, as the products of their combustion were entirely gaseous, a pow- der made from them would be practically smokeless. Many plans were tried for bringing them under control, but the problem was not solved until, toward the end of the last century, the French chemist and artillerist Vielle discovered that the burning of gun-cotton could be perfectly controlled by making it into a colloid. A colloid is a hard, horn-like substance, entirely homogeneous, and free from the cellular structure which, in simple gun-cotton, allows the flame of ignition to flash instantaneously through- out the mass. Singularly enough, it was found that one of the substances in which gun-cotton could be dissolved for colloid- ing was another of the most violent of high, explosives, nitro-glycerine. When these two extremely sensitive and tre- mendously powerful explosives are treated together by suitable processes, their combined power is preserved but their sensitiveness almost completely eliminated. The resultant substance is the well-known British "Cordite", one of the most efficient of the modern smokeless powders. Another of the substances hav- ing the power of colloiding gun-cotton Vol. IV— Cyc— BB is acetone, used in American and French smokeless powders. As has been already stated, none of these powders are abso- lutely smokeless, but such smoke as they produce is largely water-vapor, which dissipates quickly. The point should be emphasized, however, that smokelessness is a matter of altogether secondary im- portance, the real value of gun-cotton powders lying in their power, which is enormously greater than that of black powder, and in the facility with which they lend themselves to variations of size and shape suitable for guns of vari- ous calibers. This point is forcibly brought out in the variegated shapes and sizes of smokeless powders used in the United States Army and Navy. See Explosives. GUNPOWDER PLOT, a plot, formed in England about A. D. 1604, by Robert Catesby, various Roman Catholics of rank, goaded into excitement by the penal laws directed against their faith and its professors, joining as accomplices. Their aim was to blow up the House of Parlia- ment by gunpowder Nov. 5, 1605, and destroy king, lords, and commons by one blow. An anonymous letter of mysteri- ous warning, sent to Lord Monteagle, having led to the discovery of the plot, various conspirators were executed Jan. 30 and 31, 1606, and one May 3 following. Among those put to death was Guy Fawkes, who had been caught in the vault below the House of Lords with matches and touchwood on his person ready to fire the train. Since 1605 all places connected with the House of Lords and Commons where explosives could be stowed away are annually searched at the opening of Parliament. GUNS, a town of Hungary, on the Giins, 20 miles S. of Oedenburg. This town was the first that successfully re- sisted Solyman the Magnificent, when in 1532 that monarch threatened to con- quer all Europe. GUNTER. ARCHIBALD CLAVBR- ING, an American author; born in Liverpool, England, Oct. 25, 1847. When five years old he was taken to California by his parents. He was a mining and civil engineer in the West from 1867 until 1874, when he became a stock broker. In 1877 he removed to New York, where he devoted himself to writ- ing plays and novels. The best known of the former are: "Prince Karl"; and "The Deacon's Daughter." His most popular novels are : "Mr. Barnes of New York" (1887) ; and "Mr. Potter of Texas" (1888) : both successfully dramatized; "That Frenchman" (1889) ; "Miss No- body of Nowhere" (1890) ; "Baron Mon-
