temperature of explosion of the various substances to which it is added,
it was found by a French Commission that, when dry and finely powdered,
ammonium nitrate succeeds in depreciating the heat of decomposition
without reducing the power of the explosive below a useful limit. The
following table (B) shows the composition of the explosives examined, and
the temperatures which accompanied their explosion.

A
______________________________________________________________________
| | | |
| | | Composition of Gases. |
| |Volume |__________________________|
| Explosive. |of Gas | | | | |
| |formed.|CO_{2}.| CO. |CH_{4}| N. |
| | | | | &H. | |
|___________________________________|_______|_______|_____|______|_____|
| | | | | | |
| | | Per | Per | Per | Per |
| | c.c. | cent. |cent.|cent. |cent.|
|Gunpowder-- | | | | | |
| Nitre 75 parts | | | | | |
| Sulphur 10 '' | 2,214 | 51.3 | 3.5| 3.5 | 41.7|
| Charcoal 15 '' | | | | | |
|Gelignite-- | | | | | |
| Nitro-glycerine 56.5 parts | | | | | |
| Nitro-cotton 3.5 '' | 4,980 | 25 | 7 | ... | 67 |
| Wood-meal 8.0 '' | | | | | |
| KNO_{3} 32.0 '' | | | | | |
|Tonite-- | | | | | |
| Nitro-Cotton | 3,750 | 30 | 8 | ... | 62 |
| Barium nitrate | | | | | |
|Roburite-- | | | | | |
| Ammonium nitrate, 86 parts | | | | | |
| Di-nitro-chloro-benzol 14 '' | 4,780 | 32 | ... | ... | 68 |
|Carbonite | | | | | |
| Nitro-glycerine 25 parts | |