ation which
precedes solution in the undiluted solvent, and occurring within narrow
limits of variation in the proportion of the diluting and non-solvent
liquid--for industrial work the most convenient solution to employ is
acetone diluted with about 10 p.ct. of water by volume.

The industrial applications of these results are the basis of English
patents 5286 (1898), 18,868 (1898), 18,233 (1898), Luck and Cross (this
Journal, 1899, 400, 787).

The structureless guncotton prepared as above described is of quite
exceptional character, and entirely distinct from the ordinary fibrous
nitrate or the nitrate prepared by precipitation from actual solution in
an undiluted solvent.[3] By the process described, the nitrate is
obtained at a low cost in the form of a very fine, dense, structureless,
white powder of great purity and stability, entirely free from all
mechanical impurities. The elimination of these mechanical impurities,
and also to a very great extent of coloured compounds contained in the
fibrous nitrate, makes the product also useful in the manufacture of
celluloids, artificial silk, &c., whilst its very dense form gives it a
great advantage over ordinary fibrous guncotton for use in shells and
torpedoes, and for the manufacture of gelatinised gunpowders, &c. It can
be compressed with ease into hard masses; and experiments are in
progress with a view of producing from it, in admixture with 'retaining'
ingredients, a military explosive manufactured by means of ordinary
black gunpowder machinery and processes.

_Manufacture of sporting powder._--The fact that the fibrous structure
of ordinary guncotton or other cellulose nitrate can be completely or
partially destroyed by treatment with diluted acetone and without
attendant solution, constitutes a process of value for the manufacture
of sporting powder having a base of cellulose nitrate of any degree of
nitration. The following is a description of the hardening process.

'Soft grains' are manufactured from ordinary guncotton or other
cellulose nitrate either wholly or in combination with other
ingredients, the process employed being the usual one of revolving in a
drum in the damp state and sifting out the grains of suitable size after
drying. These grains are then treated with diluted acetone, the degree
of dilution being fixed according to the hardness and bulk of the
finished grain it is desired to produce (J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 1899, 787).
Owing to the wide l