d
private works is then nearly suspended.

The value and importance of saltpetre as a source of power is seen in
the adaptation of its explosive force to special purposes. It performs
that work well which we cannot carry on so perfectly by means of any
other agent, and the great mining and engineering works of a country are
dependent on this source for their success, and for overcoming obstacles
where other forces fail. With positive certainty the engineer can remove
a portion of a cliff or rock without breaking it into many parts, and
can displace masses to convenient distances, under all the varying
demands which arise in the process of mining, tunnelling, or cutting
into the earth.

In all these cases of application we see that the powder contains within
itself both the material for producing force and the means by which that
force is applied, no other motor being necessary in its application.

Modern warfare has become in its simplest expression the intelligent
application of force, and that side will successfully overcome or resist
the other which can in the shortest time so direct the greater force.
In artillery as well as infantry practice, the control over the time
necessary in the decomposition of the powder has been obtained through
the refinements already made in the manufacture, and the best results
of the latest trials confirm in full the conclusion that saltpetre is a
source of great and easily controlled power, which can act through short
or extended space.

Under the view here presented, it is evident that saltpetre is
indispensable to progress in the arts of civilization and peace, as well
as in military operations, and that no nation can advance in material
interests, or even maintain strict independence, without possessing
within its boundaries either saltpetre or the sources from which it
can be drawn at all times. In its use for protecting the property of
a nation from the attacks of an enemy, and as the means of insuring
respect, we may consider saltpetre as an element of strength in a State,
and as such deserving a high place in the consideration of those who
direct the counsels or form the policy of a country.

Has the subject of having an exhaustless supply of this important
product or the means of producing it been duly considered?

* * * * *

WEATHER IN WAR.

It is not very flattering to that glory-loving, battle-seeking creature,
Man, that his best