The art of gunnery. Wherein is described the true way to make all sorts of gunpowder, guu-match [sic], the art of shooting in great and small ordnance: excellent ways to take heights, depths, distances, accessible, or inaccessible, either single or divers distances at one operation: to draw the map or plot of any city, town, castle, or other fortified place. To make divers sorts of artificiall fire-works, both for war and recreation, also to cure all such wounds that are curable, which may chance to happen by gunpowder or fire-works. This treatise is composed for the help of all such gunners and others, that have charge of artillery, and are not well versed in arithmetick and geometry : all the rules and directions in this book, being framed both with and without the help of arithmetick. By Nathanael Nye mathematician, master gunner of the city of Worcester.

CHAP. 17.

How to try the strength of Powder some other ways then is before rehearsed.

IF you charge a Pistol, and discharge it against a bank of clay; do this with a little powder, always observing to take the like quantity to a grain of one sort of pow∣der, as you do another sort: Then by

measuring how far the bullet pierced in the clay, you may have some gess at the strength: also if you can make Rockets, such as fly into the air, and are made of Powder-dust, and Charcole-dust, by the strength or weakness of these you may know the like of powder.

If you can get a little Morter Piece (what a Morter Piece is you may read anon) cast at the iron furnace where cast the iron is made, to get one made in such a place is no difficult thing: Let it be made about three inches Diam: at the mouth, and let the Chamber of the said Piece be three quarters of an inch Diam: and two inches and one third part of an inch deep, load the Chamber with about half an ounce of powder, but put no wad in after it, the rea∣son is, because one wad may be bigger then another, which will cause error; then put into your Motter a Bullet of Lead or Iron that will just fit the bore: now if it be of Iron, it will weigh three pound and ten ounces, if of Lead, almost five pound: This Morter-piece being erected at a cer∣tain and unvariable elevation, and then be∣ing discharged, shall (by its several ranges)

tell the exact difference of powder above any other instrument that can be invented, for by noting how many paces a shot ran∣geth, you shall finde the true difference, and be able to set down the true and infal∣lible proportion betwixt all sorts of pow∣der whatsoever.

Because you may fail in procuring one made at the Furnace where Iron is made, I will shew you in the following Treatise, how you may make such a one which may serve your turn.

Thus having in the foregoing Treatise set down by whom, at what time, of what strength and violence Gunpowder was at when invented; also how to make any sort of Gunpowder, & lastly to try its strength: I shall hence-following set down such Rules, that an ingenious man may learn to be a perfect Gunner, for I have omitted nothing that is necessary in that Art.