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Inflammable Phosphorus


Take the meal of flour of any vegetable, put it into an iron pan over

a moderate fire, and keep it stirring with an iron spoon till it

changes to a black powder; to one part of this add four parts of raw

alum. Make the whole into a fine powder; put it again into the iron

pan, and keep stirring it till it almost catches fire, to prevent its

forming into lumps, as it is apt to do when the alum melts; in which

case it mus
be broken again, stirred about, and accurately mixed with

the flour, till it emits no more fumes, and the whole appears a fine

black powder.



Put this powder in a clean dry phial with a narrow neck, filling it to

about one-third of the top. Then stop the mouth of the phial with

loose paper, so as to let the air pass freely through it, and leave

room for the fumes to come through the neck. Place the phial in a

crucible, encompassed on all sides with sand, so that it may not touch

any part of the crucible, but a considerable space everywhere left

between. The phial must be covered up with sand, leaving only a small

part bare, by which you can discern whether the powder is ignited. In

this state, the crucible is to be surrounded with coals, kindled

slowly till it is well heated on all sides, and then the fire is to be

raised, till the crucible and every thing in it is red-hot; keep it in

this state an hour; after this, the fire still burning as fiercely,

close up the orifice of the phial with wax, to exclude the air. Leave

it to cool, and you will find in it a black dusty coal formed of the

flour and alum.



Shake a small quantity of this out of the phial into the cool air, and

it will immediately take fire, but will not burn any thing. Keep the

bottle dry, as even the air will spoil it effectually.



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