Robert Treat Paine Papers, Volume 3
I feel a strong impulse to write upon a Subject to which I feel myself unequal, Salt-petre. The present system of British tyranny makes it almost as necessary for us to manufacture this article as to raise bread-corn. We in this colony are indefatiguable in the business & very success full. But we should not be content with present discoverys, but wreck our inventions to find out more expeditious ways to obtain it, & in larger quantities.
The air is full of nitre, we inhale it in every breath, the earth contains great quantities of it, every vegetable & animal contains a proportion, it 135appears necessary to animal & vegetable life, & to be deposited in the air for that purpose by the beneficent creator. What pity is it then, that it should be made use of for the destruction of our fellow Creatures! But since it has become necessary to have it as an article of self-defence, it is the duty of every one to make use of every means in his power to obtain it. I am not certain that my conjectures are philosophical, but I imagine there is but one salt in nature, which is differently denominated Nitrous, alcaline, marine &c. as the form happens to be changed, by fire, or otherwise, in a course of natural, or artificial chemistry. What we call nitre or salt petre is generally allowed to be contained in all animal & vegitable substances. When this salt is obtained by fire from vegetables it is called alcaline, & when by putrefaction nitrous. It may be worth while to enquire whether the alcaline salt may not have the explosive quality of nitre added, or rather restored to it, for I suppose that it consists in the acid spirit which is destroyed in fluxing the salts when we make potash. I would propose an experiment. Take 1/2 a Bushel fresh *oak saw-dust, pour on it as much boiling water as it will take in, let it stand ten hours & then draw it of into a clean Iron kettle, in which dissolve one pound potash or as much as the decoction will fairly dissolve; when it is well mixed, by stirring, set it over the fire & evaporate till you find by tryal in a spoon that it will cristalize. I expect by this experiment, to add to the potash, all those qualities the fire has deprived it of.
This hint, however novel, may be improved to advantage & no doubt will if you think it deserves your attention. Should it succeed a small time would supply us fully with this necessary article.
Since I wrote to you last I have been to Brookfield in search of Sulphur. I took Dr. Cobb with me & there we made diverse experiments on a stone wch. has all the properties of what in Europe is called yr. alluminous pyrites. It is charged high with sulphur, but we cannot free it from the stone by Smelting.
We tryed the method propos’d in yr. letter, & every other method prescribed by chemical writers but in vain. We obtaind. some by sublimation which has since been manufactured into powder with saltpetre manufactur’d here. It is very good. The sulphur obtain’d in this way is very pure & it requires no pounding.
One discovery often leads on to another. In search of Sulphur we have found both copperas and allom & the way to manufacture both. I have made some which by good Judges is called very good. If I had some small 136public encouragement, I could supply the whole continent. I should think myself happy if by this means I could, not only serve the public, but support my family in their exiled state. I did expect some public employ, as I think I had a right to, but since I have been neglected, I determine to retire & content myself. If I can procure, by any just means, a comfortable subsistance for myself & family (three of whom are in service of my country) untill providence shall order a restoration of our Just rights liberties, privileges & possessions.
I had forgot to tell you that saltpetre making goes on briskly at Taunton. Dr. Cobb & Mr. Tisdell by the meetg. house have good encouragment to proceed: The earth under the meetghouse produces abt. 3/4 oz. to a bushel treated according to the Newbury plan. Vizt. by mixing 1/3 strong ashes lye with the extract drawn from the earth. (which by the way favours the proposed experiment). Crossman the miller’s wife1 has made & is makg. Saltpetre & does it to advantage.
Raynham, influenced by Esqr. Leonard, is earness in the business.
We had the pleasure of hearing yesterday of your safe return to Phila. Yr. first letters are not recd. so know not any thing about yr. Journey. You will hear more about the affairs of yr. family from your wife sister & nieces than I can write.
As to News, I dare not write, reports so often turn out false, that it is unsafe writing them, that that is important & true you have of course. I long to See you; I think you ought to have some respit from such arduous business as you are engaged in; I heartily wish you, & all the other members of the Congress, Wisdom as angels of God, that you may conduct our public affairs in such a manner as that you may receive the applause of all good men, & the approbation of him who is God Supreme over all earthly potentates, & who can rebuke kings for his peoples sake. I am Dear Sr. yr. freind & brother
*P.S. Perhaps a decoction of some very acid plant, Sorrel for instance, may do better. I imagine the acid spirit is what causes the explosion in the nitre. I am the rather inclined to think so, because, by destroying it in, the nitre the explosive quality is lost & it becomes a simple alcaline salt. This may be done by melting Saltpetre, giving it a high degree of heat, & throwing in charcoal dust, a little at a time. It will keep fulminating ’till it has intirely lost that quality.
Desire Crossman (d. 1782) was the second wife of Robert Crossman (1707–1798), who had inherited the family mill at Taunton and was also widely known as a cabinetmaker, drum maker, and innkeeper (Robert Owen Crossman, A Genealogy of the Crossman Family [Morrilton, Ark., 1977], 29).