Page:Essays Upon The Making Of Salt-Petre And Gun-Powder.pdf/7

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tion of the good people of these United Colonies.

By Order of the Congress,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

A large Salt-petre work being established, under the inspection of a Committee, and as gentlemen in the interior parts of the country may be inclined to erect others, we have for their information republished the process of making Salt-petre, from the Pennsylvania Journal of January last; revised with new additions, by Dr. Rush, who communicated the information, and one of the Committee for that purpose.
N.B. Country Gentlemen (exclusive of the public good) will find an agreeable and profitable amusement in erecting works of this kind.

IT has long been an an opinion among Chemists and natural historians, that Salt-petre is a natural production. It has been said to be found in large quantities on the surface of the earth in Persia, India and China, where it is said to impart a coldness to the atmosphere; but some late enquiries gave us reason to suspect that the whole of these accounts are without foundation. They were probably propagated by the natives of these countries, only to preserve in their hands the manufactory of so useful an article of trade. All the Salt-petre which is imported from theEast-