SMITH SOUND. 268 SMOKELESS POWDEB. Bay with the expansion to the north known as Kane Basin. The sound was discovered by By- lott and Baffin in 101(>. See tnap of Akctio Regions. For subsequent explorations, see Polar Research. SMOCK, John Con-o-er (1842—). An Ameri- can geologist, born in Holmdel, X. J., and edu- cated at Rutgers, where he graduated in 1862. He became professor at Rutgers in 1871, after having studied for two years at the Berg Acad- emy and at the University of Berlin. From 1864 to 1885 he assisted on a geological survey in New- Jersey, and in 1890 was appointed geologist of that State. He wrote Report on Clay Deposits; BidkUiifi atones in Xeic York (1888); and vol- umes iii. and iv. of Geological Survey of State of Xcn: Jersey. SMOHAL'LA (c.l820— ) (corrupted from Shnioquala, pi'eacher, the name assumed bj' him in later life). The originator and high priest of the "Dreamer" Indian religion of the Columbia River region. He was chief of the Yanapuni, a small tribe living about Priests Rapids on the Upper Colurcbia, Washington, and closely re- lated to Yakima (q.v.) and Xez Perce (q.v.). When about forty years old, in a fight with a rival chief, he was left upon the ground as dead, but regained consciousness and was brought off by some white men, who took him down the river in a boat without the knowledge of his people. On his recovery, he started upon a journey of exploration down through Oregon and California into Mexico, then back through Arizona, Utah, and Nevada to his old home, where he an- nounced that he had been all this time in the spirit world, from which lie had returned to de- liver a new revelation, the burden of which was an immediate return to the primitive Indian cus- toms. He also organized a priesthood with an elaborate ritual in many points suggestive of the Catholic ceremonial, with which he had formerly become familiar at the Yakima mission. He fell into frequent prolonged trances, in which he was perfectly insensible to the most painful tests, and from which he always emerged with a fi-esh revelation from the spirit world. He forbade his disciples to follow the white man's road, to use liquor or tobacco, or to sell their lands. His following soon included nearly all the Indians of eastern Washington and Oregon and western Idaho. About 1870 the matter came to the notice of the Government from the refusal of the "Dreamers" to come under reservation re- strictions. In 1884 his doctrines were made the subject of a special military investigation in con- nection with land troubles on the Y'akima reserva tion. There were then two principal Dreamer churches, at Priests Rapids, where Smohalla re- sided, and at Union Gap on the reservation. Be- sides Sunday services at these, according to their own ritual, the Dreamers had a memorial lament for the dead in early spring, a salmon thanks- giving in April, and a berry thanksgiving in the fall, each being accompanied by processions, bell- ringing, trance recitals, and a feast. See Mooney, The Ghost Dance Reliyion (Washington, 1897). SMOKELESS POWDER. An explosive sub- .stance that burns without developing much smoke, and is used chiefly for military purposes. The history of smokeless powders begins with the discoverv of mercuric fulminate in 1800, and is continued liy various attempts to substitute am- monium nitrate for potassium nitrate as the oxi- dizing agent in gunpowder mixtures. Powders of this character were manufactured and sold, but were unsatisfactory, owing to the deliquescent nature of the ammonium salt. Subsequent to the discovery of guncotton in 1845, experiments were undertaken for the purpose of producing a smokeless powder with that agent, and such pow- ders were made by experts in France, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and especially in Austria, where Von Lenck is credited with having obtained excellent results with guncot- ton preparations that were used with field guns in 1867 and 1868. The present employment of smokeless powder may be said to have begun with the invention of poudre B. in France in 1886. Guttmann divides the smokeless powders into three classes, as follows: (1) Powders in which guncotton, either the insoluble or the soluble va- riety alone, is used, which, by the aid of a solvent, has been converted into a horny substance and then is formed into flakes or cords; (2) powders in which a mixture of nitroglycerin and either dinitro- or trinitro-cellulose is transformed into a similar horn-like substance, either with or with- out the aid of a solvent; and (3) powders that contain nitroderivatives of the aromatic hydro- carbons, either by themselves or in connection with nitrocellulose. In a general way. the process for manufacturing these powders consists in steeping cellulose in a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, and the resulting nitrocellulose or guncotton is then brought into the colloid condition by treatment with some solvent such as a mixture of alcohol and ether, ethyl acetic ester, or acetone. The solvent chosen depends on the character of the cellulose nitrate used and the special qualities sought in the product. In cer- tain of the smokeless powders oxidizing agents, such as the nitrates of metallic bases, are added to increase the velocity of the explosive, and when the action of the explosive is too violent a deterrent or substance rich in carbon is added. The colloid or horn-like substance is then cut into flakes by machines, or as originally in Italy forced through spaghetti machines, and formed into cords, either solid or perforated, of the de- sired dimensions, which are then cut into grains. Among the various smokeless powders are: , Ballistite, invented by Alfred Nobel in 1888, and made in England; cordite, invented by Sir Fred- erick Abel and James Dewar, and made in Eng- land ; Dii Pont powder, invented by F. C. & P. S. Du Pont in 1893, and made in Wilmington, Del.: indnrite. invented by Charles E. Munroe in 1889. and made at Newport. R. I.: eibalite, in- vented by J. K. von Falkenstein, and made in Germany; poudre J., invented by Bruneau. and poudre pyroxyce. made by the French Govern- ment; Troisdorf. Ton Forster. Walsrode, and Wetteren powders, made in Germany, each of which varies slightly from the others in the preparation of the mixture or proportions of the ingredients. For full information on the subject, see the history of the development of smokeless powders given in Charles E. Munroe's Presi- dential address before the Washington Section of the American Chemical Society in 1896. Consult also Longridge. Smokeless Powder and Its In- fluence on Gun Construction (London, 1890), and
