What Is Nitroglycerine?
Another very powerful explosive, which is closely related to guncotton, is nitroglycerine. This compound is made by treating glycerine with the same sort of acid mixture that is used in making guncotton. It explodes in the same way that guncotton does and yields the same products. It is an oily liquid of yellow color, and on account of its liquid form it is difficult to handle and use. The difficulty in handling nitroglycerine led to the plan of mixing it with a quantity of very fine sand called infusorial earth. When mixed with this a solid mass called dynamite is formed, which is easier to handle and more difficult to explode, but which has almost as much explosive force as nitroglycerine.
A more powerful explosive than either nitroglycerine or guncotton is obtained by mixing them together. When this is done the guncotton swells up by absorbing the nitroglycerine and becomes a brownish, jelly-like substance that is known as blasting gelatin. This is generally considered the most powerful explosive obtainable.