Note 360 — 1839.

‘United Service Journal,’ i. 1840, p. 76. “The sergeant-major’s composition was simply pitch softened by bees'-wax and tallow. He had tried a great number of experiments for ascertaining the best sort of waterproof composition for bags of gunpowder in 1832, when Bickford’s fuses were first used by the corps at Chatham. He also at the same period discovered the means for imitating Bickford’s fuses in an efficient manner. His imitation fuses, however, were not precisely the same, as Bickford’s fuses were evidently made by machinery.”—‘United Service Journal,’ ii. 1839, p. 192-193.