Ballistics Trials with Gunpowder; Weights of Water, Sand and Earth
A programme for testing powder in firearms, then a table of material weights in libbre
Turned upside down, the leaf opens with a research programme for gunpowder: test different qualities of powder at equal weight and packing, then different quantities, then different barrel lengths, then different firing distances from one musket, watching how the shots vary. Beneath it Leonardo tabulates the weight in libbre of materials by volume - fresh and salt water, dry and wet sand, gravel, and damp earth - down to a single shovelful. A note in the left margin adds that 4 and 1/2 libbre should be subtracted from every weighing to account for the box.
On this page
A programme for testing gunpowder in firearms
Leonardo lays out controlled ballistics trials: different qualities of powder in the same instrument at equal weight, measure and packing; different quantities of powder of the same kind in one instrument; different barrel lengths with the same powder and weight; and different distances fired from one and the same musket, so as to observe the variety of the shots.
A table of material weights by volume
A list of weights follows in libbre: fresh water 22-26, salt water 22-26 and 1/2, dry sand 32-36 and 10 once, wet sand 39-43, fine gravel and wet earth 38-42, earth with damp fine gravel 45-49, and a shovelful 25-29 moist or 23-27 and 2 once when dry.
Deducting the weight of the container
A margin note instructs that 4 and 1/2 libbre be deducted from every weight to allow for the box or container in which the material is measured.