textile fibre as raw materials for explosive nitrates, seeing that a large
number of raw materials containing cellulose (chiefly as cotton) can be
obtained at a cheaper rate, and yield also 150 to 170 per cent. of
explosive material when nitrated, and are in many ways superior to the
products obtained hitherto from jute.

~Nitro-mannite~ is formed by the action of nitric acid on mannite, a
hex-acid alcohol closely related to sugar. It occurs abundantly in manna,
which is the partly dried sap of the manna-ash (_Fraxinus ornus_). It is
formed in the lactic acid fermentation of sugar, and by the action of
nascent hydrogen on glucose and cellulose, or on invert sugar. Its formula
is C_{6}H_{8}(OH)_{6} and that of nitro-mannite C_{6}H_{8}(NO_{3})_{6}.
Mannite crystallises in needles or rhombic prisms, which are soluble in
water and alcohol, and have a sweet taste. Nitro-mannite forms white
needle-shaped crystals, insoluble in water, but soluble in ether or
alcohol. When rapidly heated, they ignite at about 374° F., and explode at
about 590° F. It is more susceptible to friction and percussion than
nitro-glycerine, and unless pure it is liable to spontaneous
decomposition. It is considered as the nitric ether of the hexatomic
alcohol mannite. It is formed by the action of a mixture of nitric and
sulphuric acids upon mannite--

C_{6}H_{8}(OH)_{6} + 6HNO_{3} = C_{6}H_{8}(NO_{3})_{6} + 6H_{2}O.

Its products of explosion are as shown in the following equation:--

C_{6}H_{8}(OH)_{6} = 6CO_{2} + 4H_{2}O + 3N_{2} + O_{2}.

Its percentage composition is as follows:--Carbon, 15.9 per cent.;
hydrogen, 1.8 per cent.; nitrogen, 18.6 per cent.; and oxygen, 63.7 per