"Dan"

|
| We know this because ash used to be the main source of nitrates for the
| production of gunpowder way back when (and may still be, but I doubt
| it). Ash is not a known mixture, it just means what's left after
| burning.


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Sorry. Wood ash was never the source of nitrate, it was, however, the source of
potash (potassium carbonate) mixed with the cave (for instance) nitrate (calcium),
to convert it into usable potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate being hygroscopic.



--
donald j haarmann
-----------------------------
As if ordained by Fate, Nitre, that admirable salt,
hath made as much noise in Philosophy as in
War, all the world being filled with its thunder.
John Mayow
Ttractalus Quinque Medico-Physici, 1674