In this and in a subsequent communication in Volume I of Silliman's Journal he described the process of nitre manufacture in caves, and gave the best theory of its formation, according to the science of the day.
"The History of the Medical Department of Transylvania University"
Robert Peter
They would remember the treasure he had wrung from their distress; the cotton bought for ten cents and sold abroad for a dollar; the nitre, the gunpowder, the clothing and medicines, rated so mercilessly dear; the profits boosted a thousand per cent.
"The Missourian"
Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle
Thoroughly burned charcoal, distilled sulphur, and the purest nitre are powdered and mixed in a revolving drum,made into a paste with water, put under great pressure between sheets of gun metal, granulated, sifted, to separate the coarse and fine grains, and glazed by revolving in a barrel which sometimes contains a little powdered graphite.
"An Introduction to Chemical Science"
R.P. Williams