saltpeter

Tultepec was one of the first places that began to produce gunpowder in Mexico during the colonial period, because of the town’s abundant supply of saltpeter, a key ingredient.

He was perhaps the world’s leading expert on the history of mining for saltpeter, a primary ingredient in gunpowder, which in the 19th century was often harvested from caves.

Now, I don’t want to leave the impression that a Volkswagen is the automotive equivalent of a cold shower, motorized saltpeter, designed to quash passion.

The saltpeter kettles, repurposed as garden torches, were filled with fuel and lit, and their light flickered on an array of classical statuary, columns, urns and the like.

Sometime between 600 and 900 CE, a mix of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal — saltpeter, or rudimentary gunpowder — was poured into bamboo or paper tubes.