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Par-a-chute′--light.

A suspended light for use in war to illuminate an enemy's position.

It consists of a large muslin parachute packed in an iron hemisphere, and attached to a second hemisphere containing a light composition. The hemispheres are soldered together. The ball is fired at a high elevation from a mortar, and when the time-fuse explodes the hemispheres are separated, the composition lighted, the parachute expanded, and the light floats along, gradually descending, the flame issuing in a jet below.

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