First take some thin paper, and cut it into pieces of an inch and a half square, or therabouts, then on each piece lay as much dry star composition as you think the paper will easily contain; then twist up the paper as tight as you can; when done, rub some past on your hands, and roll the stars between them, then set them to dry; your stars being thus made, get some flax or fine tow, and roll a little of it over each star, then paste your hands and roll the stars as before, and set them again to dry; when they are quite dry, with a piercer, make a hole through the middle of each, into which run a cotton quick-match, long enough to hold, ten or twelve stars, at three or four inches from one another: but any number of stars may be strung together by joining the match.
Those sort of stars are called tailed stars, because there are a great number of sparks issue from them, which represent a tail like that of a comet; of those stars there are two sorts, which are rolled, and drove; when they are rolled they must be moistened, with a liquor made of half a pint of spirit of wine, and half a gil of thin size, of this as much as will wet the composition enough, to make it roll easy; when they are rolled, sift meal powder over them, and set them to dry.
When tailed stars are drove, the composition must be moistened with spirit of wine only, and not made so wet as for rolling; one and two ounce cases rolled dry, are best for this purpose; and when they are filled, unroll the case within three or four rounds of the charge, and all that you unroll cut off, then paste down the loose edge; two or three days after the cases are filled, cut them in pieces five or six eighths of an inch in length, then melt some wax, and dip one end of each piece into it, so as to cover the composition; the other end must be rubbed with meal powder wetted with spirit of wine.
Cases for drove stars, are rolled with paste, but are made very thin of paper; before you begin to fill them, damp the composition, with spirit of wine that has had some camphor dissolved in it; you may ram them indifferently hard, so that you do not break, or sack the case, and to prevent which they should fit tight in the mould: they are drove in cases of several sizes, from eight drams to four ounces; when they are filled in half ounce cases, cut them in pieces, of three quarters of an inch in length; if one ounce cases, cut them in pieces of one inch; if two ounce cases, cut them in pieces of one inch and a quarter in length, and if four ounce cases, cut them in pieces one inch and a half in length; having cut your stars of a proper size, prime them at both ends, with wet meal powder; stars of this sort are seldom put in rockets, they being chiefly intended for air ballóóns, and drove in cases, to prevent the composition from being broke by the force of the blowing powder in the shell.