36. With regard to the arrangement of the stars, I generally vary the
colours as much as possible in each Roman candle. If these pieces are to
be fired singly, it matters little what the order of the colours is; but
if they are to be fired in numbers, it will be necessary to arrange them
so that they do not throw up the same colours at the same time. The plan
that I adopt to prevent this is the following:—I make out a list of the
coloured stars that I have ready to use, arranging them, for instance,
in the following order:—brilliant, green, yellow, blue, red, white,
purple, rose. The _first_ Roman candle may be filled with its stars in
this order. In the second I should begin with the green, in the third
with the yellow, and so on, till all that are to be fired at once are
completed.