The Chayei Adam writes that he's seen people burn "pulver" ["poolver"?] on Simchas Torah, and such a practice is totally halachically wrong and should be stopped. They may, however, leave a tube of pulver next to a candle so it will ignite automatically.
What is this pulver, and why are people burning it? (Does he mean something like ... gunpowder, to make a big, "fun", bang sound?)