CHAPTER V.
OF INCENDIARY FIRE-WORKS.
Under this head are included all artificial preparations, designed, as the name expresses, to communicate fire to buildings, shipping, &c. and for other purposes, connected with the operations of war.
At different periods, even from the remotest antiquity, incendiary works have been used. Of these preparations, we may enumerate the following: shells, howitzes, and grenades; fire-stone to put into shells and howitzes, intended to produce conflagration; incendiary matches, used in the same manner; carcasses and fire balls, to be thrown from a mortar, designed to light up the works in front of a besieged fortress, and to burn buildings; incendiary, or fire-balls, to be thrown from cannon or by hand, used in besieged fortresses to light up the enemy's works; pitched tourteaux and fascines, to illuminate the passage of rivers and defiles; powder bags, to throw upon troops mounting to the assault; powder barrels, to roll from the top of a breach, or from the head of a sap from the glacis; thundering barrel, employed for the same purpose; burning or illuminating barrel; petard, to break down the gates and barriers of small towns, and even thin walls; torches or flambeaux, to give light during night marches, and other purposes; rockets, fougettes, and murdering and the Congreve war rocket, for various uses; rocket carcass of Congreve, as an incendiary; rocket light ball, to illuminate the horizon near the enemy; murdering marrons; Roman incendiary candles, and incendiary stars; tarred and pitched ropes; fire rain; marine fuses, &c. to which we may add the ancient Greek fire, and red-hot balls.
In this chapter, under the different heads, we purpose to describe these, and other fire-works, used in war. We may remark, also, that animals are sometimes used as incendiary agents. _Rats_, for instance, have been employed in certain enterprizes, as for the purpose of setting fire to magazines of gunpowder. On these occasions, a lighted match is tied to the tail of the animal. The _courier pigeon_ of the French, or carrier pigeon, is not used in this way; but only as a carrier of letters, to which it is trained and used in Persia and Turkey.
_Sec. I. Of Fire Stone._
The fire stone (_Roche à feu_) is a compact, or solid composition. It is calculated to burn slowly, and when put into shells and howitzes, and thrown into cities, produces conflagration.
This stone is composed of sulphur, saltpetre, meal-powder, and sometimes grain-powder, &c. The sulphur is melted in a kettle, or glazed earthen vessel, over a clean charcoal fire; the saltpetre being pulverized, is then thrown into it, and the spirits of turpentine, if any is used. These articles are stirred with a spatula, and the fire must be so regulated, as to prevent the composition from boiling over, or taking fire. When these are well melted and mixed, they are taken off the fire, and permitted to cool a little; the gunpowder is then thrown in, and the composition poured upon a cold surface, where it consolidates. It is then broken into small lumps, to be made use of when required.
We may here remark, that, as the goodness of this composition depends upon the accuracy with which the mixture is made, too much care cannot be paid to this circumstance.
For the purpose of rendering this incendiary more inflammable, it is recommended to roll the pieces in meal-powder, before they become fully hard. If the same composition be mixed with suet and spirits of turpentine, it is used for the same purpose, but not in the same manner.
The invention of the fire stone is said to have originated from the fire-rain of Casimir Siemienowicz, an ingenious Polander, and Chevalier of Lithuania, &c.; and in fact, according to Ruggieri, the composition was taken from his treatise.
Incendiaries to be put into bombs or shells, are sometimes in rolls in the form of a _sausage_, which continue to burn after the shell has burst. They infallibly set fire to whatever combustible substance they touch. When thus made they are from .88 parts of an inch, to an inch in diameter, and from 3 to 4 inches long. Carcass composition is generally used. It is run into cylinders, which are pierced in the middle, and the hole is filled with the composition of bomb fuse. They are also furnished with cotton matches.
_Composition of Fire Stone._
----------------------------------------------------------------------- | PARTS OF +---------------------------------------- |Sulphur.|Salt- | Meal |Powder |Char- | | petre. |Powder.| in | coal. | | | |grain. | ------------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+------ Composition frequently made } | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 use of, } | | | | | Do do do | 28 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 Do for particular purposes, | 9¼ | 16⅞ | 0 | 0 | ⅞ Do do do | 11 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 1 Do do (spirits of } | | | | | turpentine, 12 oz.) and } | 6 | 1 | 4 | | ------------------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+------
Fire stone may be considered the _wild-fire_; but this term is applicable to any composition, as the Greek fire, which, when inflamed, burns with rapidity, and communicates its fire to surrounding objects with quickness. In such cases, the combustion is so rapid, that buildings, &c. are immediately wrapt in flames, which seem almost to defy all human power to extinguish. Such was the nature of the Greek fire, of which we shall speak hereafter.
_Sec. II. Of Incendiary Matches._
These are better for the purpose of putting into shells and howitzes, than fire-stone alone, which does not burn as well. Their preparation consists in boiling common slow match in a solution of 20 parts of saltpetre, in six parts of water; then drying and cutting it into pieces of two or three inches long, and immersing it into fire-stone, in a state of fusion. Before the match has become solid, let it be rolled in meal-powder, or in grain powder. Fifty pounds of fire-stone will be sufficient for 1500 matches.
_Sec. III. Of Carcasses and Fire-Balls._
Carcasses and fire-balls are made of a composition of combustible substances, and are used to produce light, as well as to fire buildings. The difference between them is, that the carcass has bands or hoops of iron, that form its shell. These hoops are made at right angles with each other, in an oval form, and fastened together with a base of iron. The fire-ball is made of a sack of strong tow cloth, or of a bag of basket work, in an oval form, and covered with strong cord, to give it a body. Both, however, are well wrapped with cord, to make them more solid.
The Rev. J. P. Coste, in 1794, invented a carcass composition, which he submitted to the French national convention. It appears that its fire was very violent, which nothing could extinguish, and could be thrown 800 paces from a caliber of 24 in. and to a greater distance, if required. An account of this carcass is given in the _Moniteur_, No. 342.
Oblong carcasses were formerly in use. The round carcass is more applicable for mortars and howitzers. The 13-inch round carcass weighs about 212 lbs., 10-inch 96 lbs., 8-inch 48 lbs., and 5-1/2-inch 16 lbs. Carcasses are seldom or ever fired from guns or carronades, in the land or sea service. In bomb vessels, they are only fired from mortars. After the first invention of bombs, that of carcasses and grenades naturally followed. They are said to have been first used in 1594, and afterwards by the bishop of Munster, at the siege of Groll, in 1672, where the Duke of Luxemburg commanded.
The carcass for 12 and 10-inch mortars has six bands of iron; that for an 8-inch mortar, no more than four. These bands are of an oval shape, and fixed with nails, either clenched or rivetted to a bottom, of the shape of a segment of a sphere; then to a hoop, placed horizontally at one-third of their height; and at top, to another that closes the opening.
The sacks, that contain carcasses and fire-balls, are of a cylindrical form, and their diameter and height are equal, being the same as that of the carcass at one-third its height. They are sewed upon a circular bottom, like the woollen bags of gun-cartridges. When the ball is wound with thread, the folds will disappear. The sacks of fire balls are an inch less than the caliber of the mortar, and those of carcasses four inches more.
_Table relative to the Dimensions of Carcasses, to fire from the Mortar._
------------------------------------------+---------+---------+-------- CALIBERS OF | 12-inch.| 10-inch.| 8-inch. ------------------------------------------+---------+---------+-------- The spherical segment. | Inch. | Inch. | Inch. { radius, | 5-5/12 | 4⅔ | 1 { height, | 2 | 1⅔ | 1 | | | Diam. of the circle, { at ⅓ of the height | 10 | 8½ | 7 { at the opening | 6 | 5 | 4⅙ | | | { Of the iron mounting | 12 | 10 | 8 { Of the charged carcass, the } | 16 | 14 | 12 Height { ear not included } | | | { Of the enveloping sacks | 16 | 14 | 12 | | | The weight of the iron, for the mounting }| Pounds. | Pounds. | Pounds. of the carcass, about }| 20 | 18 | 7 ------------------------------------------+---------+---------+--------
_Composition of Carcasses and Light Balls._
----------------------+-------------------------------------------- |Pitch. | |White Pitch. (Turpentine.) | | |Mutton Tallow. | | | |Rosin. | | | | |Sulphur. | | | | | |Saltpetre. | | | | | | |Grain-powder. | | | | | | | |Meal-powder. | | | | | | | | |Camphor. | | | | | | | | | |Charcoal. | | | | | | | | | | |Carabé. ----------------------+--+----+--+--+----+----+--+--+--+---+------- Moist composition. |24| 12 | 4| 0| 0 | 0 |36| 0| ½| 0 |0 Idem. |18| 0 | 1| 0| 0 | 0 |30| 0| 0| 0 |0 Dry composition. | 0| 0 | 0|12| 1 | 2 | 0| 2| 0| 0 |0 Idem. | 0| 0 | 0|12| 2½| 11 | 0| 0| 0| 1½|0 | | | | | | | | | | | Another. |12| 6 | 2| 0| 0 | 0 |30| 0| ½| 0 |0 Ditto. | 0| 0 | 1|12| 0 | 2 |20| 0| 2| 0 |1 Ditto. |12| 0 | 3| 0| 0 | 6 |30| 0| 0| 0 |0 Ditto. |15| 0 | 3| 0| 0 | 6 |30| 0| 0| 0 |0 Ditto. | 0| 2½| 0| 1| 1 | 1½| 0| 2| 0| 0 |0 Ditto, particular, } | | | | | | | | | | | for setting fire } | 0| 0 | 0| 1| 4 | 2 | 0|10| 0| 0 |0 to magazines, } | | | | | | | | | | | buildings, &c. } | | | | | | | | | | | Ditto, same purpose. | 0| 0 | 0| 4| 16 | 32 | 0|48| 0| 1 |0* Ditto. do. | 7| 0 | 1| 6| 6 | 0 | 0| 8| 0| 0 |0 | | | | | | | | | | |Antim. Ditto. do. | 5| 0 | 0| 8| 25 | 50 | 0| 0| 0| 0 |5 ----------------------+--+----+--+--+----+----+--+--+--+---+-------
* Also, iron or steel filings, 2; and fir-tree sawdust boiled in a solution of saltpetre, 2.
We may remark, that the four first formulæ are given by Bigot, and are used in the French service. Therefore, although the others have been employed, we may consider the proportions in these, as best adopted for the carcass and light-ball composition. About 49 lbs. of composition and two lbs. of fine tow, are required for a carcass of 12 inches.
Luminous or light balls are sometimes made of the following compositions.
_Composition for Luminous Balls._
1. Sulphur 6 oz. Antimony 2 -- Saltpetre 4 -- Rosin 4 -- Charcoal 4 --
2. Saltpetre 2 oz. Rosin 2 -- Charcoal 2 -- Antimony 1 -- Sulphur 1 -- Pitch 1 --
In the formation of luminous, or light balls, whatever may be the composition, we may remark, that the only ingredients which appear to be essentially necessary are nitrate of potassa and inflammable substances. In some preparations, antimony is used, for the same reason as in the Bengal lights. Rosin, pitch, and charcoal are all inflammable; and sulphur, although it takes fire more instantaneously than these, enters into the composition of such fires more on account of its flame than any other.
As a general rule for the preparation of carcass composition, the following particulars must be attended to. After melting the pitch, turpentine, rosin, and sulphur, add the tallow and camphor, and then the nitre and charcoal, in powder. They are then to be stirred, and mixed intimately. Care must be taken to regulate the fire, and prevent the composition taking fire. After the kettle is withdrawn from the fire, the gunpowder is then gently added, and stirred with a stick or spatula. The kettle is then again put over the fire, and afterwards withdrawn. Tow is now added in small quantities at a time, stirring the mixture well that it may be thoroughly incorporated.
The preparation of the carcass, or fire-ball, is as follows; observing, that, if it is a carcass, the iron-frame must be first placed in the sack. Four cords are taken, each four lines in diameter, four feet long for the calibers of 10 and 12 inches, but only 3 feet for the calibers of 8 inches.
The middle of these four cords are laid one upon the other in the form of an eight-pointed star. Each end of the ropes is then fixed to a nail, and a bottom is formed, similar to basket-work, by interlacing a cord, two lines in diameter, three or four times round the central point. The small cord is then tied with a knot, and the bottom of the basket completed, by tying the four large cords together with four half knots. The bottom of the sack, containing the iron carcass, or of an empty sack, if a fire-ball is to be made, is placed upon the middle of this, and the filling performed in the following manner, namely: A sufficient quantity of the composition is taken from the kettle to fill the empty carcass, or sack, three or four inches high; a few loaded grenades, with the fuse down, or a howitz placed in the same way, are laid upon this first layer. The filling is continued to the top, putting the composition and grenades, in alternate layers. When it is done, the sack is tied with twine. In order to tie up the fire-ball in its cord net, the cords are raised from their nails, over the sack, and tied in such a way as to suspend it about the height of a man's head, and to permit it to be easily turned round. An artificer fixes the end of a small cord to one of the larger ones, at the distance of 1-1/2 inches from the bottom; he makes a half knot upon this, and carries the small cord round to the others, to which he ties it in the same way, forming a spiral round the ball. The large cords are kept regularly stretched in such a way, that each turn of the spiral may be 1-1/2 inches from that beneath it. When the spiral has reached the top of the ball, he unites the small cord, called the traverse, with the ends of the four others, called uprights. He divides the latter into two parcels, and forms a loop of them, through which a lever may be passed for the convenience of carrying it. At two or three inches from the upper end, and upon two sides, diametrically opposite to each other, two pins of hard dry wood, well greased, are driven in. These pins are 6 inches in length, one in diameter at the head, and half an inch at the point. They must be inclined in such a way, as to meet in the axis of the fire ball, at about half its height.
The carcass or fire-ball, when finished, is dipped into the following composition:
_Composition of Pitch for Fire-Balls._
Pitch, 32 parts. Turpentine, 16 ---- Rosin, 8 ---- Linseed oil, 6 ---- Mutton Tallow, 1 ----
Grenades answer the purpose of dispersing the fire of the carcass in different places; and the shell will not burst, till the carcass has burnt for a sufficient length of time. Sometimes the ends of gun barrels, or pistols, loaded with ball, are put in.
Carcasses and fire-balls are primed before they are used, by drawing out the pins, and filling the holes with the composition for the fuses of shells; taking care to use for ramming, only wooden or copper rammers. Four cotton matches are placed in each hole, 6.4 inches long, in order to convey the fire.
Carcasses and fire-balls are discharged from mortars, in the same manner as a bomb. When the carcass is intended to give light to discover the enemy's works, then the small charges are to be put into the chamber of the mortar, and but little elevation given, for fear it should bury itself in the ground. If, on the contrary, the intention is to set fire to houses or magazines, a greater elevation is given to the mortars, in order that it may reach and destroy the buildings, upon which it is intended to fall.
The composition used by the Austrians at the siege of Valenciennes, which is called after it, has the same effect as carcass. It is composed of saltpetre 50 parts, sulphur 28, antimony 18, and rosin 6.
An English writer observes, that the best way of making light balls, is to take thick brown paper, and make a shell the size of the mortar, and fill it with a composition of equal parts of sulphur, pitch, rosin and meal-powder.
Before closing this article, we may add, that carcasses are sometimes made to weigh two hundred and thirty pounds, and those for the naval service differ from a shell only in the composition, and in the four holes, from which it burns when fired.
_Sec. IV. Of Incendiary Balls, or Fire Balls, to be thrown from Cannon or by Hand._
Balls of this kind are employed chiefly in beseiged fortresses to light up the enemy's works. In order to burn ships, hollow balls filled with incendiary matter and red-hot shot are preferable.
_Composition of Incendiary Balls._
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------- |_Meal-powder._ | |_Saltpetre._ | | |_Sulphur._ | | | |_Rosin._ | | | | |_Tallow._ | | | | | |_Alum._ | | | | | | |_Antimony._ | | | | | | | |_Charcoal._ -------------------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+---------- Ordinary composition, moistened| | | | | | | | with spirits and linseed | | | | | | | | oil, meal, | 4 | 4 | 3½ | ¾ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 Another, | 8 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 Do. | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ -------------------------------+---+---+-----+---+---+---+---+----------
The first composition is reduced to a paste with good brandy or other spirits, in which gum arabic and camphor have been dissolved; and after leaving it a few hours to dry, moisten it with linseed oil, and make it into balls a little less than the calibers of the guns, from which they are to be fired or weighing about four pounds, if they are to be thrown by hand. They are tied up in a cloth and steeped in a bath of pitch in the same way as carcasses. They are usually covered a second time with cloth and dipped in the same way. If they are to be fired from guns, they are enveloped in a netting of wire, to prevent them from being broke by the action of the charge. These balls when fired are put down over a small charge without ramming. Two holes are made in them in the same way as in carcasses and fire balls and they are primed in the same manner.
In employing the second and other compositions, the materials must first be melted, such as rosin, tallow, and sulphur, and the powder, alum, and antimony, added; when the melted matter is removed from the fire. After they are all mixed, the mixture is then poured into wooden moulds of two pieces, that are greased on the inside; the ball is taken from the mould when cool, and wrapped up in cloth or in tow. It is dipped in melted pitch. When it is to be used, holes are made in it with a gimblet, and it is primed like the others.
We may remark here, that the Congreve incendiary rocket is armed with carcass composition, which produces all the effects of the usual carcass. The rocket carcass will be considered under the head of war-rocket.
_Sec. V. Of Smoke Balls._
Smoke balls are composed of the same substances as carcasses and light balls, with this difference, that they contain five to one of pitch, rosin, and sawdust. This composition is put into shells made for the purpose, having four holes to let out the smoke. Smoke balls are thrown out of mortars, and continue to smoke from twenty-five to thirty minutes.
_Sec. VI. Of Stink Balls._
Stink Balls are prepared with a composition of mealed powder, rosin, saltpetre, pitch, sulphur, rasped horses' and asses' hoofs, burnt in the hoof, assafœtida, seraphim-gum, stinking herbs, &c. made up into balls in the same manner as light-balls, according to the size of the mortar, out of which they are to be thrown.
_Sec. VII. Of Poisoned Balls._
With respect to poisoned balls, we are informed, that, although they have not been used by European nations, the Africans and the Indians have always been very ingenious at poisoning several kinds of fire compositions. At the commencement of the French revolution, poisoned balls were exhibited to the people, pretended to have been fired by the Austrians, particularly at the seige of Lisle. They contained glass, small pieces of iron, &c. and were said to be mixed with a greasy composition, which was impregnated with poisonous matter. In 1792, they were deposited in the archives of Paris.
Poisoned balls, according to authors, are composed of meal powder four parts, pitch six, rosin three, sulphur five, assafœtida eight, extract of toads' poison twelve, other poisonous substances twelve, made into balls in the manner we have mentioned. See _Poisoned Arrow_.
_Sec. VIII. Of Red-hot Balls._
It will be sufficient to observe, that red-hot shot, as an incendiary, are considered fully adequate to perform the effect which they are designed to produce. The balls are ignited in a coal fire on an iron grate, in a furnace constructed for the purpose; and, when thus heated, are thrown from guns, the space between the powder and ball being filled up with a piece of wood of the exact diameter of the gun, or with wet hay or grass, to prevent the ball from setting fire to the powder.
With respect to chain balls, composed of two balls linked together by a chain from twelve inches to four feet in length, and designed to destroy palisadoes, wooden bridges, and chevaux-de-frize of a fortification; stang-balls, or bar-shot, called by some, balls of two heads, made by uniting, by means of a bar, half shot; and anchor balls, filled with the same composition as light-balls, with some trifling variation in the ball itself, &c.--they are all used as destructive weapons, which belong more particularly to the service of artillery.
_Sec. IX. Of Pitched Tourteaux and Fascines._
Tourteaux are employed to illuminate the passages of rivers and defiles. They are placed in portable _lanterns_ or in fire-grates. They are used chiefly to light up the works of the beseiger, when he approaches the covert way, and to burn the gabions and fascines, with which he constructs his passage to the ditch. Tarred links are nothing more than old junk or matches, dipped into a composition of pitch, suet, linseed oil and turpentine; the junk being cut into lengths of about five feet, which is called a link. The _Tourteaux goudronnés_ of the French are the same, and formed of old rope, which is untwisted, immersed in pitch or tar, and afterwards left to dry. The French make the _Tourteaux goudronnés_ in the following manner: Take twelve pounds of tar or pitch, six pounds of tallow, and three pints of linseed oil; melt them together and dip twisted pieces of rope of any length into the boiling mixture. If they are required to burn slow, six pounds of rosin and two pounds of turpentine are added. Sometimes to the composition of pitch, tallow, and linseed oil, are added two parts of saltpetre, one part of sulphur, and half a part of antimony. Tourteaux, according to Bigot, are made in the following manner: Old cords or pieces of match are beaten with mallets to take out the dirt, and prepare them to receive the composition. They are untwisted a little for the same purpose. They are then cut into pieces about five feet in length, and each is intertwined to form a circle of five or six inches of external diameter, making a hole at the same time in the middle for the passage of the point of the lantern.
The rope, being thus prepared, is next boiled in the composition given below, for the space of ten or fifteen minutes, and then laid upon a wet plank. They are a second time dipped into the composition, and thrown into cold water, to give them again, by hand, the circular figure they may have lost. Flower of sulphur is now put over them, and they are dried in the shade.
_Composition for Tourteaux._
Pitch, 24 parts. Turpentine, 12 ---- Rosin, 6 ---- Mutton tallow, 4 ---- Linseed oil, 1 ---- Venice turpentine, 1 ----
_Another, for Tarred Links and Fascines, according to the Strasbourg formula._
Pitch, 18 parts. Turpentine, 9 ---- Suet, or tallow, 4 ---- Linseed oil, 1 ---- Spirits of turpentine, 1 ----
When a great quantity of links are to be made, either for illumination or for lighting a city, the oil may be omitted. The links will cost less, and they will answer the purpose equally well.
Fascines are made of strips of wood, or dry twigs, or wine shoots, which are the best, of the length of fourteen or sixteen inches. They are tied in bundles of four or five inches in diameter, with a cord or iron wire, and then boiled in the composition for tourteaux, and thrown into water to cool. They are principally used to give light to the works of an enemy, and to set fire to the passage of the ditch.
Fascines are of different kinds. In fortification, they are a kind of fagot, made of small branches of trees or brush wood, tied in three, four, five, or six places, and are of various dimensions, according to the purposes intended. Those that are to be pitched over for burning lodgements, galleries, or any other work of the enemy, should be one and a half or two feet long.
_Sec. X. Of Torches or Flambeaux._
We have already spoken of torches, but in connection with military pyrotechny, we may add, that they are used to give light during night marches, and for other purposes. They are made in the following manner.
Boil, in a mixture of equal parts of water and saltpetre, old cords or old match, well cleaned and untwisted. Take them out and dry them; then cut them in pieces of four and a half feet in length, and tie four of these pieces with twine to a cylindrical piece of wood, of the same length, and an inch in diameter; so that the whole together may be from two to two and a half inches thick. Dip this torch into a liquid made of equal parts of meal-powder and sulphur, mixed together with brandy, in which some gum has been dissolved. Fill the intervals of the pieces of cordage, with a paste, composed of three parts of sulphur, and one of quicklime. Dry the torch, and when dry, turn it gently round, and finish it by pouring on it the following composition.
_Composition for Flambeaux._
Turpentine, 32 parts. Venice turpentine, 4 ---- Beeswax, 32 ---- Sulphur, 12 ---- Camphor, 6 ----
_Another._
Pitch, 6 parts. Turpentine, 6 ---- Venice turpentine, 1 ----
Torches or flambeaux may also be made without the central piece of wood.
Torches ought to have the quality of burning, let the weather be what it may. The following method of making them is also recommended.
Take four large cotton matches, three or four feet long, boil them in saltpetre, and arrange them round a pine stick; after which cover them with priming powder and sulphur, made into a thin paste with brandy. When dry, cover the matches with the following composition; viz. 2 lbs. of yellow wax, as much white pitch, 12 oz. sulphur, 6 oz. camphor, and 4 oz. of turpentine: melt the whole together.
_Sec. XI. Of Powder Bags._
Powder bags are little sacks, that contain four pounds of powder.
They are of great use in besieged places. They are cast by the hand, set fire wherever they fall, and very much intimidate troops making an assault. They are made with good coarse cloth. Their width and size are not determined. It is sufficient that they can be easily thrown. The sides only are sewed up. In charging them, we begin by tying one end with strong packthread. Then turn it inside out, so that the ligature may be within, and fill it with powder, ramming it down with a cartridge form, proportioned to the bag, until it is full. Then put in the fuse, the large end inwards, and tie the bag tight. Afterwards the outside is covered with tar, or pitch.
_Sec. XII. Of the Powder Barrel._
A powder barrel is a common barrel, filled with powder, to roll from the top of a breach, or upon the head of a sap from the glacis. The barrel contains from 100 to 200 pounds of powder, and is covered with a cloth. A hole is made at each end, in which a fuse may be fixed, of such a size, that the fire may be communicated to the powder, at the moment when the barrel, rolled from the top of the breach, is met by the troops mounting to the assault.
English writers state the diameter of powder barrels at 16 inches, and 30 or 32 inches in length, and capable of holding 100 pounds of powder. The quantity of powder put into them is 90 lbs; into a half-barrel, 45 lbs; and into a quarter-barrel, used for rifle powder, only 22-1/2 lbs. This proportion leaves a space for the powder to separate when rolled, or otherwise it would always be in lumps, and liable thereby to damage.
_Sec. XIII. Of the Burning or Illuminating Barrel._
This barrel differs from the thundering barrel, which we shall describe in the following section, only in having no grenades; and when it is placed upon a glacis, it lights up or discovers the works of the besieger. It has a fuse in only one of its ends.
When shavings are boiled in the composition for links and fascines, or of tourteaux, and arranged layer by layer, scattering, over each stratum, some priming-powder, the combustion must be rapid, when the barrel is set on fire.
Fire barrels, we may observe, are of different kinds. Some are mounted on wheels, filled with composition, and intermixed with loaded grenades, and their outsides full of sharp spikes. Some are placed under ground, and have the effect of small mines; and others, as the kind we have mentioned, are used to roll down a breach to prevent the entrance of the enemy. The following composition has been used for the same purpose.
_Composition for Fire-Barrels._
Grained powder, 30 lbs. Pitch, 12 ---- Saltpetre, 6 ---- Tallow, 3 ----
_Sec. XIV. Of the Thundering Barrel._
This is employed for the same purpose as the preceding, or to light up the works of the besieger at the foot of the glacis. It has the same dimensions with the other, but has no cover. It is filled with chips, (dipped into the composition of the tourteaux), which are arranged in layers, putting, between each layer, meal-powder, and grenades, furnished with their fuses, or with pieces of musket barrels. The first and last layers are made with tow, boiled in the carcass composition. The barrel being filled, it is then closed and primed in the same way as the powder barrel, with a bomb fuse at each end. Holes are made along the barrel to assist the combustion. Grenades are employed in particular to prevent the approach of persons to extinguish the flame.
The invention of bombs is said to be owing to Scotland, and to the siege of St. Andrews. In the _Art of War_ (says the _Anthologia Hibernica_, vol. iii, p. 174) printed at Venice, we are shown the representation of a hogshead, coated with conical headed nails, in which there is enclosed a barrel of gunpowder, suspended in the centre by an iron tube, which communicates at both ends with the open air. This engine, we are told by the author, killed 558 persons by its explosion in the fosse.
_Sec. XV. Of the Petard._
The petard is used to break down the gates and barriers of small towns, and even their walls, by hanging it against them, and setting fire to the fuse. Its invention is ascribed to the French Huguenots in 1579, who, by means of petards, took Cahors, in the same year. It was invented, as others inform us, by the celebrated Coehorn.
The petard is a hollow piece of iron, either cast or wrought, of the figure of a truncated cone, and usually eight inches high, and nine and a half inches diameter at the base, the metal being five-sixths of an inch thick at top, and half an inch at bottom. It is open at the large end; and the small end, which is rounded, is pierced with a hole, in which is placed a brass fuse, filled with composition, in lieu of which, however, an ordinary bomb-fuse, or a quick-match may be used. It is furnished with four trunnions, (one and a half inches by one), to receive the iron staples, that are attached to an oaken plank, eighteen inches square, and two and a half inches thick, and reinforced below by two iron bands, in the form of a cross, nailed and dove-tailed in. It has two iron handles to carry it by, and to hook it to a screw, fixed in the gate intended to be broken. It is filled with gunpowder.
When the petard is to be loaded, it is filled with powder to within three inches of the bottom. Some folds of cartridge paper are then put in, and a bed of tow well rammed. It is finished with a hot cement made of one part of rosin, and two parts of ground brick, or Spanish brown. A plate of iron four or five lines thick is set into this, that fits the inside of the petard at that part. It is furnished with three iron points, to be driven into the plank. A petard, ready for use, weighs eighty-five pounds, and contains nine pounds of powder.
_Dimensions of the Petard._
_Inches._
Exterior diameter of the opening. 9½ Exterior height. 8 { At the height, ⅚ Thickness of the metal, { In the middle, ¾ { At the bottom, ½
Trunnions, { Length, 1½ { Height, 1
Fuses, { Length, 4-5/12 { Diam. under the screw, 11/12 { Diam. of the screw, 1⅓
Plank, { Length and width, 18 { Thickness, 2½
According to Ruggeri, a petard is filled, after warming it, with three fingers of powder, which is moistened with brandy, and then compressed without crushing it. On this powder, a quick match is placed, which is also compressed; after which, it is filled with composition previously melted. The composition is as follows:
_Composition for Petards._
Pitch 4 parts. Sulphur, 3 ---- Saltpetre, 1 ---- Antimony, 1 ----
After introducing one-half of this mixture, when melted, we put in the iron plate, which rests on the composition, and then add the rest of it, which finishes the operation.
_Sec. XVI. Of the Stink-Fire Lance._
This lance (_Lance à feu puant_ of the French) is prepared in the same manner as stink-pots, and is principally used by miners. When a miner or sapper has so far penetrated towards the enemy, as to hear the voices of persons in any place contiguous to his own excavation, he first of all bores a hole with his _probe_, then fires off several pistols through the aperture, and lastly forces in a _lance à feu puant_. He takes care to close up the hole on his side, to prevent the smoke from returning towards himself. The explosion and fetid gas and vapour, which issue from the lance, and remain on the side of the enemy, infect the air so much, that it is impossible to approach the quarter for three or four days. Sometimes, indeed, they have had such instantaneous effect, that, in order to save their lives, miners, who would persevere, have been dragged out in an apparent state of suffocation.
The composition of ordinary fire-lance has been given. They are sometimes used to set fire to fuses.
The fire-pot is a vessel made of clay, with two handles, in which a grenade with powder is confined, and which is thrown against an enemy, after the match has been lighted; but a stink-pot is a vessel, filled with combustible and other matter, used in boarding ships, &c.
The suffocating pot is another contrivance, as its name expresses, to produce suffocation; and, as the materials consist only of sulphur and nitre, the gas which principally produces this effect is the sulphurous acid.
_Composition for Suffocating Pots._
Sulphur, 6 parts. Nitre, 5 ----
Connected with this subject, we may mention another composition, to produce _smoke_, which is used either in pots, or balls. Hence, the _smoke-pot_, and _smoke-balls_. The following is the composition.
_Composition for Smoke-Balls._
Grained-powder, 10 lbs. Nitre, 2 -- Pitch, 4 -- Sea-coal, 3 -- Tallow, 1 --
The coal and pitch produce the smoke, and the gunpowder and nitre promote the combustion, and, with the tallow render the product of combustion more offensive.
_Sec. XVII. Of the Combustible Substances used in, and the Manner of preparing, a Fire-Ship._
A fire-ship is a vessel, filled with combustible substances, and fitted with grappling irons, to hook, and set fire to the enemy's ships in battle, &c.
With respect to the preparation required, some knowledge may be had by considering the following particulars. From the bulk-head at the fore-castle, to a bulk-head to be raised behind the main chains, on each side, and across the ship at the bulk-heads, is fixed, close to the ship's sides, a double row of troughs, two feet distance from each other, with cross troughs quite round, at about two and a half feet distance, which are mortised into the others. The cross troughs lead to the sides of the ship, to the barrels, and to the port-holes, to give fire both to the barrels and to the chambers, to blow open the ports; and the side troughs serve to communicate the fire all along the ship, and the cross troughs.
The timbers, of which the troughs are made, are about five inches square; the depth of the trough, half their thickness; and they are supported by cross-pieces at every two or three yards, nailed to the timbers of the ship, and to the wood-work, which encloses the fore and mainmasts. The decks and troughs are all well payed with melted rosin. On each side of the ship, six small port-holes are cut, from fifteen to eighteen inches large, (the ports opening downwards), and are close caulked up.
Against each port is fixed an iron chamber, which, at the time of firing the ship, blows open the ports and lets out the fire. At the main and fore chains, on each side, a wooden funnel is fixed over a fire-barrel, and comes through a scuttle in the deck, up to the shrouds to set them on fire. Both funnels and scuttles must be stopped with plugs, and have sail-cloth or canvass nailed close over them to prevent any accident happening that way by fire to the combustibles below.
The port-holes, funnels, and scuttles, not only serve to give the fire a free passage to the outside and upper parts of the ship and her rigging, but also to allow the inward air (otherwise confined) to expand itself, and push through those holes at the time of the combustibles being on fire, and prevent the blowing up of the decks, which otherwise must happen from the sudden and violent rarefaction of the air.
In the bulkhead behind on each side, is cut a small hole, large enough to receive a trough of the same size as the others, from which, to each side of the ship, lies a leading trough, one end coming through a sally port, cut through the ship's side, and the other fixing into a communicating trough, that lies along the bulk head, from one side of the ship to the other; and being laid with quick-match, at the time of firing either of the leading troughs, it communicates the fire, in an instant, to the contrary side of the ship, and both sides burn together.
Having thus described this preparatory arrangement, we shall consider, in the next place, the combustibles made use of in fitting up a fire-ship.
_Fire-barrel._ The fire-barrels for this purpose are cylindrical, on account of that shape answering better both for filling them with reeds, and for stowing them between the troughs. Their inside diameters are about 21 inches, and their length 33. The bottom parts are first filled with double-dipt reeds, set on end, and the remainder with fire-barrel composition, made of the following substances.
_Composition for fire-barrels, for fire-ships._
Grained Powder 30 lbs. Pitch 12 -- Saltpetre 6 -- Tallow 3 --
There are 5 holes of three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and 3 inches deep, made with a drift of that size, in the top of the composition, while it is warm; one in the centre, and the other four at equal distances, round the sides of the barrel.
When the composition is cold and hard, the barrel is primed by well driving these holes, full of fuse composition, to within an inch of the top; then fixing in each hole a strand of quick-match twice doubled, and in the centre hole, two strands the whole length; all which must be well driven with meal-powder. Then lay the quick-match all within the barrel, and cover the top of it with a dipped curtain, fastened on with a hoop to slip over the head, and nailed on.
_Bavins._ Bavins are made of birch, heath, or other sort of brush wood, that is both tough and quickly fired. Their length is 2-1/2 to 3 feet. The bush ends are all laid one way, and the other ends, tied with two bands each. They are dipped, and sprinkled with sulphur, the same as reeds; with this difference, that the bush ends only are dipped, and should be a little closed together by the hand as soon as done, to keep them more compact, in order to produce a stronger fire, and to preserve the branches from breaking in shifting and handling them.
_Composition for Bavins._
Rosin 120 lbs. Sulphur, coarse, or roll 90 -- Pitch 60 -- Tallow 6 -- Meal-powder 12 --
_Iron Chambers._ These are ten inches long, and 3.5 in diameter; breeched against a piece of wood, fixed across the holes. When loaded, they are almost filled with grained powder, with a wooden tompion well driven into their muzzles. They are primed with a small piece of quick-match, thrust through their vents into the powder, with a part of it hanging out; and, when the ship is fired, they blow open the ports, which either fall downwards, or are carried away, and accordingly give vent to the fire out of the sides of the ship.
_Curtains._ Curtains are made of barras, about three-quarters of a yard wide, and one yard in length. When they are dipped, two men, with each a fork, must run the prongs through the corner of the curtain at the same end. Then dip them into a large kettle of composition, (which is the same as the composition for bavins,) well melted; and, when well dipped and the curtain extended to its full breadth, whip it between two sticks of about 5.5 feet long, and 1.5 inches square, held close by two other men, to take off the superfluous composition hanging to it. Then immediately sprinkle sawdust on both sides, to prevent it from sticking, and the curtain is finished.
_Reeds._ They are made up in small bundles of about 12 inches in circumference, cut even at both ends, and tied with two bands each. The longest sort are 4 feet, and the shortest 2.5, the only lengths which are used. One part of them is single dipped, only at one end; the rest are double dipped, that is, at both ends. In dipping, they must be put about 7 or 8 inches deep into a copper kettle of melted composition, of the same kind as that for bavins; and, when they have drained a little over it, to carry off the superfluous composition, sprinkle them, over a tanned hide, with pulverized sulphur, at some distance from the copper. With respect to the stores, required for a fire ship of 150 tons, the following complement is given: _viz._
No. Fire barrels 8 Iron chambers 12 Priming composition barrels 3½ Quick-match barrels 1 Curtains dipped 30 Long reeds, single dipped 150 Short reeds { double dipped 75 { single dipped 75 Bavins, single dipped 209
The quantity of composition, for preparing the stores of a fire ship is as follows:
For 8 barrels; grained powder 960 pounds, pitch 480 pounds, tallow 80 pounds.
For 3 barrels of priming composition, saltpetre 175 lbs. sulphur 140 lbs. grained powder 350 lbs. rosin 21 lbs. oil-pots 11.
For curtains, bavins, and reeds, and sulphur to _salt_ them, as artificers call it; sulphur 240 lbs. pitch 350 lbs. rosin 175 lbs. tallow 50 lbs. tar 25 lbs.
Total weight of the composition 3017 pounds, equal to 26 cwt. 3 qr. 21 lbs.
The composition, required for the rods and barrels, is one-fifth of the whole of the last article, which is equal to 160 lbs. making in the whole, 3177 lbs. or 28 cwt. 1 qr. 13 lbs.
Adye (_Bombardier and Pocket Gunner_) has given two general formulæ for the composition, used in fire-ships, which we will here insert.
_Composition for dipping reeds, bavins, and curtains._
Rosin, 120 lbs Coarse sulphur, 90 -- Pitch, 60 -- Tallow, 6 or 8 Mealed powder, 12 --
_Composition for priming._
Pulverized saltpetre, 22 lbs. 8 oz. Rosin, 2 -- 11 -- Sulphur, 18 -- Meal-powder, 45 -- Linseed oil, 1 pint.
The composition put in cases, to set fire to fascine batteries, is sometimes used in fire-ships, _viz._
_Composition for setting fire to Fascine Batteries._
Meal-powder, 1 lb. 4 oz. Saltpetre, 6 -- Sulphur, 1 -- 8 oz.
There is also another composition, which might be used advantageously for the same purpose, and which is employed for hoops, fire-arrows, and lances, namely:
_Composition for Hoops, Fire-Arrows, &c._
Meal-powder, 1 lb. Saltpetre, 3 -- Sulphur, 8 oz. Linseed oil, 8 --
The composition of kitt, used for the last covering of carcasses, may also be employed. It must be applied when very thin and hot.
_Composition of Kitt._
Rosin, 9 lbs. Bees' wax, 6 -- Pitch, 6 -- Tallow, 1 --
_Sec. XVIII. On Infernal Machines._
The _Machines Infernales_ of the French, which have excited so much attention in Europe, we deem of sufficient importance to describe.
This invention is by no means new, although it has been attributed to the French. It appears that Fredric Jambelli, an Italian engineer, was the first that used them, when Alexander, of Parma, besieged Antwerp. The Prince of Orange likewise had recourse to the destructive effects of an infernal machine, in order to bombard Havre-de-Grace, and to set it on fire. The Dutch and English, in conjunction, attempted to destroy St. Malo by the same means. The first instance, however, upon record, in which the French made use of this machine, was when Louis XIV ordered a vessel, carrying an enormous shell, full of every kind of combustible matter, to be despatched to Algiers, for the purpose of demolishing its harbour. This, it is supposed, suggested the use of fire-ships, which have frequently been used against maritime places.
The author of the _Œuvres Militaires_, tom. xxii, p. 222, speaking of the infernal machine, observes, that, if he were to be in a situation, which required the use of so dreadful an explosion, especially to destroy a bridge, he would prefer having the machine made simply with different strong pieces of wood, joined together, so as to be in the shape of an egg, or of a cone reversed.
The whole must then be made compact with cords twisted round. This method, in his opinion, is not only the best, but can be executed in the most easy and expeditious manner. He further adds, that, in order to burn or blow up wooden bridges, and even to destroy such as are constructed upon arches, several sorts of barges or boats might be used, which should be filled with fire-works, bombs, petards, &c. It would, likewise, be easy to construct these machines upon floating rafters, carrying several thousand pounds weight of gunpowder, which might be confined within strong pieces of wood, put together in the manner already described.
These machines should be piled one above another, and long iron bars must be thrown across the floats, or be fixed like masts; so that, when the whole of the combustible material is beneath the centre of the bridge, the rafters may be stopped. Great care must be taken to dispose the matches in such a manner, that no fire may be communicated to the gunpowder before the machine reaches the exact spot, which is to be destroyed.
In 1804, an infernal machine was used at Boulogne, which is described as follows:
This machine appears to be as simple in its construction, as it is calculated to be effectual in its operations. It is composed of 2 stout planks, 17 feet long, which form its sides, and are distant from each other about 7 feet.
These planks are connected by transverse timbers, screwed to the planks; so as to keep the whole firm and compact, and to prevent the danger of their being separated at sea. Of these transverse timbers, two are at the fore extremity, and three behind. This may be called, the frame or hull of the machine; the remainder of the work, being either for the stowage of the combustible matter, or for the accommodation of the seamen, who row the machine. Along the transverse timbers, at both extremities, are laid parallel to the sides, five longitudinal bars of nearly the same strength as the transverse timbers, which form a kind of grate, on which the coffers, containing the combustible matter, are placed. The grate behind is double the size of the one before, on the principle of giving facility to the motion of the whole, by making the machine lighter at the head. In the centre, between the planks forming the sides, from the inner extremity of the grate behind, to the outer extremity of the grate before, there is fixed a plank, somewhat broader than the side planks, which is well secured to them by three stout transverse timbers, which pass under the centre plank, to prevent its giving way to pressure.
In this plank, two triangular apertures are cut for men who row, to dispose of the lower extremities, whilst they ply the machine. Their seats, however, are so contrived, that each man's pressure is directly over that part of the plank, which is supported by the transverse timbers. The seats lie nearer to the head than to the hind part of the machine; perhaps to be some counterpoise for the greater weight of the combustible matter behind. Near each seat are fastened by rings to the sides, two oars, one on each side, and each man plies a pair. When the machine is worked to its destination, the men set the combustibles in a train for explosion, and abandon their posts.
The whole is so regulated, as to weight of materials, that the machine floats, or, more probably, moves under the surface of the water; so that little more than the heads of the men are seen. This secures the men and the machine from the fire of the enemy; and as the oars must be constantly plied under water, there is less danger of their being discovered by their noise, as they approach.
Infernal machines have also been made, to be used on land. Such is the machine we are told, which was intended for the destruction of Bonaparte. They may be made to explode at a given time, by clock-work, or by a match, calculated to burn a certain time!
_Sec. XIX. Of the Catamarin._
The catamarin, properly so called, is a floating raft, originally used in China, and among the Portuguese as a fishing-boat. The Indian catamarin consists of two logs of wood, upon which the natives float, and go through the heaviest surf.
The military or naval catamarin is a different thing. It is properly a case, filled with combustibles, and contrived to remain so low in the water as to be almost imperceptible. This, being towed to the building, or ship, against which the attack is to be directed, is left to explode, by means of machinery within itself, when its operation is sometimes very destructive.
English writers acknowledge, that the catamarin, submitted by the late Mr. Pitt to the English government, and which cost in its construction a considerable sum, was originally invented by our countryman, the late Mr. Fulton, of whose invention we will speak hereafter.
Some observations on a boat, named, by the French, _Chelingues_, and the Indian catamarin, may be seen in the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, article _Bateau_.
Several diving machines have been invented in France and elsewhere. M. Castera (_Archives des Découvertes_, iii, p. 185) describes a _plunging boat_, which resembles in figure a cone. It is furnished with a reservoir, calculated to hold water, and may be filled or emptied by means of pumps. By means of glasses and copper handles, the navigator is enabled to see and to take hold of objects. It is also furnished with tubes for the transmission of the air necessary for respiration, that communicate from the interior of the vessel with the atmosphere; and a double bellows, designed as well for receiving, as expelling air. Besides oars or paddles, necessary to move it under water, there is a contrivance for detaching the boat from the reservoir, either wholly or in part, according to circumstances.
M. Castera, in a memoir on _sub-marine navigation_, has noticed several applications of the plunging boat, which may be seen in the _Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement_, No. 71. In No. 61, of the same work, is the first notice of Castera's invention, an extract of which may be seen in the _Archives des Découvertes_, ii. p. 121. A description of Lutgendorf's boat may be seen in the _Magazin der Erfindungen_, No. 46.
_Sec. XX. Of the American Turtle._
It is well known that the diving-bell, and similar contrivances, have been used for naval purposes, in connection with naval warfare.
Divers, or those who made it a business, by long habit and experience, to remain under water, and go to a great depth, were often employed in war to destroy the works and ships of the enemy. When Alexander was besieging Tyre, divers swam off from the city, under water, to a great distance, and, with long hooks, tore to pieces the mole, with which the besiegers were endeavouring to block up the harbour. The invention of the diving-bell, the _campana urinatoria_ of some, is generally assigned to the sixteenth century; but it is evident, from the writings of Aristotle and others, that, in his time, divers used a kind of kettle to enable them to continue longer under water.
At the pearl fisheries, in the Bay of Condalzchy, in Ceylon, divers usually remain under water two minutes. There are some who can stay five minutes; and a diver from Anjano, engaged in this fishery in 1797, was able to remain six minutes under water. But their efforts are so great, that, when they come up, blood frequently issues from their mouths, ears, and nostrils. Notwithstanding this, they frequently dive from forty to fifty times a day, and bring up in a bag-net a hundred oysters each time.
It may be proper to observe, that the subject of sub-marine navigation was largely descanted upon by Mersennus, (_Tractatus de Magnetis Proprietatibus_), and by Bishop Wilkins (_Mathematical Magic_, 1648), who, by the way, is rather visionary. The conveniences and advantages he enumerates, are: 1. 'Privacy, as a man may thus go to any part of the world invisibly, without being discovered or prevented. 2. Safety, from the uncertainty of tides and tempests, &c. 3. It may be used to blow up, or undermine a navy: 4. Or to relieve a blockaded place, &c. But, with regard to the use of sub-marine vessels in war, Mr. David Bushnel, of Saybrook, Connecticut, appears to be entitled to the credit of the invention. His account of it may be seen in the _Transactions of the American Philosophical Society_. The intended object of this vessel was to destroy shipping, by the explosion of a magazine of gunpowder.
In Silliman's _Journal of Science and Arts_, vol. II, p. 94, is a communication by Mr. Griswold, on the subject of Bushnel's machine, with an account of the first attempt with it, in August, 1776, by Ezra Lee, a sergeant in the American army, to destroy some of the British ships then lying at New York. Mr. Griswold remarks, that, considering the invention of Mr. Bushnel as the first of its kind, it will be pronounced to be remarkably complete throughout in its construction, and that such an invention furnishes evidence of those resources and creative powers, which must rank him as a mechanical genius of the first order.
He has given a description of it; but the outline which we give is taken from _Nicholson's Journal_, quarto, iv, p. 229.
It is a decked boat, to go underwater: and several persons have gone under water many leagues. The difficulty is, to provide the persons in the boat with fresh air for respiration; and this is contrived, by having a reservoir of air, of suitable dimensions to the size of the boat, and the number of persons in it. By means of a condensing pump, the air, in this reservoir, is condensed about 400 times; and by a spring, the air is let out at intervals, as circumstances require, the carbonic acid produced by respiration being absorbed by quicklime. Within this boat are flaps, like those of a rundle, to move the boat, two rudders, one vertical, the other horizontal, and a pump to empty the hold, or air reservoir. The person within, can, at pleasure, come to the top of the water. The different experiments made by Mr. Bushnel may be seen in the _Transactions_ referred to, or in _Nicholson's Journal_, quarto, iv, 229.
During the late war, Mr. Fulton, Mr. Mix, and some others, made various experiments with submarine machines; and during the revolution, the incendiary kegs, well known by the name of the "_battle of the kegs_," excited no small attention, and, had it not been for some unforeseen circumstance, they would, in all probability, have produced the effect for which they were intended.
Of Bushnel's vessel, we may observe, that, in the fore part of the brim of the crown, as it is called, was a socket, and an iron tube passing through the socket. The tube stood upright, and could slide up and down in the socket, six inches. At the top of the tube was a wood screw, fixed by means of a rod, which passed through the tube, and screwed the wood screw fast upon the top of the tube. By pushing the wood screw up against the bottom of a ship, and turning it at the same time, it would enter the planks. When the wood screw was firmly fixed, it could be cast off by unscrewing the rod, which fixed it upon the top of the tube.
Behind the submarine vessel, was a place, above the rudder, for carrying a large powder magazine. This was made of two pieces of oak timber, sufficiently large, when hollowed out, to contain 150 lbs. of powder, (130 lbs. according to Griswold,) with the apparatus used in firing it, and was secured in its place by a screw, turned by the operator. A strong piece of rope extended from the magazine to the wood screw above mentioned, and was fastened to both. When the wood screw was fixed, and to be cast off from its tube, the magazine was to be cast off likewise by unscrewing it, leaving it hanging to the wood screw; it was lighter than the water, that it might rise up against the object, and apply itself when fastened.
Mr. Griswold remarks, that the most difficult point of all to be gained, was to fasten this magazine to the bottom of a ship.
Within the magazine, was a machine, constructed to run any proposed length of time under twelve hours. When it had run out its time, it unpinioned a strong lock resembling a gun-lock, which gave fire to the powder. This apparatus was so pinioned, that it could not possibly move, till, by casting off the magazine from the vessel, it was set in motion.
This skilful operator could swim so low on the surface of the water, as to approach very near a ship in the night without fear of discovery, and might, if he chose, approach the stem or stern above water, with very little danger. He could sink very quickly, keep at any depth he pleased, and row a great distance in any direction he desired, without coming to the surface; and, when he rose to the surface, he could soon obtain a fresh supply of air; when, if necessary, he might descend again and pursue his course. The projector found some time and attention to be requisite for the gradual instruction of this operator, and, after various attempts, he found one, on whom he thought he could depend. He sent this man from New York to a 50 gun ship, lying not far from Governor's island. He went under the ship, and attempted to fix the wood screw in her bottom, but struck, as he supposed, a bar of iron, which passes from the rudder's hinge, and is spiked under the ship's quarter. Had he removed a few inches, which he might have done without rowing, the projector has no doubt but he might have found wood, where he might have fixed the screw; or if the ship were sheathed with copper, he might easily have pierced it. But, not being well skilled in the management of the vessel, in attempting to row to another place, he lost the ship. After seeking her in vain some time, he rowed to some distance, and rose to the surface of the water, but found day light had advanced so far, that he durst not renew the attempt. He says, he could easily have fastened the magazine under the stern of the ship above the water, as he rowed up to the stern, and touched it before he descended. Had he fixed it there, the explosion of 150 lbs of gunpowder (the quantity contained in the magazine) must have been fatal to the ship. In his return from the ship to New York, he passed near Governor's island, and thought he was discovered by the enemy on the island. Being in haste to avoid the danger he feared, he cast off the magazine, as he imagined it retarded him in the swell, which was very considerable. After the magazine had been cast off an hour, the time the internal apparatus was set to run, it blew up with great violence.
Mr. Griswold gives an account of an attempt to destroy a ship of war; and having received his information from Mr. Lee, one of the adventurers, we have thought proper to introduce it from that source.
"It was in the month of August, 1776, when Admiral Howe lay with a formidable British fleet in New York bay, a little above the narrows, and a numerous British force upon Staten Island, commanded by General Howe, threatened annihilation to the troops under Washington, that Mr. Bushnel requested General Parsons, of the American army, to furnish him with two or three men to learn the navigation of his new machine, with the view of destroying some of the enemy's shipping.
"General Parsons immediately sent for Lee, then a sergeant, and two others, who had offered their services to go on board a fire ship; and on Bushnel's request being made known to them, they enlisted themselves under him for this novel piece of service. The party went up into Long Island sound with the machine, and made various experiments with it in the different harbours along shore; and after having become pretty thoroughly acquainted with the mode of navigating it, they returned through the sound; but, during their absence, the enemy had got possession of Long Island and Governor's Island. They, therefore, had the machine conveyed by land across from New Rochelle to the Hudson river, and afterwards arrived with it at New York.
"The British fleet now lay to the north of Staten Island, with a large number of transports, and were the objects against which this new mode of warfare was destined to act. The first serene night was fixed upon for the execution of this perilous enterprize, and sergeant Lee was to be the engineer. After a lapse of a few days, a favourable night arrived, and, at 11 o'clock, a party embarked in two or three whale boats, with Bushnel's machine in tow. They rowed down as near the fleet as they dared, when sergeant Lee entered the machine, was cast off, and the boats returned.
"Lee now found the ebb tide rather too strong, and before he was aware, had drifted him down past the men of war. He, however, immediately _got the machine about_, and by hard labour at the crank for the space of five glasses by the ship's bells, two and a half hours, he arrived under the stern of one of the ships at about slack water. Day had now dawned, and by the light of the moon he could see the people on board, and hear their conversation. This was the moment for diving: he accordingly closed up over head, let in water, and descended under the ship's bottom. He now applied the screw, and did all in his power to make it enter; but owing probably in part to the ship's copper, and the want of an adequate pressure, to enable the screw to get a hold on the bottom, his attempts all failed. At each essay, the machine rebounded from the ship's bottom, not having sufficient power to resist the impulse thus given to it. He next paddled along to a different part of her bottom, but, in this manœuvre, he made a deviation, and instantly rose to the water's surface on the east side of the ship, exposed to the increasing light of the morning, and in imminent hazard of being discovered. He immediately made another descent, with a view of making one more trial; but the fast approach of day, which would expose him to the enemy's boats, and render his escape difficult, if not impossible, deterred him; and he concluded the best generalship would be, to commence an immediate retreat. He now had before him a distance of more than four miles to traverse, but the tide was favourable. At Governor's island, great danger awaited him; for his compass having got out of order, he was under the necessity of looking out from the top of the machine very frequently, to ascertain its course, and at first made a very irregular zigzag track. The soldiers at Governor's island espied the machine, and curiosity drew several hundreds upon the parapet to watch its motions. At last a party came down to the beach, shoved off a barge, and rowed towards it. At that moment, sergeant Lee thought he saw his certain destruction, and as the last act of defence, let go the magazine, expecting they would seize that likewise, and thus all would be blown to atoms together. Providence, however, otherwise directed it: the enemy, after approaching within 50 or 60 yards of the machine, and seeing the magazine detached, began to suspect a _yankee trick_, took alarm, and returned to the island. Approaching the city, he soon made a signal; the boats came to him, and brought him safe and sound to the shore. The magazine, in the mean time, had drifted past Governor's island into the East river, where it exploded with tremendous violence, throwing large columns of water, and pieces of wood that composed it, high into the air. General Putnam, with many other officers, stood on the shore, spectators of this explosion.
"In a few days, the American army evacuated New York, and the machine was taken up the North river. Another attempt was afterwards made by Lee, upon a frigate that lay opposite Bloomingsdale. His object now was to fasten the magazine to the stern of the ship, close at the water's edge. But while attempting this, the watch discovered him, raised an alarm, and compelled him to abandon his enterprize. He then endeavoured to get under the frigate's bottom; but in this he failed, having descended too deep. This terminated his experiments."
With regard to diving bells, several machines, for the purpose of descending under water, &c. have been invented. Some experiments have been made by the French with similar contrivances, without any adequate result; and the difficulty of carrying them into execution, in real practice, will prevent their introduction.
Dr. _Caustic_, (_Terrible Tractoration_, p. 65), in a note, in reference to Bushnel's invention, observes, that if you consult the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, "you will see what Mr. D. Bushnel, of Connecticut, has done, and had like to have done, by virtue of submarine explosions. You will find, that several English ships have been put in jeopardy, and one schooner actually blown up and demolished by Mr. Bushnel's submarine explosions."[33]
_Sec. XXI. Of the Torpedo._
The late Mr. Fulton applied himself to the improvement of the _Turtle_ during the late war, and brought it to such perfection, that if it came in contact with a ship's bottom, it would inevitably blow up the vessel. From the account we have given of the turtle, we may readily imagine the construction of the torpedo. These were of several kinds; some (or rather the magazine attached to them,) were designed to be screwed under the bottom, and others to explode by coming in contact with the vessel, or any resisting body. The time of explosion was so determined, by clock-work machinery, in the manner of Bushnel's contrivance that it would invariably explode at the minute or second required.
Mr. Fulton wrote a number of essays on this torpedo, and other contrivances for annoying the enemy, such as the harpoon, &c. The torpedo, at which the British ships, stationed on our coast, were so much alarmed, is in fact a powerful weapon of destruction. It is to be observed, that the magazine, accompanying the _bell_, in some instances, was detached; so that the latter was removed out of danger, when the former was fixed to the ship's bottom. In order to prevent the torpedo from floating against the sides of a vessel, the precaution of having netting spread at some considerable distance round the vessel, and of keeping up a constant guard of boats, which were rowed round the ship both day and night, was used. Not having the writings of Mr. Fulton before us, we can give no precise description of his improvements. They are described to be an apparatus, of which the principal piece is a copper box, and prepared with an interior spring, which sets fire to the powder; at the same time that the whole is enclosed in a covering of cork, or some other light wood, to make the torpedo float under the surface of the water.
It will be sufficient to remark, that _they_ have produced the _effect_ of causing a constant, and, in our opinion, painful anxiety to the British. Of this we have abundant proof. We may add, however, the result of some of the experiments, by which it will appear, that they are eminently calculated, like the infernal machine, to produce death and destruction.
In consequence of some essays, published by Mr. Fulton, on the practicability of destroying ships by torpedoes, several persons turned their attention to this subject; among whom was a Mr. Mix of the navy. Mr. Mix's intention was to destroy the ship of war Plantagenet, of 74 guns, lying in Lynnhaven bay. Having made a torpedo, Mr. Mix, accompanied by two gentlemen, one of whom was a midshipman, proceeded in a boat, on the night of the 24th of July, 1813, and, having reached within 100 yards of the ship, dropped the torpedo. It was swept along by the side, but exploded a few seconds before it would have come in contact with the vessel. It produced, however, great consternation and confusion on board the vessel, and induced several of the crew to take to their boats. The ship was greatly agitated, and some damage done by the violent motion of the water. The noise, occasioned by the explosion, was loud and tremendous; and the appearance of the water, thrown up in a column of thirty or forty feet high, awfully sublime. It has not been ascertained, that any lives were lost.
The case of a Mr. Penny, of Easthampton, Long Island, is connected with the subject of torpedoes. He was carried on board the Ramilies, and put in irons; because his name had been entered on the books of one of the frigates, as having been "_employed in a boat, contrived for the purpose, under the command of Thomas Welling, prepared with a torpedo, to destroy this_ (Capt. Hardy's) _ship_."
The affair of Stonington, also, shows, that the British were determined to punish the inhabitants for having, as captain Hardy expresses it, prepared torpedoes; and the captain stated, in his reply to the deputation from the town, that the bombardment should cease, in case the inhabitants would engage that no _torpedoes_ should be fitted out by them. No torpedoes, however, were fitted out at Stonington.[34]
Mr. Fulton made a number of experiments with the torpedo, in the harbour of New York; and one vessel was completely cut in two. These experiments were very satisfactory to all who witnessed them.
The greatest difficulty he experienced was in giving them a proper direction, so as to hit the vessel intended to be destroyed. This he acknowledged to a friend, professor Eaton, of Troy, who informed us of the fact. He entertained no doubt whatever of the effect of the torpedo, when once brought in contact with a vessel.
At Havre, in France, Mr. Fulton constructed a sub-marine boat, sufficient to contain several men, and air for eight hours, and strong enough to bear submersion to the depth of one hundred feet, if necessary. In this boat, he remained an hour under water, made half a league of way in that time, with his boat horizontally situated, and at various depths, where he found that the compass traversed exactly, as on the surface. To the boat he attached a machine, by means of which he blew up a lighter in Brest Harbour.
While in France, in the time of the Republic, Mr. F. directed his attention to this subject. His _Bateau-poisson_, described in the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, vol. i, p. 265, is of the same character. A number of experiments performed with it are given.
_Sec. XXII. Of the Marine Incendiary Kegs, &c._
We purpose to notice, under this head, two contrivances, which have been used, the one in the revolution, and the other, during the late war with Great Britain.
The piece of poetry, called the _Battle of the Kegs_, written by the late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. of Philadelphia, narrating the incendiary kegs, is founded on this contrivance.
For the purpose of destroying the shipping at Philadelphia, which was then in possession of the British, some forty or more kegs were fitted up at Burlington, N. J. or in its neighbourhood, containing a quantity of gunpowder. These kegs were connected in such a manner, that, while they formed one float, when one exploded, the whole would go off. This arrangement was also made with another, if our information is correct, which consisted in a trigger connected with a gun-lock, (one or more kegs having the same); so that, when the triggers went off, by the casks coming against any thing, in floating down the tide, the whole would explode at the same time. There is one of the original kegs in the magazine of Fort Mifflin. We apprehend, however, that the contrivance was more like that of clock-work, set to a given time, like the torpedo of Fulton; but of this we have no certain account. These kegs were towed down the river, within a mile or two of the city, and were seen about sunrise opposite to it. They did no execution; but, if they had been taken to a given spot, instead of being left to the direction of the running current, and then properly adjusted, no doubt the effect would have been as the contriver calculated. It excited, however, no small sensation at the time.
Of the other contrivance, we have the following account: A Mr. Scudder (_History of the late War, &c._ p. 187) formed a design of destroying the British ship Ramilies, of 74 guns, off New London. For this purpose, 10 kegs of powder were put into a strong cask, with a quantity of sulphur mixed into it. At the head of the cask were, fixed two gun-locks, with cords fastened to the triggers, and to the under side of the barrels in the hatchway; so that it was impossible to hoist the barrels, without springing the locks each side of the powder. On the top were placed a quantity of turpentine and spirits of turpentine, which in all probability were sufficient to destroy any vessel that ever floated. These kegs were put on board the smack Eagle, which sailed from New York on the 15th of June, for New London; but which the crew abandoned, on being pursued by the boats of the enemy. It was expected, that the vessel would be brought alongside the Ramilies, and, by exploding, destroy that ship. The wind dying away, and the tide being against them, she could not, very fortunately for the enemy, be brought alongside. When the Eagle exploded, there were four boats alongside, and a great many men on board of her. After the explosion, there was not a vestige of the boats to be seen. A body of fire rose to a vast height, and then burst like a rocket. Every man, near or about her, was probably lost, as the boats sent from the Ramilies were seen to return without picking up anything.
In relation to similar enterprizes, what could have been a more daring and hazardous enterprize, than that of lieutenants Wadsworth, Summers, &c. who, by a previous agreement, determined, if they were likely to be captured by the Turks, to blow themselves up in the fire-ship, which they had prepared to destroy the enemy's shipping, in the harbour of Tripoli? Their fate is too well known, lamentable as it is!
The marquis of Worcester, in his _Century of Inventions_, inventions nine and ten, speaks of certain contrivances for the destruction of vessels, which seem to have been of the kind mentioned: _viz._ "An engine, portable in one's pocket, which may be carried and fastened on the inside of the greatest ship, _tanquam aliud agens_; and, at an appointed minute, though a week after, either of a day or night, it shall irrecoverably sink that ship;" and "a way from a mile off, to drive and fasten a like engine to any ship, so as it may punctually work the same effect, either for time or execution."
_Sec. XXIII. Of Sea Lights._
The _fanaux de mer_, or sea lights, are so called, from the particular application of this fire.
It is sometimes required at sea to throw light upon the water, and around the vessel, in order to perceive the approach of an enemy. This is effected by the composition for sea lights.
A tube must be formed of not less than three inches in diameter, and eleven inches in length. A shield is then adapted, of four times the exterior diameter of the tube or case, which shield is to be made of wood, and attached at about the distance of one-fourth of the length of the tube, and near the end of the orifice.
The case or tube is then charged with the following composition:
_Composition for Sea Lights._
Saltpetre, 16 parts. Sulphur, 8 ---- Meal-powder, 3 ---- Antimony, 3 ----
The tube, which may be made of iron, pasteboard, or wood, by boring it out, after being charged, is primed in the usual manner, inserting in the end, at the same time, a piece of quick-match. When dried, it is wrapped in paper for better preservation.
_Sec. XXIV. Of Signal and War-Rockets._
Rockets, we have said, are cylindrical cases, formed generally of pasteboard, and filled with a peculiar composition, made of meal-powder, saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal; or without powder, and sometimes with the addition of pulverized cast iron. In some, as the Congreve rocket, iron cases are substituted for those of paper. The outer diameter is usually from one and a half to two inches, the length of the charge five diameters, and the interior diameter two-thirds as much as the exterior. The tools necessary are, a rod or former of wood, to mould the case upon; an artificer's tool to roll the paper close; a conical spit or piercer, by means of which the rocket when loaded has a hollow through the middle, which piercer should be four and two-thirds times as long as the outer diameter of the rocket, one-third of this diameter at the base, and one-sixth at the small end; three rods for loading, having a conical aperture to receive the piercer, and one massive; and a ladle or measure, whose diameter is equal to that of the inside of the rocket, and its length three times as much. The construction of the cartouch case, or paper cylinder, consists in using pasteboard of three or more thicknesses, which is rolled on the former, until the case becomes sufficiently thick. The choaking of the cylinder is performed by means of a cord, of three lines in diameter, one end of which is firmly fixed into a wall, and the other tied to a stick, against which the artificer who bestrides the cord rests. The rocket is loaded or charged, by introducing at a time, a ladle full of composition, first fixing the case over the piercer, and using the appropriate rammer and mallet, in the manner stated, &c.[35]
Signal rockets are sometimes _trimmed_ with serpents, stars, and petards. The serpents are made of cases in the manner already mentioned; _viz._ by rolling playing cards in the direction of their length, upon a former, three lines in diameter, and covered with three coats of paper, the last of which is pasted. The cases are choaked at one end, and in the niche is placed a strand of tow, and a priming of meal-powder, moistened with brandy. They are loaded, by means of a rod, three-fourths full of the composition, and again choaked at half their height. The remainder is filled up with powder, to make a report. If a serpent with stars is to be made, only half the case is filled with the serpent-composition, and the rest with that for stars. Serpents are placed upright in the pot, the priming down.
_Composition for Serpents, for trimming Signal Rockets._
Meal-powder, 16 parts. Saltpetre, 3 ---- Sulphur, 2 ---- Charcoal, ½ ----
The star composition is the same as before given.[36] It is mixed and made into balls or cubes, in the same manner. The petards or crackers are small cubes of paper, filled with grained gunpowder. They are wrapped with two layers of good thread, which is drawn tight in every direction. They are dipped in tar to give them more consistence, and pierced and primed with quick match. We have already given the theory of the flight of rockets in the first part of this work; and also the opinions of Mariotte and Dr. Desaguliers. On this head, therefore, further observation seems unnecessary We have said, however, that it is necessary, for giving the rocket a sufficient degree of motion, that the powder within the rocket be bored with a tapering cavity from the choke, and at the choke this cavity must be as wide as the choke itself, and at the further end, not more than half that width. The length of this bore must be but one inner diameter of the rocket, short of the whole height to which the rocket is rammed. The use of this bore, it is to be observed, is to increase the surface, that takes fire at once; that a greater body of fire may issue out of the mouth of the rocket. From the vehemence with which the fire issues out, the rocket receives its motion. We have seen, that rockets are used in all fire-works that have motion; for cases charged give motion to wheels of various kinds, and act on the same principle. Such works as are thrown into the air after the manner of bombs, are, however, an exception.
The rocket-stick is a necessary appendage. When very heavy, to prevent mischief by their fall, they now bore the sticks, and fill them with powder, that they may shiver in the air before they fall.
That the stick keeps the rocket perpendicular is obvious. If the rocket should begin to tumble, moving round a point in the choke, as being the common centre of gravity of rocket and stick, there would be so much friction against the air, by the stick between the centre and the point, and the point would beat against the air with so much velocity, that the reaction of the medium would restore it to its perpendicularity. When the composition is burnt out, and the impulse upwards has ceased, the common centre of gravity is brought lower towards the middle of the stick. Hence the velocity of the point of the stick is decreased, and that of the point of the rocket increased; so that the whole will tumble down, with the rocket end foremost. During the combustion of the rocket, the common centre of gravity is shifting and getting downwards, and faster and lower as the stick is lighter.
In the _Philosophical Transactions_, (vol. xlvi, p. 578) and Robins's _Mathematical Tracts_, (vol. i, p. 317, &c.) are sundry experiments, and observations concerning the flight of rockets; and as these experiments appertain more to military purposes, the following extracts may, on that account, be useful.
Mr. Robins, considering the great use that may be made of rockets, in determining the position of distant places, and in giving signals for naval and military purposes, procured some, with a view of ascertaining the height to which they rise, and the distance at which they may be seen. The greatest part of them did not rise to above four hundred yards; one to about five hundred; and one to six hundred yards nearly. The greatest distance at which these were observed, was from thirty-five to thirty-eight miles. Others were fired at a different time, one of which rose to six hundred and ninety yards; and it was observed, that the largest, which were about two and a half inches in diameter, rose the highest. In some subsequent experiments, conducted by Mr. Da Costa, Mr. Banks, &c. it was found, that, of two rockets, of about three and a half inches in diameter, one rose to about eight hundred and thirty-three, and the other to 915 yards. In another trial, a rocket of four inches in diameter rose to one thousand one hundred and ninety yards. In other experiments, a rocket of one and a half inches rose to seven hundred and forty-three yards; one of two inches to six hundred and fifty nine; one of two and a half inches to eight hundred and eighty; another of the same size to one thousand and seventy-one; one of three inches to one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; one of three and a half inches to one thousand one hundred and nine; and one of four inches rose to seven hundred yards, and, turning, fell to the ground before it went out. Besides these, there was one of the rockets of "twenty-four inches in diameter,"[37] which rose to seven hundred and eighty four yards, and another of the same size, to eight hundred and thirty-three yards. From these experiments, it is inferred, that rockets from two and a half to three and a half inches in diameter, are sufficient to answer all the purposes for which they are intended; and they may be made to rise to a height, and to afford a light capable of being seen to considerably greater distances than those just mentioned.
Before we mention the war-rockets of Congreve, it may not be improper to speak of the Indian rockets, which are used by the native troops of India, and which were employed against the British, with great effect, during the seige of Seringapatam in 1799. These rockets are made of iron, and are lashed to a bamboo cane. The weight is seldom more than two pounds, or less than one. The _fougette_, or Indian rocket, resembles in shape a sky-rocket, _whose flight is gradually brought to run along a horizontal direction_. By throwing several fougettes into parks of artillery, and upon caissons, &c. considerable damage might be occasioned from the fire, which would inevitably be communicated to some part. A fougette forces itself immediately forward, cuts as it penetrates, by the formation of its sides, which are filled with small spikes, becomes combustible, and on fire at all its points, and possesses within itself a thousand different means, by which it can adhere to whatever object it is destined to set on fire or destroy. A French writer even asserts, that this weapon would be more effectual, because it might be more variously applied, to defend the mouth of a harbour against an enemy's shipping, than red-hot balls can ever prove; and we are also told, that, by means of their natural velocity, they would do more execution, in a less space of time, than the most active piece of ordnance could effect; and they would also require fewer hands, as the only necessary operation would be to light and dart them forward.
The fougette, called also in French the _Baguette à feu_, has received improvements in France, which we will notice hereafter. In favour of these improvements and their application, we are told, that, to do execution at a distance, especially in sea-fights, fougettes may be so made as that they may reach shipping at a great distance, and with a given velocity.
The Congreve rocket is a new species of war-rocket, invented by Sir William Congreve. This incendiary rocket drew the attention of the European nations, after the attack of the British on Copenhagen; where, we are informed, they did incredible execution. This rocket may be considered to be a carrier of fire. Their effect, however, in the Chesapeake, and elsewhere, during the late war, was very trifling. They seemed, in fact, little calculated to injure and more to intimidate.[38] They differ from the common rocket as well in their magnitude and construction, as in the powerful nature of their composition; which is such, that without the encumbrance of any ordnance, (the rocket containing the propelling power wholly within itself), balls, shells, case-shot and carcasses, may be projected to the distance of one thousand to three thousand yards. The principle of projectile force is so greatly increased, as not only to triple the flight of small rockets so formed, but also to allow of the construction of rockets of such dimensions, as, on the ordinary principles of combination, would not even rise from the ground, and of such powers of flight and burthen, as have hitherto been considered altogether impracticable.
On the basis of this increase of power, Congreve has succeeded in making this rocket. They are formed of various dimensions, as well in length as in caliber, and are differently armed, according as they are intended for the field, or for bombardment and conflagration; carrying in the first instance either shells or case shot, and in the second, for the purpose of destroying shipping, buildings, stores, &c. a peculiar species of composition, which never fails of destroying every combustible material with which it comes in contact. The latter are called _carcass-rockets_, and were first used at Boulogne in 1805, after many experiments, which were made by Congreve, at Woolwich. The attack in 1806 was merely desultory, in which not more than 200 rockets were fired. The town was set on fire by the first discharge, and continued burning for near two days. After the affair at Copenhagen, which established their reputation, it appears that a committee of officers, who had witnessed their effect in that bombardment, pronounced them to be "_a powerful auxiliary to the present system of artillery._"
At the seige of Flushing, they appear to have been used with success, and general Monnet, the French commandant, made a formal remonstrance to lord Chatham respecting the use of them in that bombardment. The rocket system was also tried with success, and the crown prince of Sweden was the first general, who bore testimony to their effects in this service. At the memorable battle of Leipzig, they proved, we are informed, a powerful weapon, and also, when the British army under Wellington, crossed the Adour. In 1814, a rocket-corps was established in the British service.
General de Grave transmitted, to the Society of Encouragement of Paris, a Congreve rocket, or an English incendiary rocket, which was found on the French coast. M. Gay-Lussac examined it. The case was made with gray paper, and painted. The inflammable matter was of a yellowish-gray, and the sulphur was distinguishable with the naked eye. It burnt with a quick flame, and exhaled sulphurous acid gas.
According to his analysis, (_Archives des Découvertes_, ii, 303), the composition gave
Nitrate of potassa, 75.00 Charcoal, 1.6 Sulphur, 23.4 ------ 100 ------
Gay-Lussac, after determining the proportions of the constituent parts, made a composition of a similar kind, and charged a case, which exhibited the same properties as the English rocket.
The great general point of excellence of the rocket system, if we may judge from the account of English writers, is the facility with which all the natures of this weapon may be conveyed and applied. Its peculiar applicability to naval bombardment is said to rest on this property, that there is no reaction, no recoil in the firing of the largest rocket; so that by this means carcasses, equal to those projected by the largest mortars, may be thrown from the smallest boats. Its peculiar fitness for land service is, that it is a description of extremely powerful ammunition without ordnance, so that the burthen of mortars and guns is dispensed with, and all that is to be carried is actual available missile matter, capable of range, and of many of the most important effects of the heaviest artillery. The rocket system, as a system of ammunition without ordnance, is highly extolled by British writers.
We will now speak of their construction. All rockets designed for service are cylindrical, having strong metallic cases, and armed, as we before observed, either with carcass composition for bombardment and conflagration, or with shells and case shot for field service. They are, however, of various weights and dimensions, from the eight-inch carcass or explosion rocket, weighing nearly three hundred weight, to the six pound shell rocket, which is the smallest size, used in the field. The sticks, which are employed for regulating their flight, are also of different lengths, according to the size and service of the rocket; and which, for the convenience of carriage, are stowed apart from the rocket, and so contrived as to consist of two or more parts, which are connected to it, and to each other, when requisite, with the utmost expedition. The 32 pounder rocket carcass, which is the nature hitherto chiefly used for bombardment, will range 3000 yards with the same quantity of combustible matter as that contained in the 10 inch spherical carcass, and 2500 yards with the same quantity as that of the 13 inch spherical carcass. The 12 pounder rocket case shot, which is so portable that it may be used with the facility of musketry, has a range nearly double that of field artillery, carrying as many bullets as the 6 pounder spherical case. We may remark here, that the projectile force of the rocket is well calculated for the conveyance of case shot to great distances; because, as it proceeds, its velocity is accelerated instead of being retarded, as happens with any other projectile; while the average velocity of the shell is greater than that of the rocket only in the ratio of 9 to 8. Independent of this, the case shot conveyed by the rocket admits of any desired increase of velocity in its range by the bursting of powder, which cannot be obtained in any other description of case.
Rocket ammunition is divided into three classes, _heavy_, _medium_, and _light_; the former including all those above 42 lbs., which are denominated according to their caliber, as eight-inch, seven-inch, &c. rockets; the medium including all those from 42 lbs. to 24 lbs.; and the light embracing from 18 pounder to 6 pounder inclusive.
The carcass-rockets are armed with strong iron conical heads, containing a composition as hard and solid as iron itself, and which, when once inflamed, cannot be extinguished. A 32 pounder carcass rocket will penetrate 9 feet in common ground. They have been known to pierce through several floors, and through the sides of houses. For field service, the 24, 18, 12, and 6 pounders are commonly used. The ranges of the eight-inch, seven-inch, and six-inch rockets, are from 2000 to 2500 yards, and the quantity of combustible matter, or bursting powder, from 25 lbs. to 50 lbs. These sized rockets are equally efficient for the destruction of bomb proofs, or the demolition of strong buildings. The largest rocket that has yet been constructed has not exceeded 300 weight. It is proposed, however, to make them from half a ton to a ton in weight.
The 42 and 32 pounders, which are used in bombardment, will convey from 7 lbs. to 10 lbs. of combustible matter each, and have a range of upwards of 3000 yards. The 24 pounder is equal to the propelling of the coehorn shell, or 12 pounder shot. It is, from the saving in weight, generally preferred to the 32 pounder. The eighteen-pounder, which is the first of the light nature of rockets, is armed with a nine pound shot or shell; the twelve-pounder, with a six do.; the nine-pounder, with a grenade; and the six-pounder, with a 3 lb. shot or shell.
The following table presents a general view of the ranges, elevations, and other particulars of several of the most useful descriptions of Congreve rockets.
----------------------+---------------------------+-------+--------- | | |Elevation | |Extreme| for Nature of ammunition. | Armed with | range.| extreme | | | range. ----------------------+---------------------------+-------+--------- | _Carcasses_, large, 18 } | |Elevation 42 Pounder carcass } |lbs. of combustible } | yards.|for rockets. } |matter; small, 12 lbs. } | |extreme |do. } | 3,500 |range, | } | |not less 42 Pounder shell } | _Shells_, 5½, 12 pr. } | |than 60° rockets. } |spherical. } | | | | | |_Carcasses_, large, 18 lbs.| yards.| 32 Pounder carcass } |of combustible matter; | 2,000 | 60° rockets. } |medium 12 lbs. = 13 inch | | |carcass; | 2,500 | { 60° to | | | { 55° |Small, 8 lbs. = 10 inch } | 3,000 | 55° |carcass. } | | | | | 32 Pounder shell } |shells, 9 pr. spherical. | 3,000 | 50° rockets. } | | | | | | 32 Pounder case } |Case { large 200 carbine | | shot rockets. } |shot, { balls. | 2,500 | 55° | { small 100 do. | 3,000 | 50° | | | |Strong iron containing } | | 32 Pounder explosion }|from 5 lbs. to 12 lbs. } | from }| rockets. }|of powder, to burst } | 2500 }| 55° |by fusées. } | 8000 }| | | | | { large 72 carbine | | 12 Pounder case } |Case { balls. | 2,000 | 45° shot rockets. } |shot, { small, 48 carbine | | | { balls. | 2,500 | 45° ----------------------+---------------------------+-------+---------
From the preceding table, it will be seen, that the 32 pounder carcass rocket will range 3000 yards, with the same quantity of combustible matter as that contained in a ten-inch spherical case, and 2500 yards, with the same quantity as that of the thirteen-inch spherical carcass. The twelve pounder case-shot rocket, which is so portable that it may be used with the facility of musquetry, has a range nearly double that of field artillery, carrying as many bullets as the six pounder spherical case: add to which, that, from the nature of the combination of the rocket, these bullets are projected from it in any part of its track, with an increase of velocity, by which its operation becomes frequently more destructive at that point, where any different species of ammunition ceases to be effective. Of this description of rocket-case-shot, one hundred soldiers will carry into action, in any situation where musquetry can act, 300 rounds, and 10 frames for discharging them; from each of which, four rounds may be fired in a minute. Of the same description of case-shot, four horses will carry 72 rounds, and four frames; from which may be fired 16 rounds in a minute. The rockets used by cavalry are twelve pounders, armed with a 6 pounder shell or case shot; each horse carrying four of these rockets. To detail the arrangement of the rocket corps, the weight of ammunition carried by the troop horse, and other particulars, would require more space than we can conveniently appropriate to these subjects.
We may remark, however, that the heavier species of rockets, as the 32 pounder or 24 pounder, as also the 18 and 12 pounders, are sometimes carried in cars of a peculiar description; which not only convey the ammunition, but are contrived also to discharge each two rockets in a volley, from a double iron-plate trough. This trough is of the same length as the boxes for the sticks, and travels between them; but being moveable, may, when the car is unlimbered, be shifted into its fighting position, at any angle from the ground ranges, or point blank, up to 45°, without being detached from the carriage. The limbers are always in the rear. The rockets are fired with a port-fire and long stick.
When used by infantry, one man in ten, carries a frame of a very simple construction, standing on three legs like a theodolite, when spread. It is mounted at top with an open cradle, from which the rockets are discharged, either for ground ranges, or at any required elevation.
When they are used for bombardment, they are discharged from frames of a different, though simple, construction; and, in many cases, the frames are dispensed with, as they are thrown from a battery, erected for the purpose.
For the defence of a pass, or for covering the retreat of an army, the rockets are laid in batteries of 100 or 500 in a row, according to the extent of the ground to be protected. One man may fire the whole.
With regard to their use in the naval service, some additional remarks may be interesting.
We observed, that, in consequence of there being no reaction in these projectiles on the point of discharge, rockets may be used in the smallest boats of the navy. These rockets carry a quantity of combustible matter, and, according to the ordinary system, would require to be thrown from the largest mortars, and from ships of very heavy tonnage. The 12 and 18 pounder have been fired from a four-oared gig. They may be made to ricochet in the water at low angles. In boarding, they have been recommended, to be thrown into the port holes of the enemy. They have also been recommended for fire-ships, in order to produce an extensive and devastating fire among the ships of the enemy.
Besides the advantages, which rockets possess, and of which we have spoken; namely, that it is a species of projectile, containing within itself the propelling power, by which heavy ordnance is dispensed with, and that an extensive fire may be kept up, by a few men, against any important point; there is another advantage said to be peculiar to them; _viz._ that they may be employed in a variety of cases, in which the usual artillery, from the nature of the ground, or other impediments, cannot be rendered effective; and that, in several bombardments, in consequence of their trifling reaction, they may be thrown from cutters and small boats, and, therefore, from points, which could never be approached by the vessels, usually employed in that service. With respect to the expense of the formation of war-rockets, calculations have been made, by which it appears, that their cost is less than the usual expense of carcasses.
We are informed on this head, that it is the cheapest of all ammunition, depending on the projectile force of gunpowder. For a 32 pounder carcass rocket costs only 1_l._ 1_s._ 11_d._ complete for service, and its equivalent, the 10 inch spherical carcass, with the charge of powder necessary to convey it 3000 yards, which power is contained in the rocket, costs 1_l._ 2_s._ 7_d._, independent of any charge for the mortar, mortar bed, platform, difference of transport, &c. A vessel of 300 tons will carry 5000 of them at least. But the comparison, as to the expense, is still more in favour of the rocket, when compared with the larger nature of carcasses. The 15 inch spherical carcass costs 1_l._ 17_s._ 11-1/2_d._ to throw 2500 yards; while its equivalent rocket costs but 1_l._ 5_s._ being a saving on the first cost, of 12_s._ 11-1/2_d._
Notwithstanding all the encomiums, bestowed on the Congreve rockets by the English, the French entertain a different opinion of them. For the following remarks, we are indebted to Ruggeri, (_Pyrotechnie Militaire_, p. 278), by which it appears, that Congreve was not the original inventor. He acknowledges, however, that they experienced the sad effects of them; and we do not offer this remark with any sort of prejudice, but as an acknowledgment, that the French experienced their "sad effects." Ruggeri says, that the Congreve rocket is nothing more than he described in his _Elements of Pyrotechny_ five years before they were known to the English. It is, therefore, wrong, he adds, that we regard it as an English invention. It was invented, says he, by a naval officer at Bordeaux, and ought not, he further remarks, to be regarded as a useful weapon in war. The reason he gives is, that its utility must depend upon places and circumstances. If it is required, he adds, to attack a fleet, we must employ two or three hundred before making any impression; because we cannot direct a firing rocket, as a cannon or ball. This is certainly a great inconvenience. He makes the cost also much greater than the English calculation; namely, for a single one of them ten times more than for a red-hot shot. Ruggeri, however, is candid enough to say, that, notwithstanding he differs in opinion, he is far from opposing any trials or experiments, made with the view of improving or perfecting it; but is decidedly of opinion, that it can never be employed at sea with the same advantage as bombs and cannon-ball.
Ruggeri published, in the _Journal of Paris_, in September, 1809, a letter, in reply to a writer, who had published some reflections on incendiary rockets, from which, as it throws some light on this subject, we shall here introduce a few extracts:
"Although Monsieur, the _cannonier_ of Ostend, may not have given the precise construction of the rocket, which we name the sky-rocket, and of which the English have made so criminal a use, I will commence at first by assuring you, that I coincide perfectly with him, in the preference he gives to howitzes, bombs, and other projectiles, which are used by civilized nations. He has very satisfactorily demonstrated their advantages over the Congreve rocket. I will only add, that bombs and howitzes have also the advantage of being one-fifth cheaper, and projected with greater facility.
"The Congreve rocket cannot be of any particular advantage, because it only carries fire to the place where it falls; and if we wish to use them against any vessel whatever, it is impossible to assure ourselves of a direction on a given point, as many difficulties occur in projecting them.
"The merit of the invention of these rockets does not belong to the English.
"This invention was made by a Frenchman, a captain of a privateer, who made the first attempt to use them about seventeen years since, (1795).
"The English have perfected, or rather have modified this rocket.
"It is sometime since I offered a kind of bomb, which may be used with more facility than the common kind. This bomb has the advantage over the Congreve rocket: 1st, Because it is less troublesome to use; 2dly, It may be made of any diameter or size, and consequently suited to all calibers; 3dly, The place and time of its fall is readily determined; and fourth, and lastly, It bursts into pieces, and attaches itself to all combustible bodies, with which it meets.
"It remains for me to say, that it is not the powder which moves the rocket, but a composition almost as strong. The powder, which is used in the Congreve rocket, is intended to destroy the machine after it has produced its destructive effects." See _Pyrotechnie Militaire_, p. 278.
The difference between incendiary rockets, and common signal rockets, is in the interior. Instead of the furniture, or garnishing pot and head, a conical head of sheet iron is substituted, in which several holes are made to suffer the composition it contains to burn more readily. The composition is the same as that for fire-rockets; but is coarsely pulverized, and mixed with an equal quantity of the composition of fire-lances. These rockets are employed with advantage to burn a city, or vessels in a harbour. The cone, with which they are capped, enables them to penetrate the roofs of houses, and set them on fire.
_Sec. XXV. Sky-Rockets (Meurtrières.)_
The sanguinary or _murdering rocket_ is made in the same manner as the preceding. They have neither head nor pot; but, in their place, they are furnished with a cone of beaten or solid iron. This cone is the appendage, or weapon, which produces such destructive effects. These rockets, when they fall upon the troops of an enemy, wound them very dangerously, without their being able to prevent it. The advantage, more particularly derived, is, that they may be projected from under cover, and to double the distance of ordinary musketry. To make use of these rockets, a box is constructed, whose interior is so arranged as to receive the rockets in regular order. They should be placed in it with their sticks; and, therefore, the case must be made sufficiently large to admit them. By this contrivance, the rockets are sheltered from the fire and water. To discharge them, the box is first inclined on the side next to the heads of the rockets, and in the direction of the place, to which they are to be thrown. A communication is made by leaders, in the manner already mentioned in the preceding part of this work; so that, when the match is fired, or a single rocket, they all are discharged at the same time. The mode of firing rockets either singly or in numbers, the manner of preparing the cases, the different compositions, and the operation of filling, and of furnishing them, &c. are given in the preceding part.
_Sec. XXVI. Of the Rocket Light-Ball._
Congreve also invented a species of light-ball, which, when thrown into the air by means of one of his rockets, and having reached the elevation of the rockets' ascent, is detached from it with an explosion, and remains suspended in the air by a small parachute, to which it is connected by a chain. Thus, in lieu of the transient momentary gleam, obtained by the common light ball, a permanent and brilliant light is obtained, and suspended in the air for five minutes at least, so as to afford time and light sufficient to observe the motions of an enemy, either on shore or at sea; where it is particularly useful in chasing, and for giving distant and more extensive night signals. It is to be observed, that nothing of this kind can be obtained by the projectile force of either guns or mortars; because the explosion infallibly destroys any construction, that could be made to produce the suspension in the air.
We have seen no account of any experiments, which have been made with it.
_Sec. XXVII. Of the Floating Rocket Carcass._
Congreve also applied his rocket, and the parachute, for the purpose of conveying combustible matter to distances far beyond the range of any known projectile force, at the same time that it is cheap, simple, and portable. The floating carcass, like the light-ball, is thrown into the air, attached to a rocket, from which being liberated at its greatest altitude, and suspended to a small parachute, it is driven forward by the wind, and will, in a moderate breeze, afford ranges at least double those of the common carcass. It may, therefore, for naval purposes, be thrown from a blockading squadron, in great quantities, by a fair wind, against any fleet or arsenal, without the smallest risk, or without approaching within range of either guns or mortars. The rocket containing the carcass is no larger than the 32 pounder carcass rocket; and the whole expense, added to the rocket, does not exceed five shillings. Nor are the approaches of the carcass itself necessarily visible by night; as it may be so arranged, as not to inflame, till some time after it has settled. It is evidently, therefore, capable of becoming a harassing weapon, if the account of it be true; and, among large fleets and flotillas, it may do as much injury as any other carcass, by lodging unperceived in the rigging, or lighting on extensive arsenals, in such situations, where other means of annoyance could not be used.
_Sec. XXVIII. Observations on Rockets._
The following remarks on the subject of rockets by M. Bigot, (_Traité d'Artifice de Guerre_, p. 131,) may be interesting to the reader.
Authors, who have written on rockets, are of opinion, that the height of the different kinds of rockets should not be increased on account of their diameter; because, as the diameter increases, the rocket also increases in weight and surface; and if augmented in height in the same ratio, its power of ascension would be feeble. It is from this reasoning, together with practice, that they have determined the height of empty cases. Some have given the proportion of six times their exterior diameter, and others again have made them a third longer than the piercer. There has resulted from this difference of opinion, such an irregularity in the formation of rockets, that artificers or fire-workers were left in uncertainty as to the best mode to be pursued. To avoid, however, this embarrassment, if we consider the diameter of the base of the piercer of any kind of rocket as one-third of the exterior diameter of the case, the small end must be the one-sixth part of it; and the piercer and the cone are of the same diameter, and the surface of the one is equal to the surface of the other. We might conclude, accordingly, that the increase of the height of the case, should be the same with all kinds of rockets. It appears by different authors, that the ancient and modern fire-workers have fixed the dimensions of rockets and their piercers, by various experiments. If we take for granted all the heights of the piercers, or the rockets themselves, we obtain a curve of double or treble reflection, which is very evidently in opposition to the above principles, and of the law which results from them.
Experiments prove, that to make a good rocket of half an inch in diameter, the piercer must be five times and a third of the same diameter; and for a rocket of three inches, the piercer, or broach, as it is sometimes called, is only four times the diameter in height. To determine, however, the height of the piercer in general, greater than the preceding, it is found necessary to have some satisfactory result, in order to employ, mathematically speaking, _less times_ of the exterior diameter of the rocket. The half-inch and three-inch rocket are the extremes of an increasing arithmetical progression; and their equivalents, 5-1/3 and 4 diameters is the extreme of a similar, but decreasing progress; but if we insert the same number of arithmetical mean between the two extremes of each of these two progressions, and then continue them indifferently, the terms of the first will express the diameter of as many different cases; and those of the second, the height of the corresponding piercers. They will be, for instance, in the two following proportions:
÷ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14, &c. 36.
÷ 5-14/45 5-12/45 5-11/45 5-9/45 5-7/45 5-7/45 5-2/45 5-1/45 4-44/45 &c. 4.
The first of which has unity for its common difference. It has been found, that, by inserting in each, a mean of 29, the height of the piercers will correspond with the superior diameter, which is less, or regulated by their respective diameters. Besides, as the diameters go on augmenting, the rockets are proportionably increased in height, but only in an inverse order, until the 58th term included, and beyond which they decrease, until they become negative, which appears to indicate that the term appertains to the diameter of the rocket, and without any uncertainty.
It results from the intimate relation of these two progressions, that, in stopping at the 58th term, if we bring back on an axis as it were, the height of the piercers, we obtain a straight instead of a curved line.
Bigot has given two tables relative to the construction of rockets, and, as their use is seen by mere inspection, we here introduce them without remark.
They comprehend the dimensions of rockets of different calibers, compared with the exterior and respective diameter of each kind; and relative to the dimensions of the tools of sky-rockets of different calibers, and also compared with the exterior and respective diameter of each.
It will be seen, on an examination of these tables, that all the data are satisfactorily given; so that, in the construction of rockets, the artificer will find them extremely useful, if not absolutely necessary.
The principles on which these tables are founded, may be depended on, inasmuch as M. Bigot has taken considerable pains on that head; and, consequently, the calculations, which follow, and the proportions, established for the construction of rockets in general, are sufficiently conclusive.
(TABLE I: Part 1 of 3) +-----------------+-----------++-----------------------------------------+ | |Diameter of|| Height of tools of wood. | | |the rocket.|| | | +-----+-----++-----------------------------------------+ | | | || Rammers, &c. | + | | ++------+----------------------------------+ | Name of the | | || | For charging the head not | | Rocket. | | || | comprised. | | | Ext | Int-|| +-------+---------+---------+------+ | |erior|erior||Roller| 1 | 2 | 3 |Solid4| +-----------------+-----+-----++------+-------+---------+---------+------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | D. | D. | D. | |Small Partement, | ½ | ⅔ || 24 |6⅓ |4-5/9 |2-7/9 |1⅓ | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| 16 |6-2/9 |4-13/27 |2-6/27 |idem. | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| 12 |6-1/12 |4-7/18 |2-25/36 |idem. | |Double marquises | 1¼ |idem.|| idem.|5-14/15|4-13/45 |2-29/45 |idem. | |Ditto, for 4 doz.| 1½ |idem.|| 10 |5-7/9 |4-5/27 |2-16/27 |idem. | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| 9 |5⅜ |3-31/36 |2-25/72 |1⅙ | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| 8⅖ |5-1/15 |3-29/45 |2-2/9 |1-2/15| |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| 8 |4-7/9 |3-4/9 |2-1/9 |1-1/9 | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.|| 6⅚ |4¼ |3-3/32 |1-15/16 |1⅛ | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| 6 |3-43/60|2-133/180|1-137/180|1-7/60| +-----------------+-----+-----++------+-------+---------+---------+------+
(TABLE I: Part 2 of 3) +-----------------+-----------++-----------------------------------------+ | |Diameter of|| Height of | Diameter of the | | |the rocket.||tools of wood| tools of wood. | | +-----+-----++-------------+-----+------+------+-------+ | | | || | | Rammers. | | | + | | || | +-----+------| | | | Name of the | | || | | | | | | | Rocket. | | || | Con- | | | |Sockets| | | Ext | Int-|| | ical | To | To | Of | of the| | |erior|erior|| Pot. | head | run |charge| pots.| pot. | +-----------------+-----+-----++------+------+-----+------+------+-------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | D. | D. | D. | D. | |Small Partement, | ½ | ⅔ || 3 |1⅔ | ⅔ |7/12 |1⅔ | ⅔ | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| 2⅔ |1-5/9 |idem.|11/18 |1-5/9 | 7/9 | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| 2⅓ |1½ |idem.|idem. |1½ | ⅚ | |Double marquises | 1¼ |idem.|| 2⅕ |1-8/15|idem.| ⅗ |1-8/15| 13/15 | |Ditto, for 4 doz.| 1½ |idem.|| 2 |1½ |idem.|11/18 |1½ | ⅚ | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| 1¾ |idem. |idem.| ⅝ |idem. | ⅞ | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| 1½ |idem. |idem.|19/30 |idem. | 9/10 | |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| 1⅓ |idem. |idem.|23/36 |idem. | 11/12 | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.||1-1/16|idem. |idem.|31/48 |idem. | 15/16 | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| 9/10|idem. |idem.|13/20 |idem. | 14/15 | +-----------------+-----+-----++------+------+-----+------+------+-------+
(TABLE I: Part 3 of 3) +-----------------+-----------++---------------+------------------+ | |Diameter of||Diameter of the| Dimension of | | |the rocket.|| tools of wood.| mallets. | | +-----+-----++-------+-------+---------+--------+ | Name of the | | || | | | | | Rocket. | | ||Base of| | | | | | Ext | Int-||conical| | | | | |erior|erior|| head. | Ladle.|Diameter.| Length.| +-----------------+-----+-----++-------+-------+---------+--------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | inches. | inches.| |Small Partement, | ½ | ⅔ || 1⅔ | ⅔ | 2¾ | 3⅓ | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| 1-5/9 | idem. | 2¾ | 3⅓ | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| 1½ | idem. | 3½ | 4¼ | |Double marquises | 1¼ |idem.|| 1-8/15| idem. | 3½ | 4¼ | |Ditto, for 4 doz.| 1½ |idem.|| 1½ | idem. | 4 | 5 | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| idem. | idem.}| | | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| idem. | idem.}| | | |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| idem. | idem.}| 5½ | 6⅔ | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.|| idem. | idem.}| | | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| idem. | idem.}| | | +-----------------+-----+-----+--------+-------+---------+--------+
(TABLE II: Part 1 of 3) +----------------+-----------++-----------------------------------+ | |Diameter of|| HEIGHT OF | | | rockets. ||--------+--------+-------+---------+ | +-----+-----++ |Charged | | | | Name of the | | || |rockets,| | | | Rockets. | Ext-| Int-|| Empty |button, |Massive| | | |erior|erior|| cases.|&c.incl.|Rockets|Piercers.| +----------------+-----+-----++--------+--------+-------+---------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | D. | D. | |Small partement,| ½ | ⅔ || 7⅓ | 6⅚ | ⅔ | 5⅓ | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| idem. | 6-7/9 | idem. | 5-2/9 | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| 7-7/12 | 6-7/12 | idem. | 5-1/12 | |Double marquise | 1¼ |idem.|| 7 | 6-7/15 | idem. | 4-14/15 | | of 3 doz. | | || | | | | |Ditto, 4 doz. | 1½ |idem.|| 6-7/9 | 6-5/18 | idem. | 4-7/9 | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| 6⅜ | 5⅞ | ½ | 4-13/24 | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| 6-1/15 | 5-17/30| 7/15 | 4-4/15 | |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| 5-7/9 | 5-5/18 | 4/9 | 4 | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.|| 5¼ | 4-73/76| 11/24 | 3-15/32 | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| 4-43/60| 4-13/60| 9/20 | 2-14/15 | +----------------+-----+-----++-------+--------+--------+---------+
(TABLE II: Part 2 of 3) +----------------+-----------++------------------------------------+ | |Diameter of|| HEIGHT OF | | | rockets. ||--------+-------+-----------+-------+ | +-----+-----++ | |Total of | | | Name of the | | || Button | |the piercer| | | Rockets. | Ext-| Int-||& their | |and culot | | | |erior|erior||cylinder|Culots.|comprised. | Screw.| +----------------+-----+-----++--------+-------+-----------+-------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | D. | D. | |Small partement,| ½ | ⅔ || ⅔ | 1⅔ | 7⅔ | ¼ | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| idem. | idem. | 7-5/9 | 2⅔ | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| idem. | idem. | 7-1/12 | 2½ | |Double marquise | 1¼ |idem.|| idem. | 1⅕ | 6⅘ | 2 | | of 3 doz. | | || | | | | |Ditto, 4 doz. | 1½ |idem.|| idem. | 1-1/18| 6½ | 1⅚ | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| idem. | ⅞ | 6-1/12 | 1½ | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| idem. | ⅘ | 5-11/15 | 1-3/10| |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| idem. | ⅔ | 5⅓ | 1⅙ | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.|| idem. | ½ | 4-61/96 | 15/16 | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| idem. | ⅖ | 4 | ⅘ | +----------------+-----+-----++--------+-------+-----------+-------+
(TABLE II: Part 3 of 3) +----------------+-----------++----------------------------------------+ | |Diameter of|| Diameter of the parts of the piercer. | | | rockets. ||------+--------+---------+------+--- ---+ | +-----+-----++ | | | | | | Name of the | | || |Exterior| Button | |Screw | | Rockets. | Ext-| Int-|| |of small| and | |at the | | |erior|erior|| Base.| end. |cylinder.|Culot.| base. | +----------------+-----+-----++------+--------+---------+------+-------+ | |inch.|Diam.|| D. | D. | D. | D. | D. | |Small partement,| ½ | ⅔ || ⅓ | ⅙ | ⅔ | 1 | 1 | |Partement, | ¾ |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| 7/9 | |Marquise, | 1 |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| ⅔ | |Double marquise | 1¼ |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| ⅗ | | of 3 doz. | | || | | | | | |Ditto, 4 doz. | 1½ |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| 5/9 | |Rocket of | 2 |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| ½ | |Ditto, | 2½ |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| idem. | |Ditto, | 3 |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| idem. | |Ditto, | 4 |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| 5/12 | |Ditto, | 5 |idem.|| idem.| idem. | idem. | idem.| ⅖ | +----------------+-----+-----++------+--------+---------+------+-------+
_Note._ The rockets of two inches, and those between that and three inches, require to be beaten with four rammers, independently of that which is solid; and also those above three inches, require five. The rolling board should be sufficiently large for the cases we wish to form; _viz._ one of twenty-eight inches in length, and six inches in breadth for small rockets; one of thirty inches in length, and ten inches in breadth for middlesized rockets; and one of thirty-six inches by eighteen for the largest rockets.
_Sec. XXIX. Of the Succouring Rocket._
The succouring, or marine rocket, is a name given to a rocket, which is sufficiently large to convey a small cord or rope to some distance from a vessel, and by its means to save the lives of persons in danger of shipwreck. Rockets for this purpose should be at least two inches in interior diameter. The rod should be of the same length and thickness as a rocket of half this caliber. To this rod is tied the cord, which must be light, and yet strong, and when the rocket is fired, the string should be arranged loose, so that no impediment is experienced in the flight of the rocket.
The applications of the succouring rocket are two in particular: _viz._ In case a seaman should fall overboard, and in case of shipwreck; in the former, to throw a cord to some distance, and in the latter, to convey a cord from the ship to the shore, should a vessel be stranded on a beach. Several methods have been proposed for the same purpose, namely, that of conveying a line or rope to shore, when the surf is too high for a small boat to live in it.
The invention of lieut. Bell, described in the _Annales des Arts et Manufactures_, and in the _Archives des Découvertes_, ii, 120, is designed for a similar purpose as the succouring rocket. Mr. Bell's invention consists simply in throwing a rope from a vessel by means of a mortar, attaching it to a shell, in order to make a communication from a vessel in danger to the shore. For this contrivance, he received one hundred guineas.
Several experiments were made with it, which were satisfactory.
In the essays, published by Mr. Fulton, a contrivance of this kind is suggested, using, however, an instrument similar to a harpoon, to which a rope is attached. This harpoon is thrown by a long gun. It is calculated, also, as the harpoon for this purpose is furnished with several barbs, to pierce and secure an enemy's vessel.
_Sec. XXX. Of the Greek Fire._
It is not known precisely what the composition of the Greek fire was. It was invented by Callinicus of Hellipolis, a town in Syria, who used it with so much skill and effect during a naval engagement, that he destroyed a whole fleet belonging to the enemy, in which were embarked thirty thousand men. It is defined to be a sort of artificial fire, which insinuates itself beyond the surface of the sea, and which burns with increased violence, when it mixes with water. Its directions are contrary to the course of natural fire; for the flames, we are told, will spread themselves downwards, to the right or left, agreeably to the moment that is given.
It was used in the year 1679, and was known and used in 1291. It was certainly liquid, and employed in many different ways; but, chiefly, on board ships, being thrown from large engines on the ships of the enemy. This fire was sometimes kindled in particular vessels, which might be called fire-ships, and which were introduced among a hostile fleet. Sometimes it was put into jars and other vessels, which were thrown at the enemy by means of projectile machines; and sometimes it was squirted by soldiers from hand-engines, or, as it appears, blown through pipes. This fire was discharged from the fore part of ships, by a machine constructed of copper and iron, the extremity of which resembled the open mouth and jaws of a lion or other animal. They were painted, and even gilded, and, it appears, were capable of projecting the fire to a great distance.
Professor Beckman, who examined all the ancient authors respecting the Greek fire, expressly says, that the machines which the ancients employed to throw this fire were _spouting engines_. He also observes (_History of Invent._ iv, p. 85) that "John Cameniata, speaking of his native city, Thessalonica, which was taken by the Saracens in the year 901, says, that the enemy threw fire into the wooden works of the besieged, which was blown into them by means of tubes, and thrown from other vessels. This passage, which I do not find quoted in any of the works that treat on the Greek fire, proves, that the Greeks, in the beginning of the tenth century, were no longer the only people acquainted with the art of preparing this fire, the precurser of our gunpowder. The Emperor Leo, who about the same period wrote his art of war, recommends such engines, with a metal covering, to be constructed in the fore part of ships; and he twice afterwards mentions engines for throwing out Greek fire. In the east, one may easily have conceived the idea of loading some kind of pump with the Greek fire; as the use of a forcing pump for extinguishing fires was long known there before the invention of Callinicus."
Writers differ considerably as to the composition of Greek fire, properly so called, as there were many preparations, some hundred years after the discovery, which went under the name of Greek fire. Certain it is, that the Greeks had a knowledge of a very highly combustible preparation, which water would not extinguish, and which, from its nature, must have had the property of decomposing water itself, or possessed so much oxygen, as to support the combustion of the inflammable substances, even in contact with water.
Mr. Parke, (_Chem. Catechism_, p. 465), speaking of some of the uses of nitre or saltpetre, says, that "for the same purposes it was used by the ancients in that destructive composition of antiquity, the Greek fire. Sulphur, rosin, camphor, and other combustibles, were melted with it, and in this melted mass, woollen cords were dipped, which were afterwards rolled up for use. These balls being set on fire were thrown into the tents, &c. of the enemy, and as the combustibles were furnished with a constant supply of _oxygen_ from the nitre, nothing could extinguish them." He also observes: "For many centuries, the method of making this dreadful article of destruction was lost; but it has just been discovered by the librarian of the elector of Bavaria, who has found a very old latin manuscript, which contains directions for preparing it."
It appears, however, that it could only be extinguished by urine, sand, &c. James (_Mil. Dic._ p. 329) says, "it is composed, or made up of naphtha, sulphur, bitumen, gum, and pitch, and it can only be extinguished by vinegar, mixed with urine and sand, or with undressed leather and green hides."
The author of a French work, _Œuvres Militaires_, says, that a powerful composition, which is not extinguishable with water, may be made of the following substances: _viz._ pitch, rosin, tallow, camphor, turpentine, saltpetre, liquid varnish, oil of sulphur, linseed, rock oil, flax, and charcoal finely pulverized. The whole is melted together and boiled, and before it grows cold, quicklime in powder is added. It is said to be susceptible of the most subtile and destructive fire.
Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, who was in Palestine in 1432, as counsellor to the Duke of Burgundy, observes, that the Moors were then in possession of the Greek fire. He was present at Barrat, during one of the Moorish celebrations. "It began," says he, "in the evening at sun set. Numerous companies, scattered here and there, were singing and uttering loud cries. While this was passing, the cannon of the castle were fired, and the people of the town launched into the air, '_bien hault et bien loing, une maniére de feu plus gros fallot que je veisse oncques allume_.' They told me, they made use of such at sea, to set fire to the sails of an enemy's vessel. It seems to me, that as it is a thing easy to be made, and at a little expense, it may be equally well employed to burn a camp or a thatched village, or in an engagement with cavalry, to frighten their horses.
"Curious to know its composition, I sent the servant of my host to the person who made this fire, and requested him to teach me this method. He returned for answer, that he dared not, for that he should run great danger, were it known; but as there is nothing a Moor will not do for money, I offered him a ducat, which quieted his fears, and he taught me all he knew, and even gave me the moulds in wood, with the other ingredients, which I have brought to France."
Although La Brocquiere may have brought the secret to Europe, yet it does not appear to have been used.
We may justly conclude, that the present gunpowder possesses superior advantages to the Greek fire, and some authors, as Ruggeri, are of opinion, that the account we have of it, that of its fire _descending_, and the like, are exaggerated.
Porta, (_Magie Naturelle_), in treating of this subject, observes, that the Greek fire was composed of the charcoal of willow, salt, burnt brandy, sulphur, pitch, frankincense, flax, and camphor, and that camphor alone has the effect of burning in water. He remarks also, that, when Constantinople was attacked, the emperor Leon burnt the vessels, or boats, to the number of 1800, by means of the Greek fire. The _Journal des Savants_, 1676, p. 148, speaks of the origin and use of the same fire.
In 1249, at the siege of Damietta, the French experienced the fatal effects of it. The _Journal des Savants_ for 1666, mentions a machine, which, when applied against a vessel, communicates fire to it immediately, without injuring the person who uses it. In the _French papers_ for 1797, M. Chevalier announced, that he had invented an inextinguishable incendiary fuse, which is thrown by fire arms, and calculated to set fire to the rigging of ships. In 1759, Dr. Dupré published in the _French Journals_, that he had invented a composition, which had the same properties and effects as the ancient Greek fire, and that he possessed the means of extinguishing it. An experiment was made at Versailles to the satisfaction of all, and the secret was purchased by Louis XV. The Rev. J. P. Coste, in 1794, laid before the French national convention, a new invention, for the purpose of war, consisting of a carcass composition, which nothing could extinguish, and which resembled in that respect the Greek fire.
Thevenot (_Travels in the Levant_), says, that in the 52d year of the Hegira, (Anno Domini 672), Constantinople was besieged in the reign of Constantine Prognates, by Yesid, the son of Moavia, the first caliph of the family of the Ammiades; when the _Greek_ emperor found himself so pressed, that he was almost reduced to despair. But the famous engineer, Callinicus, invented a kind of _wild fire_, which would burn under water, and by this means destroyed the whole fleet.
Gibbon (_History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, vol. vii, p. 282), speaks also of the Greek fire, and observes, that the deliverance of Constantinople may be chiefly ascribed to it. It appears, that Callinicus, the inventor, deserted from the service of the Caliph to that of the Emperor; and Gibbon is of opinion, that this discovery or improvement of the military art, was fortunately reserved for the distressful period, when the degenerate Romans of the east were incapable of contending with the warlike enthusiasm and youthful vigour of the Saracens. He is of opinion, that little or no credit can be given to the Byzantine accounts, as to the composition of this fire; although, from their obscure and fallacious hints, it should seem that the principal ingredient was naphtha, a liquid bitumen which springs from the earth.[39] This was mixed with sulphur, and with the pitch, extracted from the evergreen firs, according to the testimony of Anna Commena, (_Alexid_, l. xiii, p. 383), and Leo, in the xixth chapter of his _Tactics_, speaks of the new invention.
Gibbon describes its effects much as we have stated, viz. that the fire was strong and obstinate, and was quickened by water; that sand, urine, and vinegar were the only agents that could damp its fury; that it was used for the annoyance of the enemy, both by sea and land, in battles or in sieges, and was either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or lanched into red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil; that, at other times, it was deposited in fire ships, or blown through long tubes of copper, fixed on a prow of a galley; that its composition was kept secret at Constantinople, pretending that the knowledge of it came from an angel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred injunction not to divulge it under any pretext, &c. He also observes, that, after it was kept secret above four hundred years, and to the end of the 11th century, the method of preparing it was stolen by the Mahometans, who employed it against the crusaders. A knight, it appears, who despised the swords and lances of the Saracens, relates, with heartfelt sincerity, his own fears, at the sight and sound of the mischievous engine, that discharged a torrent of the Greek fire, the _feu Gregeois_, as it is styled by the more early of the French writers. "It came flying through the air," says Gibbon, quoting Joinville, (_Histoire de St. Louis_) "like a winged long tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with a report of thunder and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination. The use of the Greek, or as it might now be called, Saracen fire, was continued to the middle of the 14th century, when the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, effected a new revolution in the art of war, and the history of mankind."
Ramsay, our learned historian, (_Universal History_, vol. ii, p. 150), gives the same account of the Greek fire. Morse, in his _Universal Geography_, page 588, observes, that naphtha forms springs in Persia, and, when scattered on the sea, it burns, and the flame is often wafted to a great distance.
For remarks respecting the naphtha of Persia, and the universal fire of the followers of Zoroaster, see the article on _Naphtha_. In naphtha districts, the quantity of inflammable air is so great, that it is used for fuel.
Since writing the above, we have examined Ruggeri, (_Pyrotechnie Militaire_, p. 289), and find nothing new. He states the composition of Greek fire, on the authority of others, to consist of naphtha, sulphur, bitumen, camphor, and petroleum; that it was invented by Callinicus, and employed against the Saracens as an incendiary; that Pliny, in his time, mentioned a combustible substance, which was thrown upon armed men, and burnt and destroyed them in the midst of the battle; that it was employed successfully by the successors of Constantine, and its composition was kept a state secret; that the Turks used it, or a composition of a similar nature, at the siege of Damieta, in 1249, forty-five years after the death of Roger Bacon; and, finally, that, when the composition and effects of gunpowder became known, the Greek fire, although it laid the foundation of the invention of gunpowder, was no longer in use, and the secret of the original preparation became lost. See _Gunpowder_.
_Sec. XXXI. Of Mines and Mining._
A mine is a subterraneous passage, dug under the wall or rampart of a fortification, for the purpose of blowing it up by gunpowder; and mining is the art of accomplishing this effect.
The art of mining, having become one of the most essential parts of the attack and defence of places, should be well understood; and requires a perfect knowledge of heights, depths, breadths, and thicknesses; to judge perfectly of slopes and perpendiculars, whether they be such as are parallel to the horizon, or such as are visual; together with the true levels of all kinds of earth. To this may be added, a knowledge of rocks, clays, soil, &c. and the effect of gunpowder.
Mines were made long before the invention of gunpowder. The ancients made galleries, or underground passages, much in the same manner as the moderns, from without, under the walls of places, which they cut off from the foundation, and supported with strong props. The intervals were filled with all manner of combustibles, which, being set on fire, burnt their props, and the wall, being no longer supported, fell, by which a breach was made.
The besieged also made underground passages, from the town, under the besiegers' machines, by which they battered the walls, to destroy them, proving that necessity has been the inventress of mines.
The first mines we read of, since the invention of gunpowder, were made in 1487, by the Genoese, at the attack of Serezanella, a town in Florence. These, however, failed, and they were neglected, till Peter Navarro, being then engineer to the Genoese, and afterwards to the Spaniards, in 1503, against the French, at the siege of the castle del Ovo, at Naples, made a mine under the wall, and blew it up; in consequence of which the castle was taken by storm. Valliers says, that the engineer was Francis George, an Italian.
The place where the powder is lodged, is called the chamber of the mine, or _fourneau_, and the passage leading to the powder, is called the gallery. The line of the least resistance, is the line drawn from the centre of the chamber, perpendicular to the surface of the ground; and the excavation, called the crater, is the pit or hole, made by springing the mine.
Counter-mines are those made by the besieged, whereas mines are generally made by the besiegers. Both mines and counter-mines, are made in the same manner, and for like purposes, viz. to blow up their enemies and their works.
Galleries, made within the fortification, before the place is attacked, and from which several branches are carried to different places, are generally 4 and 4-1/2 feet wide, and 5 or 5-1/2 feet high. The earth is supported from falling in, by arches and walls, as they are to remain for a considerable time. But when mines are made to be used in a short time, then the galleries are but 3 or 3-1/2 feet wide, and 5 feet high, and the earth is supported by wooden frames, or props.
The gallery being carried on to the place, where the powder is to be lodged, the miners make the chambers. This is generally of a cubical form, large enough to hold the wooden box, which contains the powder necessary for the charge. The box is lined with straw and sand bags, to prevent the powder from contracting dampness.
The chamber is sunk rather lower than the gallery, if the soil permits; but where water is to be apprehended, it must be made higher than the gallery; otherwise the besieged will let in the water, and spoil the mine.
The fire is communicated to the mine by a pipe, or hose, made of coarse cloth, whose diameter is about 1-1/2 inches, called a _saucisson_, (for the filling of which, near half a pound of powder is allowed to every foot), extending from the chamber to the entrance of the gallery, to the end of which is fixed a match, that the miner who sets fire to it, may have time to retire before it reaches the chamber.
To prevent the powder from contracting any dampness, the saucisson is laid in a small trough, called an _auget_, made of boards 3-1/2 inches broad, joined together lengthwise, with straw in it, and round the saucisson, with a wooden cover nailed upon it.
The quantity of powder, required to charge mines, depends upon the nature of the soil. That which is more tenacious, will require the greatest force to separate its parts. The density may be learned, comparatively speaking, by determining the specific gravity of each kind of soil. The requisites in mining may be ascertained by four simple problems, which relate to the nature of the soil, the diameter of the excavation, the line of least resistance, and the charge.
_Table of the quantity of Gunpowder, to raise a cubic fathom of different kinds of Soil._
----------------------------------+---------------+--------------- | DENSITY. | TENACITY. |---------------+--------------- NATURE OF THE SOIL. | | Quantity of | Weight of 1 | powder to | cubic foot. | raise 1 cubic | | fathom. ----------------------------------+---------------+--------------- 1. Loose earth or sand. | 95 lbs. | 8 lbs. 2. Common light soil. | 124 | 10 3. Loam or strong soil. | 127 | 12¼ 4. Potters' clay, or stiff soil. | 135 | 13½ 5. Clay, mixed with stones. | 160 | 16 6. Masonry. | 205 | 21½ ----------------------------------+---------------+---------------
The gallery and chamber being ready to be loaded, a strong box of wood is made of the size and figure of the chamber, being about one-third or one-fourth larger than is required for containing the necessary quantity of powder. Against the sides and bottom of the box is put some straw, and this straw is covered over with empty sand bags, to prevent the powder from contracting any dampness. A hole is made in the side, next the gallery, near the bottom, for the saucisson to pass through, which is fixed to the middle of the bottom, by means of a wooden peg, to prevent its loosening from the powder, or to hinder the enemy (if he should reach the entrance) from being able to tear it out. This done, the powder is brought in sand bags, and thrown loosely in the box, and covered also with straw and sand bags. Upon this is put the cover of the box, pressed down very tight with strong props; and, to render them more secure, planks are also put above them, against the earth, and wedged in as fast as possible.
This done, the vacant spaces between the props are filled up with stones and dung, and rammed in the strongest manner. The least neglect in this work will considerably alter the effect of the mine. Then the auget, or small trough, is laid from the chamber to the entrance of the gallery, with some straw at the bottom; and the saucisson laid in it, with straw over it. Lastly, it must be shut with a wooden cover, nailed upon it. Great care must be taken in stopping up the gallery, not to press too hard upon the auget, for fear of spoiling the saucisson, which may hinder the powder from taking fire, and prevent the mine from springing. The gallery is stopped up with stones, earth and dung, well rammed, six or seven feet further from the chamber than the length of the line of the least resistance.[40]
Before closing this article, short as it is, compared with a full view of the subject, which belongs exclusively to engineering, we shall notice, from Belidor, the _globe of compression_ in mines. If we imagine a large globe of earth, homogeneous in all its parts, and a certain quantity of powder lodged in its centre, so as to produce a proper effect without bursting the globe; by setting fire to the powder, it is evident that the explosion will act all round, to overcome the obstacles which oppose its motion; and as the particles of the earth are porous, they will compress each other in proportion as the flame increases, and the capacity of the chamber increases likewise: but the particles of the earth next to the chamber will communicate a part of their motion to those next to them, and those to their neighbours; and this communication will thus continue in a decreasing proportion, till the whole force of explosion is entirely spent; and the particles of earth beyond this term will remain in the same state as they were at first. The particles of earth, that have been acted upon by the force of explosion, will compose a globe, which Mr. Belidor calls the globe of _compression_. He observed, that, when a mine exploded, and threw up the ground over it, its action was, at the same time, felt in a circular direction, throughout the surrounding ground, to a distance at least equal to the oblique line drawn from the centre of inflammation to the edge of the funnel.
Mines and counter-mines are now called offensive and defensive mines. The hole made by the explosion is called the _entonnoir_, crater, or funnel.
In the system of counter-mines, we have the _magistral gallery_, or gallery of the counterscarp, which is that extended below the covered way, from which branches are pushed to overthrow the works and batteries of the beseiger, that crown it; the _enveloping gallery_ that communicates with the other passages, called the _galleries of communication_, and is nearly parallel with the first at the distance of from forty to sixty yards. Other galleries are pushed forward, leaving the enveloping gallery, projecting at least thirty yards, and having spaces between them of about fifty yards in width; so that the enemy's miner, whose work may be heard under ground about thirty yards, may not pass between any two of them without being discovered. These are called _listening galleries_. It may be observed, that, from these galleries, branches are carried forward to establish chambers under the works of the enemy. Those who wish to acquire information on this, and other subjects, connected with attack and defence, and on some branches of engineering, would do well to consult the French work of _Bousmard_.
There are likewise small mines called _Fougasses_, used in the defence of field works. They are seldom more than ten feet beneath the surface, and are placed at the expected points of attack, usually nine feet from the salient angles, and without the counterscarp. The chest of powder and the saucisson are placed as usual. Barrels or casks and even grenades are used.
_Sec. XXXII. Of the Means of Increasing the Strength of Gunpowder for Mining._
We mentioned, in the article on gunpowder, that quicklime had the effect of increasing its strength. It has been suggested, to employ quicklime, for this purpose, when gunpowder is used in mining.
Bottée and Riffault (_Traité de l'art de Fabriquer la Poudre à canon, p. 301_) have given the result of some experiments on this subject, which we purpose to notice. These experiments, however, are not satisfactory on this head.
Dr. Baine, a physician of Foxano, in Tuscany, was the first who announced the fact, that quicklime would increase the explosive effect of gunpowder. The increase he states to be one-third. The proportions are, twenty-three grammes of quicklime, and one _kilogramme_ of powder.[41] The quicklime is powdered, and mixed with the gunpowder.
Various experiments were made, with the eprouvette of Regnier, which did not establish the truth of Dr. Baine's assertion. The Tuscan hunters use gunpowder mixed with lime.
The experiments were made by M. L. Maitre and colonel Charbonel. They employed pure dry powder, dry powder mixed with quicklime, moist powder pure, and moist powder mixed with lime. The object of these experiments was to ascertain, if the presence of quicklime added to the force of powder; either as a fourth component part and acting chemically, or by absorbing the moisture which the powder contains.
The charge of each was three ounces.
The result of the experiments is thus given:
Powder, dry and pure, 738 feet 2 inches. Powder, dry, and mixed with quicklime, 690 -- 1 -- ---- ---- Difference in favor of dry powder, 48 1
Powder, moist and pure, 714 feet 1 inch. Powder, moist, and mixed with quicklime, 642 -- 2 -- ---- ---- Difference in favor of moist powder, 71 11
It has been asserted, that the force of gunpowder is increased by water, alcohol, and ether, in consequence of the great expansibility of these fluids; but, according to the experiments of Bottée and Riffault, the range of the ball was much less when the three fluids were used successively, than when the dry and pure gunpowder alone was employed. We are informed by a gentleman, who saw the experiment made, that when gunpowder is mixed with an equal weight of fine saw dust, and fired, it will give the same range to a ball as the same weight of unmixed powder.
We find that col. Gibbs, (_American Journal of Science_, i. 87), in a letter to professor Silliman, mentions the use of lime in increasing the strength of gunpowder. He gives a certificate of the person, whom he employed in blowing rocks, in which he used quicklime along with powder, in the proportion of one part of the former to two of the latter. In the certificate, it is stated, that a charge of this mixture was found to be equally powerful, or to "answer equally well with a like quantity of gunpowder," having made upwards of fifty blasts in this manner, and, as he states, several hundred in the usual way. He remarks, however, that, when the powdered lime was mixed with the gunpowder the day before, the effect was diminished. The colonel attributes the effect to the desiccation of the powder by the lime; and, as gunpowder absorbs more or less water, the lime, in its caustic state, takes it from the powder. If the lime should remain too long, he is of opinion that it would probably attack the water of crystallization of the saltpetre, and, according to count Rumford's idea, destroy a great part of the powder. "The examination of this subject," says Gibbs, "led me to consider the increase of the power of gunpowder in various situations, and of its use in the field. It is well known, that, after a few discharges, a cannon becomes heated, and the range is much greater, as well as the recoil. The charge of powder is, therefore, reduced about one-quarter, to produce the original effect. As I have not heard or seen any explanation of this fact, I shall take this opportunity of mentioning, that it appears to arise from the same cause as the first explained, _viz_: the desiccation of the powder, &c."
M. Humboldt, (_Bulletin de la Société Philomatique_, floreal, an. 3) it appears, suggested an improvement in mining, not by increasing the force of gunpowder, but in the charging of it; to leave a space occupied only by air, a fact well known to those who are accustomed to this work, although not always adopted. He states the effect of powder on a shell; that, if it be filled, it breaks only into two or three pieces; but if only half filled, it is shattered into a great number, which he attributes to the presence of air in the shell.
_Sec. XXXIII. Of Incendiary Bombs._
These are used in sieges, and on water. Ruggeri gives the preparation of these bombs as follows, observing to melt the substances in the order they are mentioned.
1. Three parts of sulphur; 2. One part of pitch; 3. Two parts of nitrate of potassa; 4. One part of mutton suet.
After melting these substances, and mixing them intimately, the mixture is removed from the fire, and two pounds of gunpowder are added, and thoroughly blended. It is again submitted to heat, and a sufficient quantity of quick match, to cover a good sized marron, is immersed. The marron is furnished with a fuse. The composition hardens on the match. The match is employed as before described. Water does not extinguish the fire, produced by the combustion of this composition. See _Carcasses_ and _Fire-Balls_.
_Sec. XXXIV. Of Murdering Marrons._
Marrons, which take this name, are those, whose effect is different from the incendiary bomb. The latter is calculated to set fire to houses, &c. while the former is designed to destroy the lives of persons.
To make a murdering marron, we prepare, in the usual manner, a cylindrical case, and fill it with gunpowder, and then wrap round it, a quantity of pack-thread. In winding on the thread, care must be taken to cross it in the manner mentioned in a former article. It is then finished by coating it with a mixture of glue and wax, or, in preference, pitch. This prevents the thread from unwrapping, and renders the case firm and less liable to break. A hole is then made in its side to the powder, in which we insert a piece of quick-match, to communicate fire to the contents of the case. A small fuse, similar to that of a bomb fuse, but shorter, and made of pasteboard, is also used; and, after it is fixed to the marron, musket balls, previously pierced with holes, are nailed round the marron, the nails passing through the balls into the case. After thus fixing as many balls as the surface of the case will admit, we cover them with a composition made of three parts of glue and one part of wax. When this coating is dry, a hemispherical case is adapted. This case is a small _sack_ of paper, made round, and filled with gunpowder. It is placed at the bottom of the marron, and secured there with paper and glue. The match is conveyed to the orifice of the fuse of the marron; and, in short, a communication is so made from the one to the other, that, at a given time, the fire passes by means of the fuse to the marron, which then explodes, and throws the balls, with which it is furnished, in every direction.
Shells, made by uniting two hemispheres, containing powder, and furnished with balls and a fuse, are also a destructive weapon of the same character.
_Sec. XXXV. Of Incendiary Rope._
We have mentioned, under the head of _Tourteaux_, or tarred links and fascines, the compositions made use of for these preparations. The composition for incendiary rope is as follows:
Sulphur 12 parts Saltpetre 6 ---- Rosin 2 ---- Camphor 2 ---- Meal-powder 4 ---- Grained powder 2 ----
The rosin, sulphur, camphor, and saltpetre are melted, and mixed thoroughly together, and the kettle, which contains them, is removed from the fire; the gunpowder is then added, and intimately blended.
The mixture is again heated, and the rope is then immersed in it, and suffered to remain until it has imbibed sufficiently. It is then taken out, and allowed to cool.
After this operation, we melt, in a separate kettle, the following substances:
Rosin 4 parts. Pitch (or tar) 4 ---- Mutton suet 2 ----
When they are melted, and mixed, the rope previously prepared as above, is thrown into the mixture, and then removed and hung up.
After this second process, we make, in an earthen vessel, a priming mixture, in which the rope is sometimes immersed, or such parts of it, as are to take fire promptly. This priming paste is composed of,
Meal-powder 4 parts. Saltpetre 4 ---- Sulphur 2 ---- Spirit of wine, (or brandy), a sufficient quantity. Gum arabic ½ ----
Incendiary rope is used more generally in the form of a ball, which is enclosed in a sack, and fired out of a common mortar. It was invented by an officer at Toulon. See _Carcasses_.
_Sec. XXXVI. Of Balloons of Grenades, of Bombs, and of Flints or Stone._
Balloons of this kind are cases, or sacks, made sufficiently large, containing powder, and enclosing grenades, shells, and stones.
The balloon of grenades holds twelve charged grenades, containing different quantities of powder. They are finished like powder sacks, and _corded_ with small cord, twine, or thread. The balloon of flints, river stones, or small pebbles, is made by enclosing these substances along with powder in a sack, as before stated. These balloons are employed for the defence of works, &c. See _Powder Sacks_.
The _Ballon à Bombes_, of the French, is the same. It is a bag, in which are placed _beds_ of smaller bombs, that are charged and interlaid with gunpowder. The bag is put into another covering, that is pitched, with the neck closely tied up with pack thread, in which a fuse is fixed, as in ordinary bombs. The English say, that Colonel Shrapnel's invention of the spherical case shot, is of a superior kind. We purpose, therefore, to notice them in the following section.
_Sec. XXXVII. Of Spherical Case-Shot._
Ordinary case shot is a tin case or cannister, filled with iron balls, so as to make up the weight of the shot. The balls are seldom less than 1-1/4 oz, in weight. Little effect is to be expected from firing case shot beyond 300 yards, from the very great divergency of the balls. The following summary of the effects and advantages of this species of shot, which, as invented by Col. Shrapnel, is called the Shrapnel shell, will be sufficient for our purpose. It is extracted from a book lately published.
1st. The whole charge takes effect on the enemy at any distance. By the present mode of firing, the greatest part of the charge disperses as soon as it leaves the muzzle of the gun, and cannot be directed.
2nd. Grape, or case shot, may be fired with effect equally close and collected, to any distance within the range of the piece; and the artillery need not advance within musket shot of the enemy, to make use of this kind of fire with its full effect, and are not so subject to have their guns charged either by cavalry or infantry.
3d. It requires less precision and exactness, to point a piece of ordnance charged with spherical case shot than with round shot; because case shot is a wide and dispersed fire, and the difficulty in elevation consequently less.
4th. Its comparative destruction with that of round shot will be, generally, as the number of the shot within the shells to one; that is to say, a three pounder, twenty-two to one in its favour; a six pounder, fifty to one, &c.; in which calculation is not enumerated any effect from the splinters of the shell.
5th. Small balls cannot be projected to very considerable distances, unless enclosed in heavy spherical cases, which, from their form and weight, are not much influenced by the resistance of the air, or diverted from their direction.
6th. The explosion of the shell makes no change in the direction of the shot within; they consequently complete the shell's track, or curve, which has sometimes been observed to be 400 yards.
7th. From the unevenness of the ground, such as hillocks, banks, fallow fields, &c. all shot which graze, most commonly lodge: whereas, by using this shell, the whole charge will be carried over these irregularities, and reach the object with its full contents of balls.
_Sec. XXXVIII. Of the Fire-Rain, according to Casimir Siemienowicz._
The composition, which produces fire-rain, which we purpose to notice in this place, is taken from the "_Artis Magnæ Artilleriæ_" of Casimir Siemienowicz. He seems, however, to have taken it from a German author.
The fire rain is an incendiary fire-work, and calculated, like other incendiaries, for firing the houses of a besieged place or city, which are covered with shingles, laths, stubble, or reeds. Besides several other compositions, designated by artificers, that of fire-rain was so called from its supposed resemblance to a shower of rain.
To prepare this composition, the following method is used: We take 24 parts of sulphur, and melt in a copper, or iron pot, over live coals without flame, and then throw in 16 parts of saltpetre, and mix it with an iron spatula, to incorporate the whole. The pot is now removed from the fire, and when the composition is become rather cold, stir into it 8 parts of grained powder. The composition is then poured on a marble slab, or metallic plate, where it is allowed to cool. It is then broken into pieces of the size of a walnut, which, when used, is interspersed with quick match, covered with gunpowder, and put into shells or bombs.
These bombs are made in the same manner, as those, which are formed in fire-works for exhibition.
Wood, covered with this composition, will burn in the same manner as the shells. The globe of fire is also similar to those for exhibition. The mortar is elevated at an angle of 45°, in order that the globe may go to the greatest height, and the greatest range; for the fall of the inflamed matter, which is dispersed in all directions by the powder, is more or less vertical, and, in that state, lights upon houses, &c. This effect, that of setting fire to one or more houses, depends greatly on the accuracy of their discharge from the mortar.
The following compositions are also used for the same purpose, observing to follow the same manner of mixing the ingredients:
1. Sulphur 3 parts. Saltpetre 1 ---- Meal-powder 1 ---- Iron filings ½ ---- Green Vitriol ½ ----
2. Sulphur 1 part. Saltpetre 1 ---- Grained powder 1 ----
3. Sulphur 1 part. Galbanum 4 ---- Saltpetre 4 ---- Grained powder 1 ----
4. Sulphur 5 parts. Saltpetre 2 ---- Rosin 1 ---- Meal-powder 1 ----
These compositions may be used in the manner already described. Two wooden hemispheres, filled with the preparation and joined together, is the usual mode of forming a fire bomb. The bomb or globe is then covered with strong canvass, and finished by dipping it, or smearing it with melted pitch. Over this, two or three covers of canvass are sometimes sewed. When the bomb is dry, we put it in a case, in the same manner as directed for the murdering, and incendiary bombs. The case is charged with fine meal-powder, &c.
The modern improvements, which are many, supersede the rain-fire. Fire stone, for instance, is a more powerful preparation. The incendiaries made with this composition, and the ordinary carcass, are more effectual for this purpose. That the Greek fire was an active composition, and produced very destructive effects on towns and shipping, there can be no doubt; notwithstanding the invention of gunpowder has completely changed the art of war, and superseded, as we have shown in our articles on _gunpowder_ and _Greek fire_, the use of the incendiary composition of the Greeks.
_Sec. XXXIX. Of the Effect of Mirrors in inflaming Bodies at a Distance._
As this subject may be of some interest to the reader, at least in relation to an important fact, that of the _concentration_ of the calorific rays of the sun, which has had the effect of burning bodies at some distance, we deem the following facts not irrelevant.
The effects of burning glasses, both by refraction and reflection, are noticed by Empedocles and Euclid, who composed a treatise on the ancient optics and catoptrics. It has been thought, that the Romans had a method of lighting their sacred fire by some such means. Aristophanes, in one of his comedies, introduces a person as making use of a globe, filled with water, to cancel a bond that was against him, by thus melting the wax of the seal. Plutarch, in his life of Numa, says, that the instruments used to kindle fires, were metallic dishes, which were placed opposite to the sun, and the combustible matter in the centre, by which, it is probable, he meant the focus, conceiving that to be at the centre of the mirror's concavity.
Father Kircher was the first, who thought of substituting, for a concave mirror, several plane mirrors, so disposed, that the sun's rays reflected at their surface might converge towards the same point. He employed five only of these mirrors, which he so arranged, that the concurrence of the rays should take place at a distance of more than one hundred feet, and he found the heat there to be scarcely supportable. "Now," says Kircher, "if five mirrors produce so considerable an effect, what would a hundred or a thousand do, arranged in the same manner? They would excite so violent a heat, that it would set fire to every thing, and reduce all to ashes."
Orpheus compares his _jaspis_ to rock crystal, and says that it kindles fire, and that he knew how to use rock crystal as a burning glass. Diodorus calls some kinds of jasper transparent, and sky-coloured. The jaspis, described in the Revelation of St. John (_chapter_ xxi, verse 11, 18, 19,) may have been the same stone.
It is not our intention, however, to notice the history of mirrors, from the time of Moses, (_Exodus_, chap. xxxviii, verse 8,) or of Job, (_Job_, chap. xxxvii, verse 18) through different periods of time, to the present day; as the reader may find an interesting account on this head in Beckman, (_History of Inventions_, vol. iii, p. 154); but to state in particular the celebrated experiment of Archimedes, which has indeed astonished men of science, who have lived since that period. There can be no doubt of the fact, if we reflect for a moment, that some modern experiments have justified the conclusion which has been drawn; and, therefore, that the solar rays may be concentrated to such a degree, as to inflame bodies at some distance off: and as the heat produced is much greater than that of our hottest furnaces, incredible as it may appear, there can be no question as to the effect, which may be produced by a system of mirrors.
By means of burning mirrors, Archimedes burnt the Roman ships, which were beseiging Syracuse, and reduced them to ashes.
Descartes, among others, discredited the story as fallacious; but Kircher made many experiments, with a view of establishing its credibility. He tried the effect of a number of plane mirrors, and with five mirrors of the same size, placed in a frame, he contrived to throw the rays reflected from them to the same spot, at the distance of more than one hundred feet; and, by this means, he produced such a degree of heat, as led him to conclude, that, by increasing their number, he could have set fire to inflammable substances at a greater distance. He likewise made a voyage to Syracuse, in company with his pupil, Schottus, in order to examine the place of the supposed transaction; and they were both of opinion, that the galleys of Marcellus could not have been more than thirty paces from Archimedes.[42]
Proclus is also said to have destroyed the navy of Vitalian, beseiging Byzantium, near Constantinople, by means of burning glasses.
Among the moderns, the most remarkable burning mirrors have been those of Magine; of Septala of Milan, which was nearly three and a half feet in diameter, and which burnt at the distance of fifteen or sixteen paces; of Vilette, and Tschirinhausen; the new complex one of M. Buffon; that of Trudaine, and that of Parker. Tschirinhausen's burning glass was between three and four feet in diameter, and its focus was rendered more powerful by a second one.
It may not be improper to notice the construction, as well as the effect of some of these mirrors. La Brocquire, a traveller of the 15th century, says, that, at Damascus, they made mirrors of steel that magnify objects, and one of them, when exposed to the sun, reflected the heat so strongly, as to set fire to a plank fifteen or sixteen feet distant.
M. Buffon constructed a machine consisting of a number of mirrors, by which he seems to have revived the secret of Archimedes, and to have vindicated the credit of history in this point. The experiment was first tried with twenty-four mirrors, which readily set on fire a combustible matter prepared of pitch and tow, laid on a deal board at a distance of sixty-six French feet. He then pursued the attempt, and put together a kind of polyhedron, consisting of one hundred and sixty-eight pieces of plane looking glass, each six inches square; and by means of this, some boards of beech wood were set on fire at a distance of one hundred and fifty feet, and a silver plate was melted at the distance of sixty feet. This machine, in the next stage of its improvement, contained 360 plane mirrors, each 8 inches long, and 6 broad, mounted on a frame 8 feet high, and 7 feet broad. With 12 of these mirrors, light combustible matters were kindled at a distance of 20 feet; with 45 of them, at the same distance, a large tin vessel was melted; and with 117, a thin piece of silver. When the whole machine was employed, all the metals were melted at the distance of twenty-five, and even of forty feet. Wood was kindled in a clear sky, at the distance of 210 feet. Mr. Buffon afterwards constructed a machine, which contained four hundred mirrors, each six inches square, with which he could melt lead and tin at the distance of 140 feet.
Mr. Parker, an eminent glass manufacturer, in Fleet street, London, constructed the most powerful burning mirror ever made. He erected an out building at the bottom of his garden for the purpose of carrying on his operations. He succeeded in forming a most powerful burning lens. Its diameter was three feet. Platinum, iron, steel, flint, &c. were melted in a few seconds, on being exposed to its immense focus. A diamond weighing thirty grains was reduced to six grains, in the space of thirty minutes. It opened and foliated like the leaves of a flower, and emitted whitish fumes, (carbonic acid gas;) when close again, it bore a polish, and retained its form. Garnets, clay, &c. soon melted.
Seven hundred guineas were subscribed to indemnify the inventor, it having cost him seven hundred pounds. It was purchased, however, and presented by lord Macartney to the Chinese government, and remains now at Pekin.
M. Payard, (_Archives des Découvertes_, &c.) has invented a burning mirror, consisting of several plane mirrors so arranged as to concentrate the solar heat into a focus with great precision. The arrangement, it may be proper to state, is different from that heretofore used, and the effect is said to be very powerful.
A polygonal mirror, from a suggestion of the celebrated Buffon, was erected in the Botanic Garden at Paris, in 1747, and had also a very powerful effect. This mirror was composed of one hundred and sixty-eight plates of tinned or silvered glass, capable of moving in every direction and of being fixed at different degrees of inclination, so that there could be given to the whole, a form more or less concave, and the focus be thrown to different distances. This mirror set fire to wood at two hundred feet, and fused metals at forty-five feet.
As caloric, like light, follows the same laws with respect to its motion, and as the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, the radiation of heat, conducted after the manner of Pictet's experiment, has not only occasioned the combustion of gunpowder, but of other inflammable substances. But, for this purpose, the mirrors must be large and extremely bright. That heat radiates in all directions, and is reflected, and that the calorific rays may thereby be concentrated, are facts which are now universally admitted. The application of this principle, by using concave mirrors sufficiently large, has, we are informed, produced the explosion of gunpowder. They were placed about twelve feet apart. In the focus of one a live coal was put, which was constantly blown with a double bellows, and in the focus of the other some gunpowder. In all our experiments with the ordinary reflectors, we could never produce any thing like the heat necessary to inflame gunpowder. That the principle is substantiated by experiment is evident; for the rays of a heated body, or a substance which produces heat, as a lamp or candle, placed in the focus of a concave mirror, are reflected in parallel lines, and if another concave mirror be placed opposite to it at some distance, the calorific rays will be thus intercepted and reflected back in a focus. This _focus_, therefore, like the focus of a burning glass, is the concentration of all the parallel rays of heat.
_Sec. XL. Of Incendiary and Poisoned Arrows._
The bow is a very ancient weapon of offence, made of steel, wood, horn, or other elastic substance, which, after being bent by means of a string fastened to its two ends, in returning to its natural state, throws out an arrow with great force. That the bow was a weapon of offence among the nations of antiquity, the inhabitants of Asia and Africa, and the Aborigines of this country, and that it was used in Europe, before the invention or use of fire-arms, are facts, of which we have abundant proof. Bows are much the same in all countries. It has generally two inflections or bendings, between which, in the place where the arrow is drawn, is a right line. The Grecian bow was adorned with gold or silver. The Scythian bow was distinguished from those of the Grecians and other nations, by its incurvation, which was so great, as to form a half moon, or semi-circle. The Persian bows were made of reed. The Indians used the same material, as well for their bows as their arrows. The Lycian bows were made of the cornel tree; and those of the Ethiopians, which surpassed all others in magnitude, were made of the palm tree. The Romans, although they did not admit bows in the infancy of their republic; yet they considered them as hostile weapons. They employed auxiliary archers in all their wars. The Amazonians, as well as the primitive Grecians, in drawing their bow, did not pull back their hand towards their right ear, according to the fashion of the ancient Persians, and of modern ages; but, placing their bow directly before them, returned their hand upon their right breast.
While noticing this subject, we may also observe, that Louis XI first abolished the use of bows in France, introducing, in their place, the halberd, pike, and broadsword. The long bow was much in use by the English archers, and many laws were passed encouraging its use. In the time of Henry VIII, the parliament complained of the disuse of long bows.
The bow is now laid aside altogether as a war weapon. The arrows, made use of, were armed with barbed iron, and, among the aborigines of this and other countries, with a stone, formed in a particular manner, many of which are picked up in this country. We have found them at West Point. The natives were in the habit of poisoning their arrows, by using a particular composition, not known; the effect of which, however, when the arrow penetrated into the flesh, is always destructive.
Roggewein, (_Voyage for the Discovery of Southern Lands_) speaking of Batavia, observes, that, at this place, there are some of the Macassars, so famous for their little poisoned arrows, which they blow through a trunk. This poison is the juice of a tree, that grows in Macassar, and in the Bougie islands. They dip the points of their arrows in this juice, and then let them dry. The wound they give is mortal.
The natives of Ceylon are very dexterous with the bow and arrow; so also are the Hottentots, according to Kolben, in his _Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope_. A Hottentot arrow consists of a small tapering stick or cane, of about a foot and a half in length, pointed with a small thin piece of iron bearded, and joined to the stick or cane by a barrel. Their bows are made of olive, or iron wood, and the strings, of the sinews and entrails of beasts. When they attack a lion, tiger, or leopard, which they do with wonderful resolution and dexterity, they employ slings (_hassagayes_) and arrows, which for that purpose are usually poisoned.
Ellis (_Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage_) speaks of the bows and arrows of the Eskimaux Indians, and the facility with which they use them, but not of poisoned arrows. Moore, (_Travels into the interior of Africa_) observes, that a native took him to his house, and showed him a great number of arrows, daubed over with a black mixture, said to be so venomous, that, if the arrow did but draw blood, it would be mortal, unless the person who made the mixture had a mind to cure it. For the man observed to him, that there were no poisonous herbs, whose effects might not be prevented by the application of other herbs.
Poisoned arrows, according to various historians, were used in the remotest periods of antiquity. The mode of treating wounds in the twelfth century, by using membrane like the present gold-beaters' skin, may be mentioned in relation to this circumstance. The Emperor, John Commenus, accidentally wounded himself in the hand with a poisoned arrow, while hunting, and applied a piece of skin to the wound. The emperor, however, died in consequence of the wound, after it had become inflamed under the pellicle; which, in large wounds, and when the skin is suffered to remain too long, is commonly the case, though the poison alone we are informed, would have been a sufficient cause of death. Other instances are also mentioned of death being occasioned by the poisoned arrow.
On the subject of poisoned arrows, the following outline is given on the authority of the author of the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, vol. 3, p. 50.
The juice of the _Mancenilier_, or the _Lianes des Marais_, called in Guyanne _Curare_, is employed by some savages. The Arabs use the juice of a milky shrub, which they name _chark_, and called by the Persians _gulbut samour_. Indian arrows are said to be poisoned with the venom of serpents. The islanders of Java rub their darts with the blood and venom of the lizard _Gecko_, which they kill by whipping it to death. The needles of the Macassars, they poison with the juice of a tree, which is said to belong to the _ahouai_ of America. At Ceylon they extract the venomous matter from the _Nerium_, or _laurel rose_. The ancient Gauls are said by M. Paw to have poisoned their arms with the juice of the _Caprisiguier_. In some cantons of the Pyrenees and Alps, they express the juice of the roots of the Aconitum, (thora), which they put on weapons.
M. Charles Coquebert, in a memoir read to the Philomatic Society, in 1798, observes, that the ancient European inhabitants employed three plants to poison their arrows; namely, _Veratrum album_, _Helleborus viridis_, and _Aconitum Lysocitonum_.
There have been obtained from the Society Islands some poisoned arrows, and a pot of the composition, in which they are dipped. It has the appearance of a black fluid extract, and seems to be an infusion or decoction of some plants, probably mixed with other substances.
With respect to the poisons obtained from the animal kingdom, they are principally liquid juices. Fontana, in particular, has paid attention to this subject. The poison of the viper, which is contained in two small vesicles of the mouth, when the animal bites, is forced, through the fangs, into the wound. If the vesicles be extracted, or the liquor prevented from flowing into the wound, the bite is harmless. Sharp instruments, as arrows, when they penetrate the skin, being covered with the poison, will have the same effect. Fontana made a set of experiments on the dry poison of the viper, and a similar set on gum arabic, and obtained the same results! Small birds and quadrupeds die immediately, when they are bitten by a viper; but to a man, the bite is not always fatal. The experiments and observations of Francini, (_Abridg. Phil. Trans._ ii, 8,) Mead, (_On Poisons_, p. 35,) Tyson, (_Phil. Trans._ vol. xii,) Fontana, Redi, Russel, the late Dr. Ramsay, of Charleston, (_Phil. Mag._ xvii, 125,) and Dr. B. S. Barton, (_Amer. Phil. Trans._ vol. ii, p. 100,) furnish an abundance of facts on the venom of the viper, and some on the antidotes to the bite. Dr. F. G. Gren, late professor at Halle, in Saxony, (_Principles of Modern Chemistry_, ii, p. 47), observes, in speaking of the experiments of Fontana, as the poison of the viper exhibits all the characteristic properties of gum, whether the gum be merely the vehicle of a peculiar venomous substance, which, upon investigation, escapes the notice of the senses? or whether this action upon living bodies, so different from its usual nature, be imparted to the gum, merely by a change in the proportions of its radicals, so slight as to be unobservable in its chemical analysis?
Mr. Misson (_Travels through Germany and Italy_) observes, that, at the arsenal at Venice, he saw some pocket cross bows, and steel arrows, with which the late lord of Padua used to kill such as passed by, without their knowing from whence they received their wounds.
Arrows were sometimes employed by the Grecians, for conveying their Greek fire. It seems, according to Gibbon, (_History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, vol. vii, 284), that, among the different means of discharging it, that with the bow and arrow was one. For this purpose, flax or tow was dipped in the composition, and wrapped round the arrow, which was discharged the moment it was inflamed.
The Indians, and Africans in particular, have been very ingenious in poisoning several kinds of warlike instruments. The blades of swords, the barbs of arrows, balls, &c. they have prepared in such a way, as to be extremely poisonous.[43] See _Poisoned Ball_.
With respect to incendiary arrows, it will be sufficient to remark, that the barb, for this purpose, was furnished with a composition, which, when inflamed, was projected by the bow to the spot designed to be set on fire. They were not much employed, and at the present day, are entirely out of use. Tow, for instance, previously prepared with pitch, meal-powder, and turpentine, or a composition equally combustible, when wrapped round the head of an arrow, and thrown at the moment of its inflammation, would, in many cases, set fire to buildings. But, as the present system of employing incendiary fire-works, presents advantages decidedly in its favour, it is hardly probable, that the bow and arrow will ever be employed by civilized nations for that purpose. The ancient _catapulta_ was particularly calculated for throwing incendiary compositions.
The catapulta was an engine, contrived for throwing arrows, darts, and stones, upon the enemy. Their power was so great, that they would project a stone of a hundred weight with an almost incredible force. Josephus, in noticing this machine, says, that the stones thrown out of it, beat down the battlements, knocked off the angles of the towers, and had a force sufficient to level a deep file of soldiers.
_Sec. XLI. Of Pyrotechnical Sponge._
This name is applied to the German _black match_, or tinder, used chiefly to receive the file from flint and steel. We have, on a former occasion, noticed the preparation of the substance called spunk; namely, by immersing the fungus in a solution of saltpetre, and then drying it.
There are various species of agaric. The mushroom is a genus belonging to the order Fungi, and the _boletus igniarius_, spunk, or touch-wood, called also female agaric, is employed, not only as a match, but as a styptic. The fungous excrescences, which grow upon old oaks, ash trees, firs, &c. are all used for the same purpose. The Germans take the soft inner substance in preference to the hard, and after beating with a hammer to render it still softer, they boil it in ley, then dry it, and boil it again, in a solution of nitrate of potassa, and finally dry it in an oven for use.
The _amadou_ of the French, is the same as our spunk, or pyrotechnical sponge. It is always made, like the latter, from various kinds of agaric, which constitute the spongy excrescence of trees. The French prepare it for use in the manner before stated. They prepare _amadou_, also, by soaking blue paper in a solution of nitre. They sometimes employ it in the state of tinder, and, for this purpose, burn it to a coal.
In the East Indies, there is a white spongy plant, which, when reduced to a kind of charcoal, furnishes a very good tinder.
Spunk, or pyrotechnical sponge, is generally made in Germany.
In the preparation of ordinary _tinder_, the best mode of carbonizing the old linen, instead of burning and then smothering the flame, is to char the rags in close iron vessels. It may be made more quick by soaking it in a solution of nitre, and then drying it.
Dry turf, or peat, is susceptible of inflammation by the spark, and, if previously soaked in a solution of nitre, the effect, we are told, is much the same as with spunk. Professor Beckman (_History of Inventions_, i, p. 333), remarks, that a spark falling accidentally on a turf moor, during a dry summer, often sets it on fire; and the conflagration it occasions, often lasts so long, that it cannot escape notice. Of the earth taking fire in this manner, there are many instances to be found in the ancients. One of the most remarkable, is that mentioned by Tacitus, (_Annal._, lib. xiii, cap. 57), who relates, that not long after the building of the city of Cologne, the neighbouring land took fire, and burned in such a manner, that the corn, villages, and every production of the fields, were destroyed by the flames, which advanced even to the walls of the city. This was certainly a morass set on fire.
Gmelin (_Travels in Russia_, 1768-69, vol. i, p. 22) speaks of a morass in Siberia, where a village was erected, which, on account of its situation, the inhabitants deserted. This morass was set on fire, and when he was there, had been burning for more than six months; and being very inflammable, produced much devastation.
Turf, which consists of a congeries of vegetable roots or fibres, partly in a dry and decomposed state, or partly carbonized, when separated from earthy matter, and treated in the same manner as the medullary excrescence of wood, may be advantageously employed in like manner; but it is to be remarked, that for this purpose, the small and more friable, and consequently the more decomposed part, should be preferred. That turf, or peat, has been used for fuel, from time immemorial, there can be no doubt; since it is furnished in some countries very abundantly, and its inflammability has been long known.
_Sec. XLII. Of Extinguishing Flame with Fired Gunpowder._
The different methods for extinguishing fire in chimnies, by using salt, sulphur, &c. to _smother_ the flame, as it is called, depend on one principle, that of producing either a gas or vapour, which supplies the place of atmospheric air, and as it is a non-supporter of combustion, extinguishes the flame. Carbonic acid gas would have the same effect as the sulphurous acid gas, produced by the combustion of sulphur, or the vapour of salt.
So long, however, as the air is permitted to have a draught, the fire will continue to burn; and hence, without making any remarks on the bursting of chimnies, by closing all the avenues, by which the air enters, as the fire must exert a lateral pressure, this plan is generally adopted.
It has been suggested, and in fact the suggestion is by no means new, that the _smoke_ of fired gunpowder would extinguish flame. Some recommend firing a pistol up a chimney for this purpose, and others again, throwing gunpowder into the fire.
In the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, iii, p. 31, I find some remarks on this subject. Besides the use of gunpowder, the vapour of water is recommended; but having some objections, among which, that of accelerating the current of air in particular, it is laid aside. Intercepting the passage of air seems to be preferred.
It appears, that the person, who first suggested the use of gunpowder for this purpose, was a Zachariah Greyl, of Augsburgh, in 1720.
The effect was attributed to the _vapour_ of the gunpowder destroying the elasticity of the air; and the same effect is said to take place when the vapour of sulphur, or of volatile acids, is employed. It is hardly necessary to add, that this conclusion, of the diminution of the elasticity of the air, on which depends its fitness for combustion, (according to the theory then advanced), is altogether hypothetical; and the cause of the extinction of the flame, must be sought for in the substances themselves, producing an atmosphere, which is decidedly a non-supporter of combustion.
The _Journal de Paris for_ 1785, and the _Affiches de Province_ of the same year, recommend the use of brimstone. In the same work, page 454, it is said, that marine salt is employed with success for the extinguishing of fires; and that, when a certain quantity is thrown upon the fire, it evaporates in an instant, and displaces, by its _fumes_, the atmospheric air. In 1723, M. Hoffer invented his machine; and in 1781, M. Cadet de Vaux made some experiments before Leroy, Lavoisier, and Macquer, on the means of rendering bodies incombustible by saline substances, and different modes of extinguishing flame.
In 1722, the Germans announced, that, by means of a certain quantity of gunpowder, flame at all times might be extinguished. The secret, for such it was then considered, has been revived; for the same plan has lately been recommended by a modern writer. M. de Reaumur communicated to the French academy, an account of this contrivance, by which it appears, that the machine was a large box, or cask, that contained a large quantity of water; in the centre of which, was placed a case of sheet tin, containing some pounds of cannon powder. To this was attached a fuse. When it was inflamed, the gunpowder would burst the vessel, and disperse the water in every direction. See the _Journal des Savants_, 1725, p. 671.
In the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, a prompt and certain method is recommended for cleaning the tunnel of chimnies. This is rather a novel plan. Of its efficacy we know nothing. It consists in taking a powder, composed of three parts of saltpetre, two parts of salt of tartar, and one part of flowers of sulphur, (or fulminating powder), and exploding it on a shovel up the chimney. The explosion indeed may detach the loose pieces of soot; but it cannot remove the harder crust, and besides, it would endanger the chimney taking fire.
We know that various contrivances have been used for the same purpose; and of the chimney cleansing machines, calculated to diminish the number of infant victims of a filthy and disgusting operation, that of Mr. Smart appears to possess every advantage, which (or a plan similar to it) is now in use in our cities. A description of this machine, and another by Hornblower, are given in Gregory's _Mechanics_, vol. ii, p. 138. The invention of Mr. Hornblower consists of a vessel, into which air is condensed, that communicates with a tube, charged with small gravel, which being blown up the chimney, brings down the soot.
_Sec. XLIII. Of the Inflammable Dart._
This dart is made in the following manner. We take a common rocket case, of one inch exterior diameter, and charge it solid with the ordinary rocket composition. Some use one spoonful of earth, and three spoonfuls of the composition for fire lances, piercing the case, and attaching a quick match. This, however, appears altogether unnecessary, as the rocket composition is sufficient for the purpose. The match, in either case, is fixed in the end to set it off. To the end of the case is attached a dart, made of iron, and very sharp. This dart is secured in the head, in such a manner as to be kept firm. A stick is then lashed to the case in the usual way. It may be sent in the direction required. It appears, however, that, although it is calculated to be thrown on an enemy, it has not been much used; nor can it be considered an active weapon, compared with others, employed for similar purposes. One use for which it is recommended, is for the defence of buildings.
_Sec. XLIV. Of the Firebrand._
The _boute-feu_ of the French, which we have translated into firebrand, as the most appropriate term in the present instance, is used as an incendiary, and is nothing more than a long stick, furnished at one of its ends with two iron prongs, with sometimes the figure of a dragon's head, on which is rolled thick rope, previously prepared in the same manner as tourteaux. One end of this rope passes between the iron prongs. The boute-feu is calculated to set fire to buildings, &c. after the retreat of an enemy. It is only a convenient and expeditious mode of communicating fire. One end of the stick is pointed, and usually covered with iron, so as to stick in the ground.
_Sec. XLV. Of the Fire Flask._
The fire flask, or fire bottle, is a bottle, either square or round, and charged with grain-powder, mixed with fire-stone, which is introduced and compressed with a stick. The bottle is then covered with a cloth, sewed on it, which is coated with pitch. The mouth is secured with parchment. When used, a match is inserted, and inflamed. It is then thrown by the hand.
_Sec. XLVI. Of the Trompe-Route._
The _trompe-route_ of the French is a light made use of at sea, to deceive the enemy. It is nothing more than a common fire lance, one inch in diameter, and twelve inches long, fixed in the centre of a round plank, which, when lighted, is let down upon the water. As it floats from the ship, the lights of the latter being darkened, the enemy, in pursuit, will follow the light, and by this means the ship escapes.
_Sec. XLVII. Of Fire-Pots for Ramparts._
Rampart fire-pots are used, when an enemy approaches a work. They are furnished with grain-powder, and charged grenades without fuses, and sometimes also with fire stone. The pots are ordinary potters' ware, and, when they contain the ingredients, are covered with parchment. A match passes through the opening of the pot, and when used, is inflamed with a port-fire. The following composition is also used for rampart pots.
_Composition for Rampart Fire-Pots._
Saltpetre, 12 parts. Meal-powder, 12 ---- Sulphur, 4 ---- Antimony, 4 ----
These ingredients are mixed in a mortar with the oil of petroleum, or, if this cannot be had, good spermaceti oil, and made into a thick paste, about the consistence of dough, and then rolled into balls. The pots generally hold two rows of these balls, distributing through them grained powder. They are then finished by using fire stone composition, beaten into pieces, and mixed with an equal quantity of grained powder, and covered with meal-powder to facilitate the inflammation.
The pots are covered over with parchment, as in the former case. It is doubtful, whether fire pots, prepared in this way, have any advantages over those, made in the manner first described.
As to the shape of fire-pots, some are cylindrical, and others of the common figure. Sometimes they are furnished with an iron hoop, with a hook of iron, by which they are suspended. They are used, when equipped in that way, more for sea service, as a defence against small boats. They are hung over the side of the vessel, so as to come in contact with the boats. When designed in particular for that use, they are charged with the following composition:
_Composition for Fire-Pots, for sea service._
Grained powder, 6 lbs. Meal-powder, 2 -- Saltpetre, 1 -- Sulphur, ½ -- Charcoal, 10 oz.
With this composition, grenades are used, which are put into the pot with powder, fire-stone, &c. and a match is fixed as before mentioned.
We are told, that fire-pots, prepared in this manner, are a defensive, as well as a dangerous weapon, and that a vessel in the Indian seas was actually saved by them, when attacked by pirates. It appears, that she endeavoured to escape from her pursuers, and finding it in vain, the crew thought of making, and employing fire-pots, for their defence; as the number of the pirates was greater than their own crew. The effect was, that, not expecting that kind of reception, they were obliged to abandon their enterprize.
There is an incendiary fire-pot, which differs from that used in fire-works for exhibition, by being made of copper and very stout. It is charged with pieces of fire-stone, previously rolled in a paste of meal-powder and brandy. A charge of powder is put in the pot, and quick-match is fixed, which must be sufficiently long to hang over the pot, and then the fire-stone is thrown in. When the match is inflamed, the powder takes fire, and disperses the fire-stone. The better plan is to have a communication to the powder below, as in the pots of ordnance, or mortars for throwing fire-balloons. We see no particular advantage to be derived from the use of this pot; as a carcass or fire-ball, thrown out of a mortar, will do more execution, and at a greater distance than any of these contrivances. The carcass rocket, however, may be an exception, if we believe the account we have of it. As an incendiary, the fire-stone, put in a shell with powder, is more effectual than the fire-pot, we have just described.
_Sec. XLVIII. Of Inflammable Balls._
Count Rumford (_Bibliothèque Physico-Economique_, 1812) has invented a composition, which is very inflammable, and, as it is used in balls, is for that reason so called. Equal parts of clay, pitcoal, and charcoal of wood, are mixed together, (having previously reduced them to powder), and made into a consistence with water fit to roll into balls. These balls are then dried for use.
They may be rendered more inflammable, by soaking them in a strong solution of saltpetre.
Count Rumford, when he recommended the use of clay with coal, was aware, that, in the combustion of coal, a considerable part of the heat was lost; whereas, although clay is incombustible, a greater part of this heat is retained by the clay, and given out gradually.
The inflammable ball may be considered more in the character of an economical fuel than in any other.
The only inconvenience attending these balls is, that, when prepared without nitre, which must add to the expense, they do not readily inflame; and, therefore, a fire must first be kindled, before they are used.
While noticing the use of clay in this manner, we may remark, that the _economical brick_, as it is called, is made nearly in the same way.
Two parts of clay, separated from stones, are mixed with one part of pitcoal. After the fire is kindled, the coal burns in the same manner, and the clay bakes.
Another composition is given in the _Bibliothèque Physico-Economique_, for March, 1812. It is composed of potters' clay, cow dung, street dirt, saw-dust of wood, turf, horse dung, straw, and tan. Besides these, pitch, tar, oils, and other combustible substances, are occasionally used, either with the above, or mixed with pitcoal in powder.
Observations on this preparation may be seen in the work quoted, or in the _Archives des Découvertes_, v, p. 137.
_Sec. XLIX. Of Pauly's Inflammable Powder._
We mentioned, in a note to the article on guns, that M. Pauly had invented a musket, or fowling piece, which was discharged by percussion, instead of flint and steel, by using a priming powder made of chlorate of potassa.
It may be proper, however, to state, that the Rev. Dr. Forsyth made use of a similar powder, and for the same purpose, many years ago, of which we have already spoken. M. Thenard also has given a formula for a preparation of a similar powder.
A description of M. Pauly's improvement may be seen in the _Archives des Découvertes_, for 1812, p. 158, and in that of 1814, p. 174, where the composition of the powder is noticed; and also in the _Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement_, for 1814.
This powder is composed as follows:
Chlorate, or hyperoxymuriate of potassa 8 oz. Flowers of sulphur 3 -- Charcoal of light wood 2 --
They are mixed together with Cologne water, or in its place with brandy, to which a small quantity of the solution of gum arabic is added.
The ingredients must be made as fine as possible, and intimately blended together.
This powder may be inflamed by a hammer, or by the condensation of air in a piston, a mode recommended by Pauly.
We have seen a fowling-piece, constructed according to M. Pauly's plan, and also the priming powder used.
_Sec. L. Of Extemporaneous Fire._
There are several preparations, which have the effect of producing fire either by friction, or chemical action. Some of these preparations, we have noticed. The causes of spontaneous combustion may be referred to chemical decomposition, and the change of quiescent into distributable heat. We remarked, that a mixture of chlorate of potassa and sugar is inflamed, when brought in contact with sulphuric acid; that, in the slaking of quicklime, the heat is sufficient to inflame oils; that pyrites by decomposition very frequently sets fire to combustible bodies; that oil of turpentine is inflamed by nitric acid; that pyrophorus, when exposed to the air, takes fire, and also phosphorus by slight friction; and that, in all cases of combustion, either friction, an increase of temperature, or the action of some body, which is brought in contact, are necessary to produce the effect.
Water, when added to some substances and preparations, will produce fire. Thus potassium readily decomposes it, and the potassuretted hydrogen gas, which is produced in flames. The same may be said of phosphuret of lime and water; for the phosphuretted hydrogen gas inflames, when it comes to the air.
On some occasions, these substances may be employed as incendiaries.
Hanzelet remarks, that the following composition will produce inflammation with water.
_Extemporaneous Fire._
Linseed Oil 3 lbs. Spirit of Turpentine 1 -- White of egg ¼ -- Quicklime 8 --
It is doubtful, however, whether this composition will have that effect; although the heat produced by the slaking of quicklime is very considerable, and, as we remarked, spontaneous combustion, in several instances, has been referred to its agency. Lime, in the act of slaking, absorbs, and chemically unites with, water, which becomes solidified, converting it into a hydrate, whilst its latent caloric is set at liberty. This is a process, which puts quiescent heat in motion, to become distributable heat. See _Introduction_.
If the quantity of free caloric, thus generated, be sufficient, the turpentine and oil will necessarily inflame.
We may add, therefore, that a rapid transition of caloric, from a latent to a free state, as in combustion, is all that is required to produce effects of this kind; and, in short, all cases of spontaneous combustion may be accounted for on this principle; by considering the cause, which acts in those instances so powerfully, and in some instances instantaneously, and which changes caloric from a quiescent to a distributable state.
Dr. Irvine refers all cases of combustion to a change in the capacity of bodies for caloric; which depends on the nature of the products: if they have a greater capacity, no flame ensues, and the caloric remains more or less quiescent; if they possess a less capacity, flame is the consequence. There are exceptions to this doctrine.
In the emission of caloric, Dr. Black supposes, that it is given out, in consequence of the resulting attraction of the new compound for caloric being less than that of its ingredients, when separate. M. Curadou (_Journal de Physique_, 1809) observes, that, in preparing the _artificial stone_, one-half of which is composed of water, by mixing one part of sulphuric acid with two parts of clay, and a sufficient quantity of water, a higher temperature is produced than that of boiling water. In this instance, we find that, in the formation of sulphate of alumina, which envelopes the silica, the water is solidified, as in many other cases, and, while it forms a solid substance, the caloric of fluidity is liberated. The heat, he remarks, is sometimes so great as to set fire to inflammable substances.
_Sec. LI. Of the Indian White Fire._
This preparation (_feu blanc Indien_ of the French) is described in the _Archives des Découvertes_, &c. vol. ii, p. 300. It appears, that it was kept secret in France, and was used by the French astronomers for signals.
In 1807, M. de Zach published some account of it, in his _Astronomical and Geographical correspondence_.
The case, in which the composition is put, is ten inches in diameter and four in height; but may be of any size, according to the quantity of the composition to be burnt, and the degree of light required. It was seen 40 miles at sea. General Ray lighted, on the English coast, a case of this fire, which was seen very distinctly on the French coast.
_Composition of White Fire._
Saltpetre 24 parts. Sulphur 7 ---- Red arsenic 2 ----
This powder lights without explosion, and illuminates with great brilliancy. Care must be taken not to breathe the Arsenical vapours, which are produced by the combustion.
A case of six inches in diameter, and six inches high, burns three minutes. The light is said to injure the eyes.
The price of this powder is equal to that of ordinary gunpowder.
The match, which accompanies this preparation when it is sold, is made in the following manner: Pulverize four parts of saltpetre, two parts of gunpowder, two parts of charcoal, and one part of sulphur, and pass them through a sieve. Provide then a number of paper cases, made in the usual manner, or a roller, about the diameter of a quill, and two feet in length, and charge with the composition.
This match, when used, is attached to a stick. It will resist the action both of wind and rain.
An artificer of Marseilles proposes the following composition for matches.
Sulphur 8 parts. Saltpetre 4 ---- Gunpowder 2 ----
_Sec. LII. Of the Pyrophore of Defence._
An apparatus for defence, called the _Pyrophore_, was announced in a French publication in 1815. It may be applied, according to the author, in 24 hours for the defence of towns, roads, passages, and defiles.
The pyrophore itself is a square box furnished with a lid, and sufficiently large to contain fifty pounds of gunpowder. When it is filled, and to be used, it is fixed with cords, or chains, in such a manner as to be conveyed to a given point. The lid is furnished with cross pieces, which open it when necessary.
At the sides of the box are rings, made very strong and fixed in bolts, which go through the sides, and clenched. To each of these rings, a cord or chain is attached, furnished at each end with a _crotchet_.
This cord or chain runs upon two fixed pulleys, placed for instance, at the two extremities of a battery, and is managed by artillerists. The pyrophore is under cover. When it is conveyed to a certain place, where a bar or grate is fixed, it is stopped, by the contrivance before mentioned, the lid is raised, and the powder falls into a kind of funnel or gutter, at the end of which the explosion is made, to take effect.
It appears that the inventor had in view the conveyance of a given quantity of powder to a particular place, and by carrying a light to it by means of a cord, similarly fixed, to inflame it, when it had arrived at its destination.
It is impossible to make a machine of this kind effective; for the difficulty in arranging, and finally managing it, the enemy taking means to guard against it, are certainly obstacles, and strong objections to its use. Other means of defence, which we have pointed out, are preferable; although we admit, that, in _some_ situations, a contrivance of this sort might be advantageously used, where, for instance, we wish to deposite a quantity of powder, to be in readiness for the approach of an enemy, without exposing men to an attack. What is more destructive than the thundering barrel, which is furnished with grenades, &c. &c. if set off among the assailants? See, for a minute account of this contrivance, the "_Pyrophore, ou Moyen de defense générale_, par un garde national: 20 pages grand in 8vo. avec un planche. _Paris Dondey Dupré_, 1815," and also the _Archives des Découvertes_, tome 8. p. 281.
VOCABULARY
OF FRENCH TERMS, WHICH OCCUR IN THE WORK.
_Aigremore._ Pulverized charcoal, proper for fire-works.
_Aigrette._ An imitation in fire of the aigrette; like the aigrette of glass.
_Ailerons._ They are used in making rockets.
_Amadou._ A kind of tinder made with agaric.
_Ame._ This is more particularly used to express the kind of work, put in the head of a rocket. The term, however, is arbitrary.
_Amorce._ Priming: a paste of powder and spirit of wine.
_Arquer._ A name given to a particular shaped case.
_Artifice, feu d'._ Fire-works; artificial fire.
_Auget._ The wooden trough to contain the saucisson, which communicates fire to a mine.
_Baguette._ A rammer, roller, former, &c.
_Baguette à charger._ Rammers or chargers, pierced with holes in their length, more or less, to receive the piercer. They are applicable to the charging of rockets, if they are to be driven hollow; if not, solid rammers are employed.
_Baguette à feu._ Fougette; East Indian rocket. See page 529.
_Baguette à rouler._ A former, on which the pasteboard or paper is rolled, in forming cases for rockets, port-fires, &c. &c.
_Baguette de fusée volante._ Rocket stick. A stick, attached to the rocket, before it is set off.
_Baguette en massive._ Rods or rammers, which are not bored.
_Bague suspendue aux cendres d'un fil._ A ring suspended to the ashes of a thread.
_Ballon._ Balloon; a bomb or shell, made of pasteboard, which is thrown in the air by means of a mortar.
_Ballon à bombes._ A large globe, filled with bombs, grenades, &c. fired by means of a fuse, and thrown into the works of the enemy.
_Ballon d'Artifice._ A bomb, or spherical case, containing sundry compositions.
_Ballons d'air._ Air-Balloons.
_Ballons d'eau._ Water-Balloons.
_Battage._ The process of pounding, grinding, and mixing, with water, the three substances, composing gunpowder, to reduce them to a proper consistency. It is performed in wooden mortars, with wooden pestles, furnished with a brass box to agitate the water. The time, employed in the battage in France, is from 14 to 22 hours.
_Bateau-poisson._ A diving boat.
_Billot à charger._ A billot for charging; used occasionally in the place of a mallet.
_Boîte._ A species of small mortar. It is used, also, to express a piece of wood or pasteboard, used in the arrangement of some fire-works.
_Bonnetage._ The covering of priming over a case, or fuse.
_Bouffées._ Literally puffs, or blasts: in Pyrotechny, a kind of fire-works, used in theatres, to represent the flames, issuing from gulfs, or the caves of Cyclops. They are also called Cornets, from their resembling horns in their shape.
_Boute feu._ Lintstock.
_Bouton._ The extremity of the culot is sometimes so called.
_Brin._ Frame. The frame on which are placed or fixed, fire-pots, saucissons, &c. Hence _pots de Brin_, &c.
_Carabé or Karabé._ Yellow amber.
_Carte de Moulage._ Means in general, the paper for cases.
_Chapiteau d'artifice._ Conical head of a rocket.
_Chasse._ Charge of grained powder for mortars, &c.
_Chevelure de feu._ A species of furniture for rockets, in the form of serpents.
_Chelingues._ A marine term. A kind of flat bottomed boat, used on the coast of Coromandel.
_Corde à feu._ Match rope. Slow match. A match to preserve a small quantity of fire.
_Courantin._ A messenger, runner, or flying dragon; a rocket, that flies along a rope or string. See page 345.
_Courantin simple._ A line-rocket. A rocket fixed on a cord, stretched horizontally on which a rocket moves.
_Courantin double._ Two line-rockets.
_Courier pigeon._ Carrier pigeon. See page 490.
_Culot._ Bottom; the thickest part of a shell, opposite to the eye; also called reinforcement. The round iron plate, fixed upon the sabot, or shoe, for cannister shot, or at the bottom of the cannister, to project the shot with more force:--The bottom, or block, which supports the piercer and mould for charging rockets, (see plate, fig. 1):--That part of a cannon cartridge, which remains in the piece after firing.
_Camouflet._ A small fougasse, to act against the enemy's miners, who are heard at work, to suffocate them and poison their branch.
_Dauphin._ A fire-work in water.
_Debonneter une fusée._ The paper cover, put over the priming of a fuse.
_Eaux de cuite._ Literally, water of boiling. The strongest lixivium obtained in extracting nitre from plaster rubbish. It must mark more than five degrees of Baumé's areometer, and is called water of boiling, on account of its being sufficiently strong, to be immediately subjected to boiling, for further concentration.
_Eaux forte._ Lixivia from plaster rubbish, which mark between three and five degrees of the areometer.
_Eaux faibles._ Lixivia from plaster rubbish, whose strength is under three degrees of the areometer.
_Eclair, ou jet de flame._ Several fire-works are so called from their effect.
_Eclatante._ A case charged with brilliant fire.
_Epoussetage._ The process of separating the dust from gunpowder; also of separating mealed powder, from that which is not reduced.
_Eprouvette._ Gunpowder triers: an instrument for proving gunpowder.
_Etoile._ Star.
_Etoiles à pet._ Stars which explode.
_Entonnoir._ The crater or tunnel of a mine, as formed by its explosion.
_Etoupille._ Quick match, leader, match of communication; cotton or thread mixed in a paste, composed of meal-powder, spirits, and a small portion of gum.
_Etrangler._ Strangling; choaking. The closing of a case, and tying it.
_Fanaux de Mer._ Ship lights;--Beacons for vessels in the night;--watch-lights.
_Feu blanc Indien._ Chinese fire.
_Feu brilliant._ A bright vivid fire. Thus the fire, produced by steel and iron, in fire-works, is denominated a brilliant fire.
_Feu commun._ Common fire. A fire produced by the mixture of powder and charcoal.
_Feu mort._ Dead light; dead fire. See page 485.
_Feux de Gouvernement._ State or public fire-works.
_Filagere._ The thread used for strangling.
_Flamboyante._ A species of rocket, which, from its effects in the atmosphere, is called the comet.
_Foudres._ Thunderbolts, lightnings; in pyrotechny, the preparations, used to imitate thunderbolts; thunder powder.
_Foudroyante._ A case or rocket, which imitates thunder: Fougette. (See Baguette à feu.)
_Fougasse._ A small mine.
_Fougues._ Small rockets, without sticks.
_Fourneau._ Furnace. A mine. The chamber of a mine.
_Fusée._ Any sort of composition, put in a cylindrical case. In English, however, the term fuse is confined to particular compositions; as fuse for bombs, howitzes and grenades.
_Fusées chevelues._ Bearded rockets. See page 424.
_Fusées d'amorce._ Priming fuses.
_Fusées volantes._ Flying or sky-rockets.
_Garniture._ Garniture, furniture, embellishment, ornament: in pyrotechny the small fire-works, such as stars, serpents, marrons, &c. which are put into the pots of sky-rockets, into fire-pots, &c. The petards with which the pots of incendiary rockets are charged.
_Gargousse._ Cartouch, cartridge. It more properly means the sack, or bag for containing the charge of powder for a cannon, _when the bag is made of paper or parchment_; but when it is made of serge, it is called sachet. (See sachet.)
_Girandole._ Chandelier: in pyrotechny, two or more horizontal wheels, placed above one another and turning upon the same vertical axis. When of different sizes, these wheels resemble a chandelier; hence the name.
_Girande._ A cluster, or assemblage, of several hundreds or thousands of rockets, thrown up at the same time. Several clusters may be arranged in different boxes, and fired separately with regular intervals, or all at the same time. In either case, the assemblage is called a Girande. It is also called _gerbe_. See gerbe, and page 455.
_Gerbe._ Sheaf; a fire-jet case, charged with the composition for brilliant or Chinese fire, which is thrown out in such a manner as to represent a luminous sheaf. A group of fuses, or fire-jets, fired at the same time, also bears this name: A Chinese tree.
_Grenage._ The graining of gunpowder.
_Glace Inflammable._ Inflammable ice.
_Lissage._ The glazing of gunpowder.
_Lardon._ This term generally signifies all those small fire-works, which are sold in shops; such as serpents, squibs, crackers, &c.; but, more strictly, it signifies the largest, and strongest kind of serpents.
_Lance à feu._ Squib, fire-lance, or simply lance.
_Lance de feu._ A species of lance used by garrisons against scaling parties.
_Lance à feu puant._ Stink-fire lances, used by miners.
_Lanterne._ Literally lantern; a copper spoon, or ladle, used instead of cartridges for conveying the charge to the bottom of a cannon. They were formerly used in all pieces, but at present only in siege and garrison pieces.
_Larmes à feu._ Fire-tears, or drops; tears.
_Lianes des Marais._ A species of convolvulus; bind weed.
_Marquise._ Marchioness; a rocket having an interior diameter of two-thirds of an inch. When it has the diameter of five-sixths of an inch, it is called a double marquise.
_Machine Infernale._ Infernal machine.
_Mosaique._ Mosaic; the imitation of mosaic in fire-works.
_Meurtrières._ Literally Murderers: applied to those modifications of any species of fire-work, which fit them for the destruction of an enemy.
_Partement._ See fusée de partement.
_Partement, fusées de._ Sky-rockets, having an interior diameter of half of an inch. When the diameter of the rocket is only one-third of an inch, it is called _Petit Partement_.
_Paratonnerre._ Lightning rod.
_Patte d'oie._ A goose's foot: a kind of fire-works, so called from their resemblance to a goose's foot:--A term in mining to signify three small branches, which run out at the extremity of a gallery.
_Pots à feu._ Fire pots: they are thrown upon the enemy in the attack or defence of places; but are not so much used as fire-balls and carcasses: pot granado.
_Pots des Brins._ See page 364.
_Pots de Chasse._ See page 360.
_Pots des Saucissons._ The pots of saucissons.
_Pluie d'or._ Golden rain.
_Poudre d'or._ Gold powder.
_Porte feu._ Port-fire; also a leader.
_Pièce pyrique._ This name is generally given to all kinds of fire-works; composed of fixed and turning pieces, which would require a great number of words to describe separately; but it is more particularly given to a kind of mechanical contrivance of fixed and turning wheels, one of which communicates fire to the other, and vice versa. See page 412.
_Ricochet._ A bound, leap, or skip, such as a flat piece of stone makes, when thrown obliquely along the surface of a pond: The bounds, which are made by balls, fired with small charges, and under angles of little elevation, either upon land, or water: Fire-works, which leap or roll on the ground.
_Roche à feu._ Fire-stone.
_Séchage._ The process of drying either gunpowder or fire-works.
_Saucisson._ Sausage: in pyrotechny, a sort of fuse or petard, still larger than the lardon:--A cylindrical bag of powder to convey fire to a mine:--A bundle of sticks, used in fortification.
_Soleil montant._ Rising sun.
_Sachet._ Satchel: the bag or sack of a cannon cartridge, when made of serge.
_Tourteaux._ Links: see page 500.
_Tourteaux goudronnés._ Tarred links.
_Tourbillon._ Whirlwind, vortex: a table wheel.
_Tourbillon de feu._ A whirlwind of fire; fire-wheels, which rise or fall in the air; also called rising or falling suns.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] We deem an outline of the nature and effects of caloric as, in some respects, indispensably necessary; for caloric, it is to be observed, is an agent, whose effects are recognised in every species of fire-work.
[2] That the terms _hot and cold_ are relative, as to our feelings, fact and observations abundantly prove. Dr. Fordyce (_Phil. Trans._ vol. 64 & 65) heated a room by stoves to two hundred and sixty degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, and remained in it for some time without great inconvenience. But different metallic substances, as the lock of the door, his watch and keys lying on the table, could not be touched without burning him: and although an egg became hard, and his pulse beat one hundred and thirty-nine per minute, yet a thermometer placed in his mouth was only two or three degrees hotter than common. He perspired profusely. Jenning's steam bath will heat the air in contact with the naked body from one hundred to one hundred and twenty degrees, a _heat_ sufficient, as it is in the aqueous vapour, resulting from the combustion of alcohol or strong spirit, to induce a copious diaphoresis in less than half an hour. Having tried this experiment in several cases, I can only say, that I effected in the course of an hour, what, under ordinary circumstances, would require twelve or twenty-four, viz. a _copious perspiration_, and that too without the exhibition of sudorifics. The practice is an old one not only among civilized nations, but aborigines. It is nevertheless worthy of adoption.
Frozen mercury cannot be touched without experiencing a sensation similar to that of an ignited body, although directly opposite to heat.
[3] A writer of the last century remarks, that "he cannot possibly admit the sun to possess the least manner of heat, but rather to contain the capabilities of fire, like a stick, or a flint, though with a faculty of expressing it, by its own action, which the others have not. I imagine its beams not to be hot, in their rectilineal direction, but productive of this effect, from reflection, only. If the rays of the sun were fire, in the first instance, those consequences would naturally follow, that our friend and correspondent _Tria_ so well describes in his _Day of Judgment_, 'The rivers were dried up, and liquid ore supplied their burning channels. The clouds were turned to fire, and shot through the astonished sky. The air was flame, and breathing was no more. The firmament was melted down, and rained its sulphur o'er the prostrate globe, &c.' The sun emanates light only, in the direct line, but owes its heat to reflection. We feel it, therefore, more intensely, in a valley, than on a hill. Why are the Alps and Pyrennees crowned with eternal frosts, while the shepherds, with their flocks, are sheltering their scorching heads from the heat of the sun, at the foot of them? Why do the upper regions of the air shower down their hail and snow, to be thawed and melted here below? Why shall a _lens_ of ice receive the rays above, so coldly, and transmit them so intensely hot, beneath? Why is it warmer, in summer, though the sun is farther off, than in winter, when 'tis so much nearer to us? Because of our situation, in regard to it, only. In the first case the rays are vertical, in others lateral; and perpendicular reflections are stronger, than oblique ones. We judge of fire above, from what we feel below, &c."
The summit of Ætna, notwithstanding the fire of the volcano, is covered almost all the year with snow. Fazello, speaking of this says, that "this region extends nearly twelve miles; and, even in summer, is almost perpetually covered with snow, and extremely cold: which is the more wonderful as the summit continually produces, nourishes, and pours forth flames amid the ice and snow with which it is enveloped." Solinus says, "Ætna, in a wonderful manner, exhibits snows mixed with fires; and retains every appearance of the severest winter, amid her vast conflagrations."
Silius Italicus, and Claudian, and Pindar, who lived 500 years before the Christian era, bear testimony to the antiquity of this fact.
'Where burning Ætna, towering, threats the skies, Mid flames and ice the lofty rocks arise, The fire amid eternal winter glows, And the warm ashes hide the hoary snows.'
_Silius Italicus_, from the Latin.
'Amid the fires accumulates the snow, And frost remains where burning ashes glow; O'er ice eternal sweep th' inactive flames, And winter, spite of fire, the region claims.'
_Claudian_, from the Latin.
----'Snowy Ætna, nurse of endless frost, The mighty prop of heaven.'
_Pindar_, from the Greek.
The height of Ætna is generally estimated at 11,000 feet above the sea. In 1755, it issued out a torrent, not of mud, as was supposed, but of snow and ice melted by the lava. The same thing happened at the volcano of Cargarossa in South America.
The celebrated Herschel, (Phil. Trans. 1801, and Nich. Jour. 1. 13), in considering the construction of the sun, infers it to be a habitable globe more magnificent than our earth, or other planets, and that its lucid substance is not a liquid nor an elastic fluid; but that it exists in the manner of luminous clouds, swimming in the transparent atmosphere of the sun, or rather of lucid decompositions taking place within that atmosphere. The _Philosophical Transactions_, 1795, p. 72, also contains remarks on this lucid matter. Having rejected the old terms of spots, nuclei, penumbræ, and luculi, he has substituted those of openings, shallows, ridges, nodules, corrugations, indentations, and pores. The openings are places where the luminous solar clouds are removed, which he thinks are produced by a wind or gas from the sun's body. Shallows are depressions below the luminous clouds, and are caused by the propelling gas, which produces the openings. They are tufted like masses of clouds. Ridges are elevations of the luminous clouds. The length of one of the longest was found to be 75,000 miles. They generally surround the openings. Herschel thinks it probable, from appearances, that the luminous matter is disturbed at top by the transparent elastic fluid, which issues from the openings. Nodules are small elevations of the luminous matter. Corrugations are smaller elevations and depressions of the same matter. Indentations are the dark places of corrugations. That they are not much depressed, is deduced from their visibility near the margin of the sun. They are of the same nature as shallows, and of different sizes. Pores are the low places of indentations. The doctor is of opinion, that the phenomena before described could not appear, if the shining matter were a liquid; because, by the laws of hydrostatics, the openings, shallows, indentations, and pores would be filled up. Still less could these phenomena exist with the supposition of elastic fluidity. The shining matter, he concludes, must exist in the manner of empyreal luminous or phosphoric clouds. The planetary atmosphere of the sun, its great height, its density, as inferred from the power of gravitation, which is known to be twenty-seven times stronger at the sun's surface than with us, and other subjects are also discussed. He supposes the gas to pass from the sun itself upwards to the region of the clouds, so as to generate pores, corrugations, &c. He concludes finally, that if this view of the solar appearances be well founded, there will be no difficulty in ascertaining the actual state of the sun with regard to its energy in giving heat and light.
In a paper on the "_Construction of the Heavens_," the doctor thinks it probable, that the great stratum called the milky way is that in which the sun is placed, though perhaps not in the centre of its thickness. The celebrated astronomer Lalande supposes the _spots_ before mentioned to be parts of the solid body of the sun, but admits not a luminous atmosphere, but a luminous ocean. For the observations of Dr. Young, see his _Natural Philosophy_, and of sir _Isaac Newton_, his _Principia_, &c. Consult also Biot.
Sir Isaac Newton has asserted, according to Nicholson, (_British Encyclopedia_) "that the density of the sun's heat, which is proportioned to his light, is seven times as great in Mercury as with us, and that water there would be all carried off in the shape of steam, for, he found, by experiments with the thermometer, that a heat seven times greater than that of the sun's beams in summer will serve to make water boil." That fixed stars are of the same nature as the sun, since they agree with it in several particulars, as in the property of emitting light continually, and in retaining constantly their relative situation with but little variation, is generally admitted. They are supposed also to emit heat as well as light. The sun is, therefore, considered a fixed star comparatively near us, and the fixed stars, which seem as centres to other systems of worlds, as suns at immense distances from us. Taking the distance of the sun from us to be, as is found by calculation, 95,000,000 miles, we may infer, that every thing must be scorched up at its surface; but this question is put at rest, if we consider that the sun's rays act on a calorific medium, as the cause of changing quiescent into distributable heat. May not light itself, by some process unknown to us, produce calorific rays? That heat and light are both material, and possess some properties in common, that for instance, of reflection and refraction, are facts well known; but to account for the peculiar agency of light, if it be admitted, is a problem, which, perhaps, will never be settled?
[4] _Fire_ must have been a very potent instrument in the hands of Hannibal, if we believe what Livy and Pliny assert respecting the means he employed in crossing the Alps, which took him fifteen days, after meeting with almost every obstacle. Livy tells us, that Hannibal softened the rock by pouring vinegar upon it, after it had first been made hot under flaming piles of huge trees! M. Rollin quotes Pliny to prove that vinegar has the _force_ to break stones and rocks! This story is altogether fabulous; for in the first place, had he vinegar sufficient; and, secondly, who ever knew that vinegar had force, or even the power of dissolving primitive rocks, such as granite or gneiss; and, thirdly, if it possessed the power stated by Pliny, and had he a sufficient quantity, where was his wood? For Polybius assures us, that Hannibal had no wood to make a fire with, and that there was not a tree in the place, where he then was, nor near it. That Hannibal passed over the Alps into Italy, and at an inclement season of the year, is certain, and that it was one of the greatest achievements that an enterprising commander ever accomplished, is generally admitted.
[5] Respiration is a mechanical and chemical process, and consists in alternate inhalation and exhalation, which, in consequence of the oxygen gas in the air, effects a change in the venous blood that enters the lungs from the pulmonary artery. Now as this blood is charged with carbon, to which its dark purple colour is owing, it is carried off in union with oxygen in the form of carbonic acid. Hence carbonic acid is produced in respiration and the venous blood is changed into the bright red arterial blood. A common sized man will consume about 46 thousand cubic inches of oxygen _per diem_; equivalent to 125 cubic feet of air, and makes about twenty respirations in a minute, or for every seven pulsations breathes twice.
[6] Of this fact the reader may form some idea, when he is informed, that Newton's Principia, Biot's _Physique_, _Hatchette_, _Gregory_, &c. &c. form the class books of instruction, works which require deep study, and profound thought.
[7] Various applications of chemistry, among which that to gunpowder, drew my attention at an early period of life. In the Aurora of Philad. I published a series of essays on this and other subjects, which, from the letters received at that time, I flatter myself tended in some degree to advance the manufacturing interest in the United States; an interest, which is connected with our individual and national prosperity, and the _permanent_ and _practical_ independence of the republic. These essays were entitled "Application of chemistry to the arts and manufactures," and published in 1808. I have since enlarged that plan in the Artist's Manual, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. While noticing this subject we may add, that, having the honour of being one of the few of the original society of Philadelphia for the promotion of National Industry, whose essays excited, as they claimed, the attention of the citizens of the United States, much is due to the indefatigable labours of some of the members of that association. We are greatly indebted to the able and masterly pen of SAMUEL JACKSON M. D. Professor of Pharmacy in the college of Apothecaries, of Philadelphia, for many of the best essays it produced, whose disinterested motives, liberal and exalted mind, and pure patriotic feeling prompted him to the laudable undertaking; and whose essays were full, clear, and comprehensive. Viewing his talents, his worth, his merit, we may truly add, that he is not only an honour to the country which gave him birth, but an ornament to the age in which he lives. The able address of the Philadelphia Linnæan society, penned and signed by him, the late Samuel Benezet M. D., and the author, as a committee, although written many years ago, contains the principles, which are now advocated for the support and encouragement of national industry. This address was calculated, however, to promote, at the same time, the interests of Natural History.
[8] Incombustible cloth made of this substance was formerly in use, not only for domestic purposes, but, also to retain the ashes of the dead from those of the funeral pile. Cloth made of amianthus, when greased, or soiled, may be cleansed by throwing it into a bright fire. It is then restored to a dazzling white colour. Pliny, the naturalist, saw table cloths, towels, and napkins of amianthus taken from the table of a great feast, thrown into the fire, and burnt before the whole company; and by this operation, he says, they became better cleansed than if they had been washed.
Pontoppidan (_Natural History of Norway_) remarks, that he has a piece of paper made of the Norway asbestus, which, when thrown into a fierce fire, is not in the least wasted, but what is written on it totally disappears. In Norway, the stone flax is prepared by beating it in water, till the fibres separate, which are repeatedly washed, and then dried in a sieve. It is afterwards spun, observing to moisten the fingers with oil.
[9] In the year 1601, a horse, which had been taught to perform a number of tricks, was tried, as possessed by the devil, and condemned to be burnt. Joblonski affirms in his _Lexicon, &c._ that he was condemned to the flames in Lisbon. Nothing was a greater imposition on mankind than the Oracles. The imposition of causing statues to speak, as the head of Orpheus in the island of Lesbos, the Æsculapius of Alexander, &c. may be readily perceived, when Lucius relates, that, in the case of Alexander's oracle, he took instead of a pipe, the gullet of a crane, and transmitted the voice through it to the mouth of the statue! Bishop Theophilus, in the fourth century, broke to pieces the statues at Alexandria. He found some which were hollow, and placed in such a manner against a wall, that a priest could slip unperceived behind them, and speak to the ignorant populace through their mouths. Professor Beckman observes, "that the Pagan priests, like our jugglers, were afraid that their deceptions, if long practised, might be discovered. They considered it, therefore, as more secure to deliver the answers themselves, or cause them to be delivered by women instructed for that purpose, or by writings, or by any other means. We read, nevertheless, that idols, and the images of saints once spoke; for at present the latter will not venture to open their mouths. If their votaries ever really heard a voice proceed from the statue, it may have been produced in the before-mentioned manner." We think, that a contrivance, similar to the bull of Phalaris, in the place of hollow statues, would furnish a good reality.
The oracle of Apollo at Delphos, says Percy, having been consulted about the manner of stopping a plague then raging at Athens, returned for answer, that the plague should cease, when Apollo's altar, which was cubical, should be doubled. The philosophers of Athens immediately applied themselves to discover the duplicature of the cube, which henceforward was called the Delian Problem, and continued for a long time to be an object of the keenest pursuit to the curious. The first who discovered the solution was Hippocrates Chias.
[10] Signs in the heavens were believed by the ancients; and even with regard to natural occurrences, they produced melancholy and awful reflections. Augustus Cæsar was so afraid of thunder and lightning, that, though he carried about him a skin of a sea-calf, which was in those days accounted an excellent _paratonnerre_, yet, whenever he saw a tempest coming, he used to fly for refuge to some vaulted place underground. Caius Caligula rivalled Augustus in this respect; for Suetonius observes, that when it thundered, he would wrap his head in some covering; or, if in bed, leap out of bed and hide himself under it.
[11] By means of a solar microscope, I have seen the animalcula in vinegar several inches in length, some of which had the appearance of eels, and in motion.
[12] There is a sort of mountebanks not only in Ceylon, but in many other parts of the East Indies, who make a trade of taming serpents, which they pretend to do by _incantation_, and carry them about by way of show. I once witnessed the _taming_ of a serpent, a black snake about four feet in length, by an English gentleman at Harrowgate, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. He was remarkably fond of snakes for _pets_, and had them not only to follow him, but also to be about in the house among his children, who became familiar with them; and, although young myself, I observed that they were passive and obedient, and knew by instinct their _dependence_ on his favours.
The _incantation_, that Mr. C--d used, was simply this: The snake was put into a room, and Mr. C. took in with him a bowl of milk, and the door was closed. Having taken off his coat, and put on a glove, he proceeded towards his antagonist, who, being prepared for the attack, made at him, but was repulsed; a second and third attempt was made, but he was thrown back as before. The snake finding himself _mastered_, did not think proper to renew the combat, and crawled into the corner panting for breath. Mr. C. now took some of the milk and placed it before him, without the least fear, and after he had finished it, he gave him more. This he continued until the snake was satisfied. After which, to the astonishment of all who witnessed the experiment, he took it up, and having wound itself round his arm, he carried it home. Whether he examined his mouth, destroyed the fang, or the vesicular sac, (if it had one), I do not recollect; but this same snake was afterwards a _great favorite_, and would follow his master like a dog, and even play about with the children. I mention this incident to show, that serpents possess considerable instinct, and are, like domestic animals, conscious of their friends and benefactors, and may be trained in the same manner.
In the island of Ceylon, there is a small animal called the Indian Ichneumon, which destroys snakes in abundance; but, what is remarkable, he only attacks them in an open place, where he has an opportunity of running to a certain herb, which he knows instinctively to be an antidote against the poison of the bite, if he should happen to receive one. The monkeys of India, knowing the malignity of snakes, make a business of hunting and destroying them at night; after seizing them, they carry them to a stone, and beat their heads until the fangs are destroyed, and then exultingly throw them in the air. The poison is lodged in two small vesicles, and when the animal bites they are squeezed, and the poison is forced through the fangs into the wound. If the vesicles be extracted, or the liquid prevented from flowing into the wound, the bite is harmless.
[13] The great cave on Crooked Creek, was discovered about the year 1800, by Mr. Baker. He proceeded only a small distance into it. On the succeeding day, he brought his wife, and two or three children to explore it. He carried a torch, which he accidentally dropped. During two days and two nights, this family wandered in total darkness, though sometimes within the hearing of a cataract, when, fortunately, Mrs. Baker, in attempting to support herself on a rock, perceived that it was wet. She conjectured that it was caused by the mud, which they had brought in upon their feet. Baker immediately ascended the rock, and saw the light of day.
[14] There can be no doubt, as we observed, that miasma is variously compounded; but there is no certainty, as to what it is composed of, or what modifications it may assume. That it is, however, a chemical combination, and may be decomposed, and destroyed by chemical agents, appears equally true. The disinfecting apparatus of Morveau, sundry fumigations, &c. are used for this purpose. The proper destroyers of these gaseous poisons, are nitric acid vapour, muriatic acid, and chlorine. The two last are the most effectual. How would chlorine gas act on prussine gas, or cyanogen? Would it not deprive it of its carbon, forming the chlorocarbonic acid, and thus set the azote at liberty, or might it not unite with the nitrogen, and form a chloride of nitrogen? Suppose the cyanogen to be combined with hydrogen, the decomposition of the hydrocyanic acid would be effected first by the chlorine combining with the hydrogen, forming muriatic acid, and secondly with the carbon, forming chlorocarbonic acid. If hydrogen, in any other combination, should exist, would not the chlorine in every case decompose such compound, and thereby destroy its deletereous properties by taking away its hydrogen? I think it will be proved, some time or other, that the miasma, which produces yellow fever, is a compound of carbon and azote, with hydrogen, acting under particular circumstances and conditions.
Various other means, besides those we have stated, have been recommended to prevent the effect of contagious matter, such as odoriferous substances, preparations of camphor, aromatic vinegar, called the vinegar of four thieves, &c. but all come short of the effect, and may be regarded as nostrums. The vapour of burning sulphur, or sulphurous acid, is used in the East against the plague; but this is inferior to either of the other acids, of which chlorine, formerly called oxymuriatic acid, is to be preferred. A mixture of four parts of common salt, one of black oxide of manganese, and two of sulphuric acid, or muriatic acid poured on manganese or red lead, will generate chlorine gas. Morveau's disinfecting apparatus contains the above mixture. The free use of this gas in apartments, &c. &c. cannot be too strongly recommended.
[15] On this subject, see a paper by Mr. Howard in the English Philosophical Transactions, for 1802, and by Vauquelin in the _Journal des Mines_, No. 76.
[16] For the history of saltpetre, the reader may consult, with advantage, Beckman's _History of Inventions_.
[17] "The affinity of charcoal for oxygen is so considerable, that instances have been known of its undergoing spontaneous combustion by simple contact with the air. An occurrence of this kind took place at the powder mills of Essonne, in France. (An. de Chim. 36, p, 93.) A large quantity of recently burnt charcoal had been ground in the usual manner, and was deposited in a large receptacle for future use; some days after, the door of the magazine being opened, in order to remove a part of the charcoal, an extraordinary heat was perceived, and immediately a train of fire was observed, spreading over the surface of the charcoal, and which was not extinguished without much difficulty." Aikin's _Chemical Dictionary_, vol. i, p. 238.
[18] This apparatus will heat the air in a room to 84° in the coldest weather, and is particularly calculated for cotton mills, and other purposes. His invention is considered to be a judicious application of a well known principle. Count Rumford heated rooms in a similar manner by steam, which may be seen in the Repository of Arts vol. xv, p. 186. A Mr. Green of Wandsworth, England, obtained a patent in 1793, for warming rooms, by heated air, heated with steam. Steam pipes, however, are now in use in the United States. In consequence of the great quantity of latent caloric in steam (about 1000 degrees) which is given out as free heat in its condensation, this principle has been judiciously applied not only to the warming of apartments, but to the boiling of dye kettles, and other purposes. See an account of Woolf's steam apparatus, subsequent pages.
[19] The principal workmen they describe, are a master powderer, a master carpenter, a master cooper, a head boy, (_Garçon_) employed in the pulverization of the substances, another for the fabrication of charcoal, one for every mill, besides workmen for aiding in the charring, for the mill, &c.
[20] _Traité sur l'art de fabriquer la poudre à canon_, par MM. Bottée et Riffault may be consulted.
[21] This is a mixed gas, composed of carburetted hydrogen, and carbonic oxide.
[22] His son wrote a work, having the following title: "Thoughts concerning that last and most perfect work of nature, and chief of metals, gold, its wonderful properties, generation, affection, effects, and fitness for the operations of art; illustrated by experiments," from the Latin. Hamburgh, 1685, 8vo.
[23] In the year 1777, Lord Mahon, afterwards Earl Stanhope, exhibited some experiments, to prove the certain, cheap, and simple method of securing houses against fire, without making use of either brick, stones, tiles, iron, or any such incombustible material. A building, entirely constructed of wood, and of lath and plaster, with a very small quantity of sand laid under the floors, which were of deal, was attempted to be set on fire by means of a large quantity of dry burning fuel, faggots, straw, pitch and other combustibles, with which the lower room of this building was filled, from the floor to the ceiling almost in every part. The whole mass of fire burnt out without doing the least damage. Those who were in the next story, directly over the conflagration, did not perceive the least degree of heat. A wooden stair case, made in the same manner, also resisted the flames.
[24] The imitation of thunder, rain, hail, &c. for theatrical purposes, is variously performed. Mr. Nicholson, in describing an exhibition he saw in London, (See Phantasmagoria,) remarks, that thunder was imitated very accurately, by means of sheet iron plates. The noise of rain and hail may be imitated by procuring a thin hollow cylinder of wood, about ten inches wide, and two or three feet long; dividing its inside into five equal parts, by boards, placed obliquely, of five or six inches, observing to let there be between them and the wooden circle, a space of about one-sixth of an inch, and then introducing about four or five pounds of shot, and turning it upside down. The shot will pass through the various partitions, and resemble the fall of rain. If large shot be used, the noise will be increased, and resemble hail.
According to the _Dictionnaire de l'Industrie_, (article _Tonnerre artificiel_), thunder is imitated, by making a hexangular case of sheet iron, and putting stones or small balls into it, and rolling it more or less swiftly. Another mode is to roll cannon balls on a floor, on which is loosely nailed, at certain distances apart, strips of wood or lath. A clap of thunder is imitated by letting fall on each other, very suddenly, a number of sheet iron plates, having them previously suspended, or strung on a cord, which must be vertical. In 1784, M. Michael, (_Journal de Paris_) made a machine, which imitated thunder, so completely, as either to produce the most violent clap, or the most distant rumbling, with intermediate variations. Parchment, stretched over a frame, has likewise, been used for the same purpose. The distant thunder may be represented in this manner; but, to produce a sharp noise, or clap, something more is required.
[25] Whoever walked the streets of Rome, at night, without a lantern, was under the necessity of creeping home in perfect darkness, and in great danger, like Alexis, in Athenæus. Antioch, Rome, and a few other cities had public lanterns in streets which were most frequented. Libanus, who lived in the beginning of the fourth century, in praising his native city, Antioch, says, that "the light of the sun is succeeded by other lights, which are far superior to the lamps lighted by the Egyptians on the festival of Minerva of Sais. The night differs from the day only in the appearance of the light. With regard to labour and employment, every thing goes on well. Some work continually; but others laugh and amuse themselves with singing." In another passage, in the oration to Ellibichus, the same author tells us, that the ropes from which the lamps that ornamented the city were suspended, had been cut by some riotous soldiers, not far from a bath. "Proceeding," says he "to a bath, not far off, they cut, with their swords, the ropes, from which were suspended the lamps that afforded light in the night-time, to show that the ornaments of the city ought to give way to them." Jerome also makes it appear, that Antioch was lighted with lamps; for, he remarks, that, in an altercation between a Luciferan and an Orthodox, an adherent to the schismatic Lucifer disputed in the street with a true believer, till the streets were lighted, when the listening crowd departed, and that they spat in each other's face, and retired. Edessa, in Syria, was lighted in the fifth century, and the governor of that city ordered, that a part of the oil, which was before given to the churches and monasteries, should be burnt in the streets. While illuminations were considered emblematical of public rejoicing, the reverse was considered a token of public sorrow; to denote which, on occasions of great misfortune, it was customary not to light the streets. Valerius quotes a passage of Libanius in proof of this assertion, where it is said, that the people of Antioch, in order to mitigate the anger of the emperor, bethought themselves of lighting either no lamps, or a very small number. In 1588, Paris was lighted up with _falots_, or vases filled with pitch, rosin, and other combustibles. The Abbé Laudati let out torches and lanterns in Paris, in 1662.
[26] In the _Archives des Découvertes_, &c. several new lamps are described, as follows: A lamp, invented by count Rumford noticed by him in a memoir on the light of lamps, and the means of increasing it; a new lamp with a double current of air, by Lenormand; star lamp by Bordier; reverberatory lamp for towns, &c. by de Thirville and Bordier; a modified thermo-lamp by Winsor; a new lamp by Baswell; the economical lamp of inflammable gas, by Murdoc, and economical lamp by Lambertin; the cupola lamp by Vivien; new lamp with a porcelain reflector by L'Ange; the hydrodynamic and chemical lamp, by L'Ange; the portable lamp by count Rumford; horizontal reflectors, with parabolic surfaces in revolving, and parabolic reflectors, simple and double, by Argand and Bordier Marcet; improved lamp, by Marcet; thermo-lamp by Sobolewsky and Horrer; watch lamp by Dumouceau; various lamps, with carburetted hydrogen; the polyflame lamp, of Rumford; the curved lamp by Connain; the enamellers' lamp, and hydropneumatic lamp by Tilley, &c. Davy's safety lamp is described in Brande's _Chemistry_, and in Ure's _Chemical Dictionary_. See _Aphlogistic lamp_.
[27] A solution of muriate of copper gives a green, of sulphate of copper and muriate of soda, a light green; of sulphate of copper, and ammonia in excess, a deep blue; a decoction of cochineal, or of brazil wood, and a solution of tin, a deep red or scarlet, &c. These solutions may be used for that purpose.
[28] Having mentioned in this article, the use of candles for illumination, it may not be improper to observe, that they were also employed for cooking, as will appear from the following incident. In 1172, Henry II, of France, collected together the _feigners_ of Languedoc, in order to mediate a peace between the count of Toulouse, and the king of Arragon, at which Guillaume Gros de Martel gave a sumptuous dinner, the viands being all cooked by the flame of _wax tapers_!
[29] In the Archives des Découvertes et des Inventiones Nouvelles, are several new inventions and improvements, relative to fire arms, among which are the following: New fire arms, invented by Pauly, which are said to carry a ball double the distance of ordinary muskets, and to possess other advantages; for a particular account of which, the reader is referred to the Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement, No. 99; another kind, by MM. Pauly and Prelat, which primes itself, &c. and goes off by percussion; an improvement in guns by using platina bushing, &c. by Lepage, with the use of priming, composed of powder made of chlorate of potassa in lieu of saltpetre; the improvement of Regnier in guns; improvement in the use of platina for guns, to be used with the oxymuriated powder, by Debourbet; a gun which fires fourteen times in succession without new loading, by M. Henri; an improved carabine, which is discharged by percussion, by M. Gosset, &c.
[30] Since 1792, musket-balls are seven-twelfths of an inch in diameter, and twenty go to the pound instead of eighteen. In the British service, eleven bullets to the pound are used for the proof of muskets, and fourteen in the pound, or twenty-nine in two pounds, for service; seventeen for the proof of carbines, and twenty for service; and twenty-eight in the pound, for the proof of pistols, and thirty four for service. The diameter of musket-bullets differs but one-fiftieth part from that of the musket bore; for if the shot but just rolls into the barrel, it is sufficient.
The diameter of any bullet is found, by dividing 1.6706 by the cube root of the number, which shows how many of them make a pound, or it may be done in a shorter way. From the logarithm .2228756 of 1.6706, subtract continually the third part of the logarithm of the number of bullets in the pound, and the difference will be the logarithm of the diameter required. Thus the diameter of a bullet, whereof twelve weigh a pound, is found by subtracting .3597270, a third part of the logarithm of 12, from the given logarithm .2228756; or, when the logarithm is less than the former, a unit must be added, so as to have 1.2228756, and the difference .8631486 will be the logarithm of the diameter sought, which is .7297 inches; observing that the number found will always be a decimal, when the logarithm, which is to be subtracted is greater than that of the pound; because the divisor is greater than the dividend in this case.
Hence, from the specific gravity of lead, the diameter of any bullet may be found from its given weight: for, since a cube foot weighs 11325 ounces, and 678 is to 355, as the cube 1728 of a foot, or 12 inches, is the content of the sphere; which therefore is, 5929.7 is to 16 ounces, or a pound, as the cube 1728 is to the cube of the diameter of a sphere which weighs a pound; which cube therefore is 4.66263, and its root 1.6706 inches, the diameter sought.
[31] A term used in the French Navy, to signify a wooden case or box, in which cartridges are brought out of the powder-magazine for the purpose of serving the guns; also a spoon or ladle, made of copper, and fixed to a long pole, which serves to convey gunpowder into a piece of ordnance.
[32] If sugar of lead cannot be had, and a substitute is required which in fact is the same, we may dissolve white lead in vinegar, until the latter is saturated. This may be used with water in the same manner, using, however, more of it as it is in solution.
[33] Lee's adventure, just related, brings to mind another, by a man of same name, not, however, with a submarine torpedo, or any thing of that kind; but with a _sublunar_ aerostatic vessel, made about two or three years ago, at Camden, opposite Philadelphia. This was a balloon of an oblong shape, intended to float in the air like a ship on water, and furnished with oars or wings. It was filled with hydrogen gas. The object was to direct it, (a desideratum in aerostation), like a vessel on water; but the aeronaut, having arose in his car to the height of a lombardy poplar, which came in contact with it, and judging a retreat was preferable, leaped on a limb, where he had the misfortune to be caught by the seat of his pantaloons, and appeared, as it were, suspended between heaven and earth, to the no small diversion of thousands of spectators. The balloon ascended to some height, and then turned, throwing out his sand bags, &c. which, in the city, were taken for the unfortunate aeronaut, and produced, of course, a contrary feeling. Lee called on me the next day, and, in explanation of the cause, observed, that, when he ascended to the height mentioned, he found the centre of gravity was shifting, and thought it prudent not to venture. I observed, that it was well he changed his gravity, but was sorry to find, that he had transferred his centre a posteriori.
[34] A friend, who was a prisoner on board of Hardy's ship, very facetiously observed, such was the dread of torpedoes by the British, that they were literally afraid of _eating a potato, lest it should contain a torpedo_!
[35] We are informed, that some rockets, which were made at the U. S. Arsenal at Troy, were charged with the usual rocket composition, and a small portion of quicklime, in consequence of which their power was greatly augmented; a useful hint for their improvement.
[36] Star composition:--meal-powder 5 parts, saltpetre 16 parts, sulphur 8 parts, antimony 2 parts.
[37] Four inches more likely.
[38] General Lallemand (Treatise on Artillery, vol. i, p. 26,) observes, that the Congreve rocket is thirty inches in length, and three and a half inches in diameter; that a part of its charge consists of fire stone and small grenades; that their range is equal to a long gun, but their direction is very uncertain; so much so as to render them of little service, except to set fire to objects with extensive surfaces; and that they will not pierce through solid buildings, and in battle are at best only fit to frighten horses.
[39] In a note to Gibbon, page 283, we read, "The naphtha, the oleum incendiarum of the history of Jerusalem (Gest. Dei per Francos, p. 1167,) the oriental fountain of James de Vitry (l. iii, c. 84,) is introduced on slight evidence and strong probability." The name by which Cinnamus call the Greek fire, corresponds with the locality where naphtha was found, between the Tigris and the Caspian sea. Pliny (Hist. Natur. ii, 109,) says, it was subservient to the revenge of Medea, and according to the etymology, naphtha was signified.
[40] The _Fougasses_ and _Camouflets_, used in mining, are employed for different purposes. The fougasses are small mines, whose line of resistance is only six to six and two-thirds feet. They are used to defend large posts. Bomb fougasses are nothing more than fougasses, charged with bombs containing powder. To estimate the effects of bomb fougasses, artillerists have ascertained the exact quantity of powder contained in each kind of bomb. A bomb of eight and a half inches weighs forty-six and a half pounds; it requires four and a half pounds of powder to fill it; but one pound will burst it. The eighteen inch bomb, or _cominage_, weighs nearly five hundred and seventy-one pounds, and contains forty pounds of powder Thirteen pounds of powder will burst it. The _camouflet_ is a small fougasse, made to act against the enemy's mines, to suffocate and poison their branch. The _camouflet_ is also used to act against the sides of the crater of a mine that has been sprung. See _Science of War and Fortification_, vol. 2d, p. 286.
[41] The _gramme_ is the French unit of weight, and is equal to the weight of a cubic centimetre of pure water; it weighs 18.84 grains, French. The kilogramme is equal to 1000 grammes. (2 lbs., 5 drachma, 49 grains, French.)
[42] Among other inventions, by this philosopher, such as the detection of the adulteration of the crown of Hiero, mentioned by Vitruvius, the cachleon or Archimedes' screw, the Helix for launching large ships, the Trispaston for drawing immense weights, Pneumatic and Hydrostatic engines, sphere, which exhibited the celestial motions;--there are two in particular, which relate to the defence of Syracuse, as well as the destruction of the enemy. Besides his burning mirrors, Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch assert, that his inventions for defence consisted of Tormenta, Balistæ, Catapults, Sagittarii, Scorpions, Cranes, &c. Archimedes died in the 143d Olympiad, 210 years before the birth of Christ.
[43] Certain plants, we have said, are made use of for this purpose. Botanists have certain rules for distinguishing poisonous plants, from those which are innocent. Professor Eaton (Manual of Botany, &c. p. 17) observes, that plants with five stamens and one pistil, with a dull coloured lurid corol, and of a nauseating sickly smell, are always poisonous; as tobacco, thorn-apple, henbane, night-shade. The degree of poisonous property diminished, when the flower is brighter coloured, and the smell, less nauseous. He also observes, that umbelliferous plants of the aquatic kind, and of a nauseating scent, are always poisonous; as water-hemlock and cow-parsley. But if they grow in dry land, and their smell is pleasant, they are not poisonous; as fennel, dill, &c. Snap dragon, foxglove, and plants, generally, with labiate corols, and seeds in capsules, are poisonous, and also those plants which exude a milky juice when broken, unless they bear compound flowers; as milk-weed and dog-bane. It is understood, also, that plants having any appendage to the calyx or corol, and eight or more stamens, are generally poisonous.
INDEX.
A.
Accension of _glace inflammable_, 40
Accension of spirit of turpentine, 51
Accension of phosphuretted hydrogen gas, 85
Accension, spontaneous, remarks on, 288
Acid of borax, use of, in fire-works, 227
Aigrette, pots of, 363 why so named, _ibid_
Air works, 347
Alcohol, 168 the flame of, how coloured, 20, 269 its compound with water, &c. 169 its use in fire-works, 168 its proof, or strength, how ascertained, 170 used in the preparation of fulminating mercury, _ibid_ burns without smoke, _ibid_
Alexander the Great, surprised with the effects of naphtha, 32, 153
Albertus Magnus, published an account of the ordeal by fire, 38 on the Greek fire, 98
_Amadou_; see Pyrotechnical sponge.
Amber, 156 used in odoriferous fire, 157 found in the United States, _ibid_ black; see Jet.
Ambergris, _ibid_
American Turtle, what, 515
Ammonia, muriate of, 184
Analysis of gunpowder, in what it consists, 140
Ancients, fire-works of the, 261 as exhibited in theatres, _ibid_ made chiefly in wooden tubes, 262 illuminated on birth days, 428
Anelzin, Constantine, supposed to have invented gunpowder, 99
Animal poisons, for what used, 568
Animalcula, 34
Anglesea, Island of, furnishes sulphur from copper pyrites, 80
Antimony, 188
Antioch, had some public lamps, _note_. 428
Anna Commena, her formula for Greek fire, 98
Aphlogistic lamp, 170 with camphor, 171
Aquatic fire-works, 21, 442
Aquafortis, 49
Archbishop of Magdeburg had nitre districts, 52
Arrow, poisoned, 567
Archbishop of Triers, granted privileges for searching for nitre, 53
Artifice of destruction, 267
Artificial nitre beds, 69
Artificial flower pot, 10
Artillery, how fired by sulphuric acid, 75 match, 471 rod, 474
Arsenic, sulphurets of, 187
Arrows, used to attract lightning, 31
Asbestus, or Amianthus, wicks of, 26
Ashes, wood, 192
Asphaltum, 155 used as a cement, _ibid_
Aurum Musivum, 200
Auger rammer, what, 238 size of, for boring rockets, _ibid_
Auget in mining, what, 551
Automatons of fire, 419
Aurora, composition for, 272
Azote, iodide of, a fulminating compound, 177 in nitre beds, furnished by animal matter, 70 quantity of, in nitric acid, 122 disengaged from gunpowder, _ibid_ quantity of, disengaged from powder, 123 exists in miasmata, 60 carburet of, in miasmata, 61 different combinations of, _ib._
B.
Bacon, Roger, 98 received his knowledge of gunpowder, _ib._ his work, containing the composition of powder, _ib._ his opinion of the manner the Midianites were defeated, _ib._ knew gunpowder before Schwartz, 99
Balls, incendiary, 92 smoke, 449 stink, _ibid_ poisoned, _ibid_ inflammable, 577 red-hot, 449
Balloon wheels, 394
Balloons of grenades, bombs and stone, 559 Coehorn, 351 Republican, 352 of serpents, 353 of crackers and marrons, 352 compound, _ibid_ eight-inch, &c. 353 ten-inch, &c. 354 observations on, 355 Table respecting, 356 Mortars for the charge of, _ibid_ fuses of, 354 composition for the, 358 cases for, 245
Barbadoes tar, 155
Barras, 148
Bar-Cochebra, the rabbi, his deceptions on the Jews, 31
Barrow's account of Asiatic fire-works, 255 the nitre caves of Africa, 58
Battle of the kegs, 523
Batteries of Roman candles, 406 Mosaic candles, _ibid_
Bavins, for fire-ships, 509 composition for, _ibid_
Beckman, his remarks concerning jugglers, 27
Bengal lights, 377
Benzoin, 161
Benzoic acid, _ibid_
Benzoin, why used in fire-works, 162 flowers of, _ibid_
Berard, his improvement in refining nitre, 67
Berthollet, proposed chlorate of potassa for gunpowder, 76 his fulminating silver, 174
Bergamot, the essence of, used in odoriferous flambeaux, 288
Bigot, his observations on rockets, 540
Bistre, how prepared from wood-soot, 146
Bitumen, elastic, 155 solid, _ibid_
Black, ivory, 90
Black lead, 209
Black amber, 157
Blue vitriol, 222
Blue stars, 18
Boat, plunging, 514
Bodington, invented a machine to prove powder, 139
Bologna phial, 214
Bones, charring of, 94
Bone and ivory, 220
Borello, his process for regeneration, 34
Bottle, phosphoric fire, 85
Bombs, howitzes and grenades, 487 tables respecting, 489 incendiary, of Ruggeri, 537 composition of, 556 where said to have been invented, 504 succouring, an account of Bell's, 544
Brass, 197
Brand, fire, 574
Brick, economical, 577
Brilliant stars, 18 fire, 271
Brins, pots de, 364
Brimstone, 78 roll, 80 how obtained, _ib._ how to determine its purity, 83 flowers of, 82
Browning of gun barrels, 204
Browne, Dr. on nitre caves, 54, 55, 58
Bronze, 198
Brongniart's directions for refining saltpetre, 62
Brugnatelli's fulminating silver, 174
Bullock's blood, paste made with, 253
Burgundy pitch, 147
Burning barrel, 503 composition for the, 504
Byzantium, illumination of, 24
C.
_Cabinet de composition_, 235
Cadet, his mode of discharging guns, 477
Caduceus rocket, 341
Cagliostro, the imposter, 33 his pretensions to the miraculous, _ib._ his phial, _ib._ Cardan's account of his phial, _ib._
Cæsalpinus, his comment on Aristotle, 34
Callinicus, the inventor of the Greek fire, 544, 548
Calamine stone, 195
Calcareous caverns mostly contain nitre, 54
Caligula, caused Rome to be illuminated, 24, 428
Camphor, 157 used in candle-making, 159 obtained from the _Laurus Camphora_, 158 crude, how refined, _ibid_ properties of, 158 use of, in fire-works, 160 the flame produced by, _ibid_
Candles, Roman, 380 cases for, and effect of, _ibid_ manner of charging the, _ibid_ manner of firing, _ibid_ Mosaic, 381 duration of, 439 light of, _ibid_ Ure's experiments on, _ibid_
Cannon, history of, 456 how originally made, 457 different kinds of, 459 opinions respecting, 458
Carbon, gaseous oxide of, 89 different combinations of, _ib._ quantity in different coals, how ascertained, 151
Carbonic acid, 88
Carbonic oxide gas, 89
Carburetted hydrogen gas, _ib._
Cartwright's fire-works, 20
Caromel, 165
Carbonate of Ammonia, 185 zinc, impure, 195 potassa, 189
Castera's Plunging boat, some account of, 514
Caprices, 400 cracking, 407
Cascades of fire, 404
Carney, M. his process for gunpowder, 110
Carcass rocket, 530
Carcasses, 492 how made, 493 table of the dimensions of, 494 uses of, 492 composition of, 494 a general rule for their preparation, 495 composition for covering, 496 how discharged from mortars, 497 inextinguishable, 493
Cartridges, 462 musket, 464 cannon, 467 used in seiges, what kind of, 466 cost of, in France, _ibid_ ball for, calculations respecting, 463 dimensions of the sacks for, 468 cannon, of what composed, _ibid_ table relative to, 469 Bigot's table on the charge of powder for, 471
Cases, when drove solid, observations on, 237 how distinguished by their diameters, _ibid_ charging of, without moulds, _ibid_ nipples for, _ibid_ when charged solid, how bored, 238 rolled wet, for wheels and fixed pieces, 244 for turning pieces, of what length, 245 for Roman candles, _ibid_ for serpents, _ibid_ for fixed stars, _ibid_ tourbillon, _ibid_ balloon, how made, _ibid_ for illumination port-fires, 246 lances, 247 for common port-fires, _ibid_ paper for, 250 paper, preferred to wooden tubes, 262 used by the Chinese, _ibid_ for reports, 301 for crackers, 300 for fire-pumps, 322 for scrolls, 344 priming of, 370 whitening of, _ibid_ standing and fixed, compositions for, 388
Catamarin, 514 invented by Fulton, _ibid_
Caves, nitre, of the United States, 54
Celsius, his writings against the Magi, 27
Cement, Japanese, 252
Cerasin, 219
Chained rockets, 342
Chaptal, his approval of Carney's process, 110 his observations on saltpetre, 67
Christians in the first century, illuminated, 24, 428
Charcoal, 87 accension of, by nitric acid, 51 from damaged gunpowder, 72 quantity of, for decomposing 100 parts of nitre, 96 used in fire-works, 87 decomposes nitric acid, _ib._ nitrate of potassa, 96 properties of, 87 destroys the empyreumatic flavour of liquor, _ib._ burns in oxygen gas, &c. 88 one of the constituents of gunpowder, 89 how made, 90 how made intensely black, 96 for gunpowder, how prepared, 94 wood used for making, 94
Charred pitcoal, 90
Chargers, 231
Characters, used in pyrotechny, 230
Champy, M. his process for gunpowder, 109
Changes, in sun pieces, how effected, 396
Chemical effects in fire-works, 2 changes, _ib._
Chimnies, different modes of cleansing, 573 Smart's machine for, 574
Chinese fire, 19, 371 works, 255 preparation of the iron for, 201 composition of, as used in theatres, 265 for table works, 272 peculiar art of the, in making fire-works, 255 flyers, 303 cases for, _ibid_ how filled, _ibid_ use of, _ibid_ fountains, 405 paste, how made, 252 iron sand, different numbers of the, how made, 202 Incarville's account of the, 202
Chlorate of potassa, in fire-works, 7 accension by, 22 experiments with, _ib._ how made, 74 composition of, 75 decomposed by combustibles, 75 and sugar, give fire with sulphuric acid, _ib._ effects of, with charcoal and sulphur, 76 in lieu of nitre for gunpowder, _ib._ serious accidents from, _ib._ proportions of, for powder, _ib._ powder made with, stronger than the common, _ib._ powder of, experiments with the, _ib._ for rockets, 77 how used to discharge cannon, 75
Choaker, 233
Choaking, how performed, 243 contrivance for, 244
Cicero, lamps lighted in honor of, 24, 428
Clay, uses of, in pyrotechny, 193 how prepared for use, 194
Cleaveland, professor, his notices of saltpetre caves, 54
Coal, 149 common, _ibid_ pit, _ibid_ component parts of, _ibid_ character of, _ibid_ what kind of, best for fire-works, _ibid_ surcharged with bitumen, how it burns, 150 American, _ibid_ use of, in the arts, _ibid_ kinds of, _ibid_ quantity of carbon in, how ascertained, 151 why used in fire-works, _ibid_ analysis of, _ibid_ origin of, 152
Coke, 90 ovens, 150
Coehorn balloon, 351 illuminated, _ibid_ of serpents, _ibid_ of crackers, _ibid_ compound, 352
Colophony, 147
Colours, how communicated, 19
Combustion, spontaneous, how occasioned, 323 accelerated or retarded, 1 produces new compounds, 2 products of, _ib._ of metals, 4 of sulphur with nitre, 49
Common stars, 18
Compositions, remarks respecting particular, 9 how preserved, 235 sundry, for fire-works, tabular view of, 317 effects of particular, 367 for variations, for sun pieces, 396 to preserve the fuses of shells, &c. 485 for dipping curtains, bavins, &c. 511 for priming for fire-ships, _ibid_ for setting fire to fascines, _ibid_ for hoops, fire arrows, &c. _ibid_ for kitt, 512
Condensing syringe, 276
Courantines, or line rockets, 345
Constantius, alarmed at some feats by fire, 31
Constantinople, illumination of, 24 by order of Constantine, 428
Copal, 164
Cornelius, the Rev. Mr. his description of a nitre cave, 58
Corrosive sublimate, 186 use of, in fire-works, _ibid_
Cotton, 219
Counter-mines, 551
Crackers of fulminating silver, 173 how made for fire-works, 300 report of, how caused, _ibid_ Waterloo, 273
Crawfish, process for regenerating, 34
Cramer's experiments on the formation of nitre, 70
Cross-fire, what, 406
Crowns and globes, compositions for, 390
Cruikshank, his process for making fulminating silver, 174
Curtains, for fire-ships, 510
Cyanogen, 89
Cylinders, or rollers, 230
Cyphers in fire, how made, 324
D.
Dana, his remarks respecting vapour in combustion, 434
Dart, the inflammable, 574
Dead fire, for wheels, 389 light fuse, 485
Deceptions by fire, various, 30
Decorations for fire-works, 298, 425
Deflagration of nitre with crude antimony, 50
Delian problem, (_note_), 28
Deliquescent salts in nitre, 38
Desaguliers, his remarks concerning rockets. See Rockets.
Destruction, artifice of, 267
Detonation with nitre and phosphorus, 49
Detonations, sundry with chlorate of potassa, 75 sundry experiments to produce, 273
Detonating mixtures with phosphorus, 85 girdle, 274 powder from indigo, 177 tape, 274 oil, 179 works, 273 balls, 274 cards, 275
Devices, variously formed, 324
Diamond, pure carbon, 87
Dodecaedron, representation of, 403
Don Pedro, 99
D'Orval, his account of aquatic fire-works, 272
Dragons, in fire-works, exhibitions of, 266
Driver for charging large rockets, 233
Drying of powder, 112
Duponts, the Messrs. the character of their powder, 73
Dusting of gunpowder, 112
Dung of camels, used as fuel, 218
E.
_Eau de cuite_, 64
_Eau forte_, _ib._
_Eau faible_, _ib._
Europeans, ancient, their poisoned arrows, 568
Elastic bitumen, 155 aeriform fluids, 6
Electron, 156
Electricity, effects of, on inflammable bodies, 276
Ellibichus, (_note_.), 428
Empedocles knew the effect of burning glasses, 562
Endless screw, 418
Eprouvette, 138 of Hutton, _ibid_ improved, _ibid_ of Darcy, 76 of Regnier, 77 of Ramsden, 139 Dr. Hutton's opinion of the, 138
Eruption, volcanic, 263 substances which produce, _ibid_
Essence of spruce, 147
Ether, phosphorized, 85
Essential oils, 163
_Etoupille_ of the French, 295 how prepared, 297
Ewel, his patent for making gunpowder, 118
Examination, chemical, of nitre, 72
Exhibition of fire-works, 453
Experiments, sundry, with detonating substances, 273
Extemporaneous fire, 578 various kinds of, _ibid_ by chemical action, _ibid_ Hanzelet's composition for, 579 remarks on, _ibid_
F.
Fascines, 501 how made, _ibid_ to what use applied, _ibid_ various kinds of, 501
Feast of the lanterns in China, 25
Feast of the lamps, 427
Feast of the dedication of the Temple, _ibid_
_Festum encæniorum_ of the Jews, 24
Fevers, malignant, supposed causes of, 60
Fight, with small ships, how represented, 451
Fire, feats performed with, 26 works of, general basis of, 19 works, to show in sparks, &c. 20 for rooms, of what made, 21 substances used in, 48 rain, incendiary, 560 composition of, 560, 561 observations on, _ibid_ gave rise to the fire-stone, 562 Greek, 544 of what composed, 545 flasks, 575 stone, what, 205 produced by percussion, 273 works in general, 255 invention of Europe, _ibid_ at Pekin, _ibid_ known in China from time immemorial, _ibid_ Chinese not surpassed by any nation, _ibid_ Barrow's account of the, _ibid_ arrangement of, 256 a system of, what, _ibid_ of inflammable air, 383 Frazier's opinion respecting, 257 ordeal by, 37 works at Versailles and Paris, 257 of the ancients, 261 theatrical, 262 rain for theatres, 264 composition of, 264, 309, 310, 311 in Chinese fire, 265 spur, 267 composition of, 268 works, portable, 271 scented, 283 tables, 271 pots, 365 for ramparts, 575 charge for, 366 brand, 574 pumps, 322 composition for, _ibid_ cases for, how made, _ibid_ how charged, _ibid_ jets, 367 extemporaneous, how made, 578 spouts, 367 compositions for, _ibid_ blue, for parasols and cascades, 369 radiant, _ibid_ green, _ibid_ Aurora, _ibid_ Italian rose, _ibid_ everlasting, what, 154 jets, different appearances of, 370 how used, _ibid_ Chinese, 371 red, 372 cast iron, used in the, 371 iron sand in the, _ibid_ applications of the, 375 has little force, _ibid_ on wheels, its effect, _ibid_ for calibers under 10/12ths of an inch, 376 for other calibers, _ibid_ for Palm trees and cascades, _ibid_ white, _ibid_ for gerbes, _ibid_ works for exhibition, the arrangement of, 387 how arranged, 453 incendiary, 490 general account of the, _ibid_ number of the, _ibid_ slow, for wheels, 389 dead, for wheels, _ibid_ wands, 400 cascades of, 404 galleries of, 406 globes, 420 crayons, 286 globe, aquatic, 445 representation of figures in, 423 ship, in miniature, 451 for service, 507 preparation of a, _ibid_ uses of a, _ibid_ stores required for a, 510 fire-barrels for a, _ibid_ composition for, _ibid_ stone, 491 its use, _ibid_ of what composed, _ibid_ cautions to be used in making, _ibid_ on what its goodness depends, _ibid_ how made more inflammable, _ibid_ composition of, 492 origin of, 491 composition, used for carcasses; see carcasses. balls, 492
Fire balls, composition of, 494 table on the dimensions of, _ibid_ how they differ from carcasses, 492 composition for covering of, 496 how discharged, 497 a new mode for making, _ibid_ to be thrown by hand, kind for, _ibid_ composition for hand, 498 works, with hydrogen gas, 383 Dillon's exhibition of inflammable air, _ibid_ Cartwright's do. do., _ibid_ flame of hydrogen gas in, how charged, _ibid_ of inflammable air, how executed, _ibid_ their character, _ibid_ imitative, 440 how made, _ibid_ Red, for theatres, 270
Fixed air, 87 suns, 397, 398 cases, 19
Flame, the rapidity of the communication of, 431 of felt, colours of, 435 Reaumur and Schatt's remarks on, _ibid_ of felt, experiment to produce the, _ibid_ coloured, theory of, 436 very remarkable effects of, on living persons, _ibid_ how prepared to produce singular appearances, _ibid_
Flame, changed of different colours, 2, 432 deception by breathing, 30 the, in fire-works, how shown, 264 how extinguished, and made to reappear at the same time, 275
Flambeaux, odoriferous, 288 its use in war, 501 how made, 502 composition for, _ibid_
Flower pot, artificial, of fire, 10
Flowers of sulphur, 82
Flower pots, pyramid of, 402
Flux, black, 50 white, _ib._
Flyers, Chinese, 303
Fetid carbonate of lime, 155 fire, remarks on, 290
Forsyth, the Rev. Mr. his composition for gunpowder, 23, 75 his invention of a gun-lock, 22
_Foudres_, what, 265
Fougasses, 554
Fougette, 529 improvement on the, 530
Fountains, Chinese, 405
Frankincense, 148 used in odoriferous fire, _ibid_
Frazier, his opinion on fire-works, 257
Fruiloni wheel, 394
Fuel, economical, 577
Fulminating powder, 50 of Higgins, _ib._ mercury, 171 of Bayen, 173 silver, 173, 274 balls, _ibid_, _ibid_ bombs, 173, 275 silver, of Berthollet, 174 of Chenevix, _ibid_ of Silliman, 175 gold, _ibid_ platinum, 176 powder, from indigo, 177 compound, called iodide of azote, _ibid_ oil, 179 silver, entertaining experiments with, 273
Fusion, powder of, 50
Fuses, 481 for shells, howitzes, and grenades, _ibid_ how made, _ibid_ how charged, 482 sundry compositions for, 484 with dead light, 485 composition for the, 486 dimensions of, 487
G.
Gallipot, 147
Galbanum, 221
Galleries of fire, 406
Galvanism, detonations produced by, 276
Games at Rome, illuminated at night, 24
_Garniture_, in fire-works, what, 298
Gases produced in fire-works, 6 character of the, _ib._
Gas lights, 89
Gases, what, produced by gunpowder, 121 number of, evolved from gunpowder, 122 carbonic acid, &c. quantity from gunpowder, 123
General theory of Pyrotechny, 1
Gerbes, 19 account of, 348 composition for, 349
Gibbs, colonel, his experiments on gunpowder with lime, 556
Girandoles, 407 modification of, _ibid_ chests of, for rockets, 338
Girdle, detonating, 274
Glazing of powder, what, 111 plumbago used for the, _ibid_
Glass, 210 different kinds of, _ibid_ acted upon by fluoric acid, 214 annealing of, _ibid_ uses of, in fire-works, 210
Globes, with their decorations, 419 leaping, 420 composition for, 421 bursting, 420
Globe of compression, 553
Glue, 214 its use in pyrotechny, _ibid_
Gold rain, 310 fulminating, 175
Gracchus, Marcus, 98
Græcus, Marcus, _ib._ said to have invented gunpowder, _ib._
Grape shot, how made, 470
Granulation of powder, 111
Grecian illumination, 24
Green match, 324 fire of the Palm tree, 77
Gregory, his summary of Robins's experiments, 125
Greek-fire, 544 invented by Callinicus, _ibid_ used by Callinicus with success, _ibid_ how defined, _ibid_ used at different periods, 545 how made use of, _ibid_ thrown by spouting engines, _ibid_ Beckman's remarks on the, _ibid_ peculiar properties of the, 546 modern imitations of the, _ibid_ La Brocquiere on the, _ibid_ Ruggeri's remarks on the, 547 said to have given rise to gunpowder, 98 recipes for the making of, known to Bacon, _ib._ a manuscript containing the, and gunpowder, _ib._ various kinds of, 546 the original, not known, _ibid_ the author of _Œuvre Militaire_ on, _ibid_ recommends a substitute for the, _ibid_ superseded by gunpowder, 547
Grenades, fuses for, 481 how charged, 484
Gums, used in fire-works, 21 contain carbon, 89
Gum arabic, 219 Tragacanth, _ibid_
Gun, repeating, 460
Guns discharged by percussion, 75
Guns, see cannon.
Gunpowder, history of, 97 invented in India, 97, 458 invention, how brought to Europe, 97 the Arabians obtained a knowledge of, from the Indians, _ib._ the use of, forbidden in the sacred books of the Indians, _ib._ employed in 690 at the battle of Mecca, _ib._ the Greek fire said to have given rise to, 98 recipe for, in an old manuscript, _ib._ quality of, 97 the formulæ for of Marcus Græcus, 98 said to have been invented by a German monk, 99 invention of, ascribed to Anelzin, _ib._ to Schwartz, _ib._ no mention made of, in the French registers, _ib._ damaged, nitre extracted from, 72 how examined by reagents, 73 analysis of, in what it consists, 73, 140 made with chlorate of potassa, 76 with chlorate of potassa, effects of, _ib._ what required to make good, 100 varies in its constituent parts, _ibid_ French formula, for the best, _ibid_ English, proportions used for, _ibid_ government, (British), what, _ibid_ experiments with, at Grenille, _ibid_ proportions for, by different nations, _ibid_ for war, French formula, 102 for hunting, do. do., _ibid_ for mining, do. do., _ibid_ manufacture of, 102 in France, summary of the, 110 improvement in the drying of, 103 glazing of, 104 for making, according to Champy, 109 mills, 104 accidents to, _ibid_ at Frankford, an experiment at, 105 machinery of, _ibid_ charcoal for, according to Proust, 110 Carney's process for making, _ibid_ its power, on what it depends, 120 gases produced by the combustion of, 121 quantity of, 122 Thenard's remarks on the gases from, 121 Proust's opinion of the products of fired, _ibid_ remarks on the combustion of, _ibid_ Granulation of, said to be injurious, 124 fired in a vacuum, the products of, 125 carbonic acid gas from, 121 Robins's experiments with, 125 Dr. Hutton's remarks on, 127 charges of, 129 the velocity of balls caused by, _ibid_ table of the charges, &c. of, 130 Hutton's experiments at Woolwich, with, _ibid_ azotic gas from, 121 proof of, 136 various, _ibid_ comparative, _ibid_ by the eprouvette, 138 strength of, how increased, 140 preservation of, _ibid_ examination of, _ibid_ chemical, _ibid_ marks, what, 136 quantity required to raise a cubic fathom of earth, 552 torpedo; see Torpedo. several modes proposed to increase the force of, 554 experiments of M. L. Maitre, &c. with, 555 basis of fire-works. See Theory of Fire-Works. extinguishing flame with fired, 572 charging of, with a ball, a new mode, 39 how used with ball, without injuring, _ib._ Tricks with, by jugglers, 40 action and reaction of, against a ball, _ib._ how put in the repeating-gun. See Cannon. how it acts in extinguishing flame, 572 recommended to scatter water on buildings on fire, 573 inflammation of, by the radiation of heat, 566 cautions in loading guns with, 125 its force increased by confined air, _ibid_ how employed for the splitting of trees, &c. _ibid_ damaged, how the nitre is recovered from, 72 purification of sulphur, for making, 81 mills, spontaneous combustion in, 106 how prevented, 107 Bartholdi's opinion of the, 106 David's plan to prevent the, _ibid_
Gunbarrels, how browned, 204 utility of browning, _ibid_
H.
Hanzelet, his extemporaneous fire, 579
Half-moulds, 238 dimensions of, _ibid_
Hare, professor, his remarks concerning flame, 433
Heat, latent, 136 idea of, how formed, _ibid_ in nitric acid, _ibid_
Herodotus, his account of the Egyptian illuminations, 24 of the Egyptian festivals, 427
Higgins, his fulminating powder, 50 improvement on the old, _ib._
Hirpi, the, jumped through fire, &c. 37
Hippocrates Chias, the discoverer of the Delian problem, (_note_.) 29
Holy Fire, office of the, 41 ceremonies of the, _ib._
Honorary rockets, 342
Horse, a, burnt, through a superstitious notion, (_note_.) 28
Humboldt, his observation on gunpowder for mining, 556
Howard's fulminating mercury, 172 of what composed, _ibid_ how prepared, _ibid_ effects of, 173
Howitzes, fuses for, 481 how charged, 484
Hughes' nitre cave, 54
Hydrogen gas, for fire-works, 20, 383 Cartwright's fire-works with, 20 Dillon's fire-works with, 383 detonation of, in a pistol, 384
Hyperboreans, how they caught the electric fluid, 31
Hyperoxymuriate of potassa, 7, 74 sundry properties of, 75 used for gunpowder, 76 the same as chlorate of potassa, 74 contains a large quantity of oxygen, 75 how prepared, 74 basis of the pocket lights, 75
I.
Illumination port-fires, cases for, 246 lances of, 314 composition for the, _ibid_ of various colours, _ibid_
Illuminations, 23, 425 for what designed, 23 antiquity of, _ib._ Egyptian, 24 Parisian, _ib._ by the Ancients, on great occasions, _ib._ port-fire, composition for, 314 chemical, 439, 523
Illuminating barrel, 503
Illuminated table star, 273
Illuminated spiral wheel, 393 yew tree, 402 figures, sundry, 413 fountain, 439 how produced, _ibid_
Imitative fire-works, 440
Incendiary machines, in war, 462 fire-works, 490 matches, 492 kegs, 523 rocket, 530 rope, 558 composition for, _ibid_ arrows, 566
Incombustible, wheels, &c. how made, 240
Indigo, a fulminating powder from, 177
Indian white fire, 580 composition of the, _ibid_ matches for the, _ibid_
Ingenhouz, Dr. his remarks concerning gunpowder, 120
Inflammable powder of M. Gengembrie and Bottée, 50
Infernal machine, 512
Inflammable ball, 577 air, 20 works, 383 pistol, 384 lamp, _ibid_ dart, 574
Iodide of azote, a fulminating substance, 177
Iron cylinders and cases, why preferred for charring wood, 91 use of, in fire-works, 201 cast, or crude, an ingredient of Chinese fire, _ibid_ pig, or crude iron, 206 properties of, 201 the effect of, in brilliant and Chinese fire, _ibid_ sand of the Chinese, powdered cast iron, _ibid_ chambers of, for fire-ships, 509 their use, _ibid_ some preparations of, 201 theory of the effect of, in fire-works, 202 filings, how preserved, 239 in brilliant fire, 4
Irrorateur, 288
Isinglass, used in composition, 19 its properties, 214
Italian roses, 313 composition for, _ibid_
J.
Japanese cement, 252
Jerome, his remarks on the lights of Antioch, (_note_.) 428
Jessamine fire, composition of, 271
Jet, 156 fire, 367
Jews, festival of, had illuminations at the, 24
Joblonski, his account of the horse condemned at Lisbon, (_note_.) 28
Julius Camillus, his homunculi, 34
K.
Karabé, 156
Kircher, his mirror, 562
Kurtz, his patent for preparing charcoal, 93
L.
Laboratory, in Pyrotechny, 228
Laboratory tools, _ibid_
Lampblack, in spur fire, 10 action of, in spur fire, _ib._ accension of, by nitric acid, 51 how made, 89, 144 origin of the name of, 144 houses, _ibid_ properties of, 145 purity of, how discovered, _ibid_ artificial tannin from, _ibid_ quality of, how improved, _ibid_ durable ink, prepared with, _ibid_ used in printers' ink, _ibid_ a constituent part of Close's ink, _ibid_
Lampadaria, what, 428
Lamptericæ, _ibid_
Lamp, inflammable air, 430
Lamps, kinds of, 429 various patent, (_note_.) 430 custom of the Turks with, 24 Pococke's account of, in a synagogue, _ib._ Persian ceremony with, 25
Lances of illumination, 314 sundry compositions for, _ibid_
_Lance à feu_, composition of, _ibid_ stink fire, _ibid_ slow white flame, 315 composition of, _ibid_ for petards, 318 how made, _ibid_ of service, _ibid_ composition for the, _ibid_
Lanterns, feast of the, in China, 25
Lapis Calaminaris, 195
Lardons, same nature as serpents, 298
Lead, recommended for the preservation of powder, 140 experiments with, for this purpose, _ibid_ cartridges formed of sheet, _ibid_ black, 209 used for the glazing of powder, 111
Leaders, 294, 295 threading and joining of, 294 for small cases, how used, _ibid_
Lee, Sergeant, his account of Bushnel's turtle, 518 his adventure with a submarine vessel, _ibid_ his adventure with a balloon-ship, (_note_.) 521
Libanus speaks of his native city, on account of the lamps, (_note_.) 428
Lights, pocket, how made, 22, 75 various kinds of, 315 composition for, _ibid_ common, composition for, _ibid_ red, composition for, 316 sundry compositions of, for different calibers, _ibid_ brilliant, &c. composition for, _ibid_ for all calibers, _ibid_ another, _ibid_ large Jessamine, 317 small Jessamine, _ibid_ tabular view of compositions for, _ibid_ Bengal, 377 composition of the, 378 observations on the, _ibid_
Lightning, the Ancients knew how to attract the, 31 how represented, 267
Lime, promotes the formation of nitre, 53 the carbonate of, the same effect, _ib._
Lime, 194 its use in fire-works, 195
Line rockets, 345
Linseed oil, 218
Lixivium for slow match, how made, 293
Longchamp, his improvement in refining saltpetre, 67
Lycopodium used in priming powder, 76 imitating lightning, 267
M.
Machines, infernal, 512
Magazine, 235 principles of forming a bomb proof, _ibid_ lightning rod for a, 236 access of moisture in a, how prevented, _ibid_
Magic lantern, 44 phantasmagoria with the, _ib._
Magi, character of the Ancient Egyptian, 27
Mallets, 231
Maltha, 155
Mandrils, 230
Marble, bituminous, 155
Marks, gunpowder, 143
Mariotte, his theory of the flight of rockets, 14
Marrons, 318 made to imitate the explosion of mines, 264 how made, 318 how fired, 319 batteries of, how formed, _ibid_ for service, _ibid_ cubical, _ibid_ figure of the paper, before forming, 320 shining, 320 for what designed, _ibid_ Murdering, 557
Mastich, 163 from the _Pistacia lentiscus_, _ibid_ used in the scented paste, 164
Matches, in artillery, 471
Match, 292 quick, _ibid_ slow, 293 lixivium for slow, _ibid_ principles with respect to the combustion of, 296 proportion of substances for forming, 297 slow (military), 471 how prepared, _ibid_ rope for, 472 lixivium for, _ibid_ nitre, why used, _ibid_ how polished, _ibid_ another process for preparing, _ibid_ how made at Gibraltar, _ibid_ made of sugar of lead, _ibid_ quick, process of M. Bigot for, 477 different compositions for, 478 of worsted, _ibid_ how made with expedition, _ibid_ rod, artillery, of M. Cadet, 474 experiments with, _ibid_ incendiary, 492 how prepared, _ibid_ phosphoric, 85 wood, 571 paper, 294 for cyphers, blue and green, 324 purple, or violet, 325
Meal-powder, 234
Mealing table, how made, 83
Mealing of brimstone, _ib._
Medici, house of, bribed to abolish the Academy del Cimento, 28
Mercury, fulminating, 171
Mercury, corrosive muriate of, 186
Metals, used in fire-works, 4
Metallic preparations, some detonate, 23
Metallic copper, how obtained by precipitation, 222 used in fire-works, 223
Meteors, imitation of natural, 325
Meteorolites, 62
Meteoric phenomenon, _ib._
Mexia, Peter, his remarks on gunpowder, 98
Miasmata, of what composed, 60 produce fevers, _ib._ produce yellow fever, 60 how destroyed, (_note_.) 61 kind of, supposed to produce yellow fever, _ib._
Military Pyrotechny, what, 456
Milk of sulphur, 83
Mine pots, 299 composition of, _ibid_
Mines, and mining, 550
Minerva of Sais, festival of, (_note_.) 428
Mineral tar, 154
Miracles, 29
Mirrors, powerful effects of, 562 Archimedes employed, with success, 563
Mix, lieut. his unsuccessful attempt with a torpedo, 522
Mixtures, how made for fire-works, 253
Morey, his experiment with nitre and oil, 51 with tar, 433 with rosin and boiling water, 432
Mortars and pestles, 233 paper, 350 to throw aigrettes, 350, 363
Moore, his remarks on rockets, 15
Moon and stars, 421
Mosaic candles, 381 theory and effect of, 17 gold, 200 tourbillons, 358 composition of, 360 simples, 381 how used, _ibid_ moulded stars, 382 composition of, _ibid_
Moses, how he differed from the Magi, 30 rod of, miracles wrought with the, 29
Mother water of nitre, 57
Moulds, for common port-fires, 247
Muriated gunpowder, what, 76
Muriate of Ammonia, 184
Mushet, his remarks on iron, 210
Mutations, a regulated piece of nine, 408
Myrrh, 164 used in odoriferous fire, 165
N.
Naphtha, 153 the substance, which burnt Creusa, _ibid_ Alexander the great, surprised at the effects of, _ibid_ used by the Ancients in exhibitions, 154 Hanway's account of, _ibid_ Pinkerton's observations on, _ibid_ grounds, singular properties of, _ibid_ used in the Greek fire, 154
Neptune, how represented in fire, 450
Nitre, 48 fixed by charcoal, 49 used in the formation of gunpowder, 50 its quality, how judged of, by fire-workers, 51 how procured in the East, 52 districts, what, _ib._ how procured at Lima, _ib._ regale, in Germany, what, _ib._ how obtained in Germany, _ib._ from old walls, buildings, &c. 53 formed with animal and vegetable matter, _ib._ collected in the East Indies, _ib._ quantity used in China for fire-works, _ib._ bed of, at Apulia, near Naples, _ib._ how obtained in Switzerland, _ib._ springs, in Hungary, _ib._ convocation at Paris, of young men, to receive instruction for forming, _ib._ Caves of the United States, 54 obtained from the soil of tobacco-houses, _ib._ beds, artificial, _ib._ how extracted from the nitrous earth of nitre caves, 54, 55 crude, what, 54 earth, what, _ib._ found in caves in a state of purity, _ib._ caves of Tennessee, Virginia, and Maryland, _ib._ cave, a, how discovered, 55 in the grease, what, 56 theory of the process of extracting, 57 crystallization of, _ib._ rough, _ib._ rock ore of, how treated, _ib._ caves, observations on, 59 Brongniart's direction for refining, 62 process for extracting, in France, 63 old process for refining, 66 Chaptal's observations, &c. on, 67 conditions necessary to form, 70 how extracted from damaged gunpowder, 72 how to ascertain its purity, _ib._ how reduced expeditiously to powder, 73 cubic, 74 caves of Africa, a bituminous substance found there, 58 native, in the nitre caves of the United States, 56 native, of Africa, 58 in the sandstone strata of Africa, _ib._ caves of Africa, contain animal excrement, _ib._ in the cave at Nicajack in Georgia, _ib._ quantity obtained at Nicajack, 59 supposed origin of, at Nicajack, _ib._ in the cave at Corydon, Indiana, _ib._ caves of East Tennessee, Kain's remarks on, _ib._ of the Cumberland mountains, _ib._ causes which are supposed to form, _ib._ used in the manufacture of candles, 186
Nitrification, what, 70
Nitrous efflorescence, the ancient _scrophula contra lapides_, 53
Nitrate of potassa, nitre, or saltpetre, 48 of soda, used in fire-works, 8 of strontia, _ib._ produces flame, _ib._ of soda, 73 experiments with, by Bottée & Riffault, 74 of copper, 223 uses of, in fire-works, _ibid_ use of, for matches, _ibid_ preparation of, _ibid_
Nitrates of different bases, may be used in fire-works, 8 all contain oxygen, _ib._
Nitric acid, 51 how prepared, _ib._
O.
Odoriferous fire-works, general principle of, 21 water balloons, 286, 446 flambeaux, 289 and fetid fire, 290 fire, by spontaneous accension, 288 pastilles, or crayons, 286 vases of the ancients, _ibid_
Odour, classification of, _ibid_ extreme divisibility of, 285
Oils, essential, 163 inflammation of, 51 used in odoriferous fire, 285
Oil of vitriol, 82
Oil, phosphorized, 85 detonating, 179 linseed, 218 why required in boring of rockets, 238 used for the preservation of iron or steel filings, 239 of spike, 156 how prepared, _ibid_
Olefiant gas. See fire-works with hydrogen gas, 89
Ores, many, furnish sulphur by sublimation, 80 how treated to yield sulphur, _ib._
Orenburg gum, 147
Ordeal by fire, what, 37
Orpiment, 187
Oxygen gas, how obtained from nitre, 49 in nitrates and chlorates, 8 an important agent in fire-works, 2
Oxides, formed by combustion, what kind of, 4
Oxide of copper, in fire-works, 222 how obtained, _ibid_
P.
Pagan Priests, conscious of their deceptions, 30
Palm trees, representation of, 401
Paper press, 234 different kinds of, used for cases, 250 how made incombustible, _ibid_ how coloured and glazed, 251 preferred for cases to wood, 262 cases used by the Chinese, _ibid_ touch, or match, 294 mortars, 349 Swedish stone, 250 incombustible, of amianthus, 251 Chinese, _ibid_ observations on, _ibid_
Parasols, Chinese, 405
Paris, fire-works at, in 1739, 257
Paste, 252 patent, _ibid_ Japanese, _ibid_ odoriferous, 287 board, how made, 249 uses of, _ibid_ for fire-works, Chinese mode of making the, 252
Pastilles, or pastes, 286 composition of, 287
Peach-wood, raspings of, 76
Pearl ash, 190
Perchloride of Mercury, 186
Persia, the sacred fire in, 386 grounds of, contain inflammable air, _ibid_ the followers of Zoroaster in, _ibid_
Petard, 298 for war, 505 table of the dimensions of the, _ibid_
Petards, composition for, 506
Petroleum, 154
Payard, M. his burning mirror, 565
Peyre, his remarks confined to gunpowder, 16
Phantasmascope, 47
Phantasmagoria, 44 thunder and lightning with the, 47
Phalaris, bull of; (_note_.) 28
Philosophical phial, 214
Phlogiston, supposed to have existed in acids, 70
Phosphorus, 84 general properties of, 85 how prepared, 86
Phosphoric matches, and fire bottles, 85 stone, 86 tapers, 85 pencil, 86 ether, 85 oil, _ib._
Phosphuret of lime, its effect in water, _ib._ of Wurzer, 86
Phosphuretted hydrogen gas, 85
Piece, regulated, of nine mutations, 408
Pinks, fire, from flower pots, 10
Pin wheels, 395 composition for, _ibid_
Pipes of communication, 443 for fire-works, 295 how joined together, _ibid_ how made, _ibid_ why necessary, _ibid_
Pitch, Jews', 155 how made, 147 use of, in fire-works, _ibid_ a composition of, almost inextinguishable, _ibid_ used in the Greek fire, _ibid_ used in incendiary fire-works, see military fire-works. Burgundy, furnished by the Pinus Abies, _ibid_ white, _ibid_
Plane board, 233
Platinum, fulminating, 176
Pliny, his account of Porsena, 31 of Numa Pompilius, _ib._ of Tullius Hostilius, _ib._
Plumbago, 209
Plutarch, his account of Naphtha, 32
Pocket lights, how made, 22, 75
Poisoned arrows, 566 of savages, of what composed, 567 sundry plants for, specified, 568 the Arabs, how they make, _ibid_ of the island of Java, _ibid_ Asiatic, with what poisoned, _ibid_ of the Alps, _ibid_ ancient Europeans, how they made, _ibid_
Polydore Virgil, to whom he ascribes the invention of powder, 99
Polygonal mirror, its effect, 565
Pontiffs, the, considered learning opposed to their views, 28 their arbitrary edicts, _ib._ bribed the house of Medici, _ib._ abolished the academy Del Cimento, _ib._
Port-fire, cases for, 247 length of, _ibid_ origin of the term, _ibid_ how made, by the Strasburg formula, _ibid_ Strasburg, composition of, 248 how generally made, 479 instructions of M. Bigot respecting, _ibid_ composition of, various, _ibid_ usual length of, 480 wet and dry, _ibid_ dry, according to the English method, _ibid_ other compositions for, _ibid_ composition for, according to Ruggeri, _ibid_
Potash, 191
Potassium, _ibid_
Pots des Brins, 364 serpents for, 299 how made, 364 de chasse, 360 fire, remarks on, 365 for ramparts, 575 composition for, 366 of ordnance, 422 how made, _ibid_ how fixed, _ibid_ how discharged, 423 flower, pyramid of, 402
Powder-triers, 138 proof, 136 bags, 503 how made, _ibid_ barrel, _ibid_ of fusion, what, 50 fulminating, _ib._ inflammable, of Pauly, 577 of what composed, 578
Priests of antiquity, acting as jugglers, 32
Prince Rupert's drops, 214
Priming powder, of chlorate of potassa, 75 tubes, or fuses, 475 formerly made of tin, _ibid_ composed of two parts, _ibid_ reeds, or quills used for, _ibid_ how filled, 476 compositions, sundry for, _ibid_ pewter used for, 475
Prognosticator, a preparation of camphor for a, 159
Proust, his remarks on the charcoal for powder, 110
Prussic acid, 89
Puddling, what, 207
Puffs, 262 composition for, 263
Pulverization of substances, 253
Purple match, 325
Putrefaction of animal and vegetable substances, 70 forms saltpetre, 71
Pyrotechny, 1 general theory of, _ib._ of the Chinese, 53
Pyrotechnical sponge, 570 mixtures, 1
Pyroacetic acid, 91 how purified for use, 93, 95
Pyric piece, 412
Pyrophorus, 180 of Wurzer, 86 how prepared, _ib._
Pyrophore of defence, 581
Q.
Quick match, 20 how generally made, _ib._ military, 477 different kinds of, see match.
Quicklime, 194 its use in making slow match, 472
R.
Radiation of heat, its effects, 565
Rammers, 231
Rampart fire-pots, 575
Realgar, 187
Reagents, chemical, to discover foreign salts in nitre, 72
Recoil of a gun, similar to the recoil of a rocket, 11
Reeds, for fire-ships, 510
Red-fire for theatres, 270
Resins, 148 Thenard's opinion of, _ibid_
Repeating gun, 460
Reports, single, 301 cases for, _ibid_
Rain, silver, composition for, 272 fire, 18 filamentous, 309 how formed, _ibid_ cases for, with what charged, _ibid_ in sparks, what, _ibid_ composition for, 310 gold, composition for, _ibid_ remarks on the, 319 fire, in general, sundry compositions for, 311 falls, and stars, double and single, _ibid_ observations on the cases for, _ibid_ and hail, how imitated, (_note_.) 266
Rays, composition for, 272
Rice glue, 252
Richardson, his tricks with fire, 36
Ring, a, how suspended by a thread reduced to ashes, 41
Robins, his conclusions applicable to rockets, 16 his experiments on gunpowder, 125
Rochos, on the ashes of toads, 34
Rock saltpetre ore, what, 55
Rockets, gunpowder, &c. causes the ascension of, 11 motion of, how balanced, 12 gases produced by the combustion of the composition for the, _ib._ principle of the, gives motion to fire-wheels, 11 a missile weapon, _ib._ used at the seige of Seringapatam, _ib._ principle, what, 12 employed for explosion and conflagration, 11 theory of the ascension of the, 12 stick, its use, _ib._ stars, 18 water, _ib._ charcoal of hard wood for, when used, 94 remarks on charging of the, 231 charging of the, rammers required for, _ibid_ signal, tools required for forming the, 232 table, 272 driving of a, 236 driven solid, or hollow, 236 ladle for charging, 237 blows required for charging of the, _ibid_ for each ladleful of composition, _ibid_ how bored, and machine for boring, 238 taps for, what, _ibid_ bored with a brace and screw bit, 239 cases, how made, 243 cases, Morel's rule for making, 244 length of the, how regulated, 245 and their appendages, 326 flying, _ibid_ uses of, _ibid_ caliber and preparation of, _ibid_ tables, concerning the, 327, 328 different opinions respecting, 327 moulds for, remarks on the, 328 composition for, remarks on the, _ibid_ charcoal used in the composition for, of what kind, 329 compositions for, opinions respecting the, _ibid_ compositions for, _ibid_ according to Morel, 330 to Bigot, _ibid_ tabular view of the, 331 of honour, Chinese composition for, 330 observations on charging of, 331 furniture of, its weight, 332 heads for, how made, _ibid_ sticks for, _ibid_ how measured, _ibid_ piercer, what, 333 rammers, for charging of, _ibid_ formers for the cases of, _ibid_ moulds for, table exhibiting the dimensions of, _ibid_ on the heading of, 334 heads of, why used, _ibid_ experiments respecting, 335 manner of decorating them, _ibid_ decorations used for, _ibid_ sticks, their dimensions and poise, 336 their use, _ibid_ table respecting, _ibid_ how discharged, 337 different modes of discharging, _ibid_ fired without sticks, in what manner, 338 Girandole chest for discharging, _ibid_ how made, 339 fountain of, what, _ibid_ how discharged at the same time, _ibid_ Morel's contrivance for discharging, _ibid_ angle of inclination given to, if required, 340 combinations of, with appendages, _ibid_ fixed on the top of each other, _ibid_ towering, 16, 340 Caduceus, 16, 341 Honorary, 342 Chained, _ibid_ tails of, how made to form an arch, 343 small, or swarmers, _ibid_ composition for, _ibid_ scrolls for, 344 cases for, _ibid_ line, with decorations, 345 signal, 347 water, 443 discharging of, in water, 448 under water, 449 war, 11, 526 Congreve, has iron cases _ibid_ Signal, _trimming_ of, _ibid_ composition for the trimming of, 527 quicklime used in the composition of, (_note_.) 526 the hollow in, increases the surface that takes fire, 527 sticks of, when large, are bored and filled with powder, 528 Robins's experiments with, _ibid_ height of ascension of, _ibid_ Indian, 529 Congreve, how it differs from the common, 530 contains the propelling power, _ibid_ carries ball, shells, case shot, &c. _ibid_ distance of its flight, _ibid_ carcass, _ibid_ how armed, 533 used at Boulogne and Copenhagen, 531 advantages it is said to possess, _ibid_ range of the largest kind of, 532 kinds used for different services, 533 table concerning the range, &c. of the, _ibid_ how discharged, 535 estimate of the cost of the, 536 French account of the, _ibid_ described by Ruggeri, _ibid_ Congreve said not to be the inventor of the, _ibid_ invented by a naval officer, _ibid_ Ruggeri's publication concerning the, _ib._ analysis of the, by Gay-Lussac, 531 objections to the, 537 difference between the incendiary and common, 538 murdering, how formed, _ibid_ how discharged, _ibid_ light ball, 539 carcass, the floating, _ibid_ observations on the, 540 Bigot's remarks concerning the, _ibid_ Bigot's tables of the different kinds of, 542, 543 the succoring, 544
Rolling board, 233
Rolled stars, 304
Rome, the forum at, lighted, 428 without public lights, _ibid_
Roman candles, 380
Roses, Italian, 313 composition for, _ibid_
Rose-piece and sun, 399
Rosin, 146 how prepared, 147
Ruggeri, his opinion of chlorate of potassa for rockets, 77
Rumford, count, his improvement in fuel, 577
S.
Sacks, for mealing gunpowder, 234 of powder, for pots des brins, 366
Sage, on the spontaneous combustion of charcoal, 107 his remarks concerning gunpowder, 108
Sal Alembroth, 187 ammoniac, use of, in fire-works, 184 in candle making, 191 ammoniac, 184
Sal Prunelle, 49, 167
Saltpetre, the basis of fire-works. See Nitre, 3 affords oxygen, _ib._ decomposed by charcoal, _ib._ remarks concerning, 49 converted into sal prunelle, 167 refining of, 65 old process for refining of, 66 reagents used to determine the purity of, 72 Dupont's refined, character of, 73 how obtained in fine powder, _ib._ preparation of, for fire-works, _ib._ the oldest certain account of, 98 Caves. See Nitre. proportion of acid in, 122 used in candle-making, 186
Saracen fire, 549
Saucissons, 321 how made, _ibid_ flying, _ibid_ how used, 322 in mining, what, 551
Scudder, his plan for blowing up the Ramilies, 524
Scrolls for rockets, 344
Scented vase, 288
Scented fire-works, 21, 283 vase of the Athenians, 21 fire of the Moldiva Islands, 285
Schwartz, said to be the inventor of gunpowder, 99
Schistus, bituminous, 155
Schœpfer revived magic, 33 and Cagliostro, tricks of, _ib._
Sea lights, 525 composition for, _ibid_
Sea fights, how represented, 451
Sieves, 234
Seneca oil, 155
Serpents, nest of, 364 how formed, 298 how driven, _ibid_ composition of, 299 for pots de brins, _ibid_ for pots of aigrettes, &c. _ibid_ why so called, _ibid_ stars, 301 their intention, _ibid_ cases for, _ibid_ compositions for, _ibid_ of two kinds, _ibid_ how moulded, 302 how primed, _ibid_ theory of their effect, _ibid_ whirling, _ibid_ principle of the, _ibid_ how charged, _ibid_
Ship, fire, 507 preparation of a, 507
Shells, paper, how made, 245 fuses for, 481 loading of, 484
Shining marrons, 320
Shrapnel shell, 559
Siemienowicz, Casimir, his fire-rain, 560
Signal rockets, 347
Silliman, professor, his fulminating silver, 175
Silver rain, composition of, 272 what, 18 fulminating, 173
Size, 215
Skin, the, how made callous, 36
Sky-rocket, see Rocket.
Smoke ball, composition of the, 507
Snakes, how tamed, (_note_.) 35 destroyed in India, (_note_.) _ib._ fangs of, what, (_note_.) _ib._
Solar phosphori, 437 the miraculous luminaries, no other than, different kinds of, _ibid_ phosphorus, Bolognian, _ibid_ Canton's, _ibid_ Hanzelet's, _ibid_ Baldwin's, _ibid_
Soot, why used in some pyrotechnical mixtures, 145 of what composed, 146 of animal excrement furnishes sal ammoniac, _ibid_ of camels' dung, its use in Egypt, _ibid_ of oil, and turpentine. See Lampblack.
Sparks, in rain-fire, 309 substances, which show in, 312
Spelter, 196
Spherical case shot, 559
Spiral screw, 418
Spontaneous combustion, 51
Spouts, fire, 367
Spirit of sal ammoniac, 185
Spirits of turpentine, 147
Spirit of wine, 168
Spirit lamps, 170
Spur fire, 9, 267 composition of, 268
Spunk, 570
Standing or fixed cases, compositions for, 389
Stands, for sky-rockets, 338
Stahl, his opinion of the composition of nitric acid, 70
Stars, from artificial flower pots, 10 simple, 303 use of, _ibid_ how prepared, _ibid_ composition for, 304 rolled, 304 how made, _ibid_ composition used for, _ibid_ cracking, _ibid_ are small marrons, _ibid_ rocket, white, composition of, _ibid_ blue, composition of, 305 variegated, composition of, _ibid_ brilliant, composition of, _ibid_ common, composition of, _ibid_ tailed, composition of, _ibid_ drove, composition of, _ibid_ fixed pointed, composition of, _ibid_ of a fine colour, composition for, _ibid_ of different colours, composition of, _ibid_ directions for preparing, 306 another composition for, _ibid_ which carry tails of sparks, _ibid_ composition of, _ibid_ which yield some sparks, 307 yellow, composition for, _ibid_ another composition for, _ibid_ caution in rolling, _ibid_ different ways of forming, 308 flaming, with brilliant wheels, _ibid_ general theory of, _ibid_ fixed, 313 scrolls for, 344 strung, _ibid_ moulded Mosaic, 382 flat, 424
Steam, how used for drying gunpowder, 112, 116, 119 pipes, what, 112 latent heat in, (_note_.) _ibid_ for boiling dye kettles, (_note_.) _ibid_ Count Rumford's experiment with, (_note_.) _ibid_
Steel, its use in fire-works, 201 combustion of, in oxygen gas, 202 hardening of, 204 tempering of, _ibid_ natural, 207 kind called ferrum candidum, 208 of cementation, 207 singular mode of making, in Spain, 208 blistered, 207 antiquity of hardening, 208 shear, 207 cast, _ibid_ or iron filings, how preserved for fire-works, 239 filings, in spur-fire, 10 produce scintillations, _ib._ of what composed, 89
Stink fire lance, 507
Stink stone, 155
Strangling of cases, how performed, 243 contrivance for, 244
Strangler, 233
Streets, lighting of the, a modern invention, 26
Storax, 162
Substances, what, required for military fire-works, 228 pulverization of, 253 properties of various, known to jugglers, 26
Submarine navigation, 515
Succinum, 156
Succinic acid, 157 its effect in fire-works, 290
Suffocating pot, 507 composition for the, _ibid_
Sugar, 165 used in fire-works, _ibid_ decomposed by chlorate of potassa, _ibid_ from various substances, 166 caromel from, by the burning of, 165 sulphuric acid converts several substances into, 166
Sulphur, 78 native, _ib._ in the island of Java, _ib._ associated with gypsum, _ib._ volcanic, 79 how obtained from ores, 78 how purified for gunpowder, 80 mineralizes metals, _ib._ from pyrites, _ib._ vivum, what, _ib._ how recovered, from damaged gunpowder, 72 from galena, 79 various means of obtaining, 80 quantity obtained, from pyrites, 80 quantity of in metallic sulphurets, 79 roll, 80 flowers of, _ib._ properties of, 82 various compounds of, _ib._ a constituent part of gunpowder, 83 mealing of, _ib._ how to determine the purity of, _ib._ to discover the adulteration of, by oil of turpentine, 84 milk of, 83 use of, in preserving iron and steel, 239
Sulphuret of arsenic, 187 antimony, 188
Sulphurets, 82
Sulphuric acid, _ib._ native, in the island of Java, 78
Sulphurous acid, 82
Sun cases, 19
Suns, &c. exhibition of, by the Chinese, 256
Suns, fixed, 397 with transparent faces, 398 with variations, 396 compositions for the charges, _ibid_ with rose piece, 399
Swarmers, 343 composition for, _ibid_
Swedish melting house, feats performed at the, 36
Sword blades, how ornamented, 205
T.
Table, mealing, 234 fire, 271 works exhibited on, _ibid_
Table rocket, 272
Table-star, the illuminated, 273
Tape, detonating, 274
Tar, how obtained, 147 Barbadoes, 155 Morey's experiments with, 148
Tarred links, 500 how made, _ibid_
Tests, their use in discovering the presence of substances, 72
Thenard's formula for priming powder, 76
Thenard, respecting nitrous lixivium, 63
Theophilus, bishop, respecting the statues at Alexandria, (_note_.) 28
Thick stuff, of nitre boilers, 57
Thouvenal's opinion respecting nitre beds, 70
Thundering barrel, 504
Thunder bolts, in fire-works, 265 composition for, 266 various ways of imitating, (_note_.) _ibid_ accompanying the phantasmagoria, how imitated, (_note_.) _ib._
Thus, 148 used in odoriferous fire, _ibid_ copallinum, 164
Tin, sheet, 206 plate, _ibid_
Tinder, 570
Tools and utensils, 228
Tophania, the female poisoner, 48
Torpedo, Fulton's, 521 principle of, _ibid_ precautions against, 522 fulminating silver used in the small, 173 used against the Plantagenet, 522
Touch paper, 21, 292, 294, 370
Tourbillons, theory of, 16 cases for, 245 how charged, _ibid_ common, 358 mosaic, _ibid_ character of, 359 mosaic, composition of, 360 table, 361 appendages to, _ibid_ directions for firing, _ibid_ common, another mode of making, _ibid_ composition of, for different calibers, 362 for half inch caliber, _ibid_ of various sizes, _ibid_ general rule respecting, 363
Torches, odoriferous, 289 compositions for, _ibid_ used in war, 501 how made, 502
Tourteaux, 500 for what used, _ibid_ goudronné of the French, _ibid_ how made, _ibid_ composition for, according to Bigot, _ibid_ according to the Strasburg formula, 501
Tow and hemp, 222
Towering rocket, 340 theory of the, 16
Transparencies, 425
Tubes, cannon, how inflamed by sulphuric acid, 22
Tunestrick, his wonderful performance, 34 his miraculous liquor, 35
Turpentine, 146 for what purpose used in fire-works, _ibid_ spirit of, how inflamed by nitric acid, 51 decomposes the nitrates, 146 a component part of the ancient Greek fire, _ibid_ obtained from different species of the Pinus, _ibid_ common, from the Pinus Sylvestris, _ibid_ composed of resin and volatile oil, 147 Spirit of, how obtained, _ibid_ Essential oil of, _ibid_ Venice, from the Pinus laryx, 147 made artificially, _ibid_ from the Pinus Maritima, _ib._ spirits of, Morey's experiments with, 148
Turtle, the American, 515 invented by Bushnel, 516 intended to destroy shipping, _ibid_ outline of its construction, _ibid_ experiments with, 517 sergeant Lee's adventure with the, _ibid_
Turf, used in the place of spunk, 572 inflammability of, 152, 571 of morasses, some account of, _ibid_ Tacitus' account of, taking fire, _ibid_ Gmelin's observations on, _ibid_
V.
Vapour of water accelerates combustion, 432 preparation of, to form blue flame, _ibid_
Varnish, 164
Variegated stars, 18
Vase, the scented, 288 composition for the, _ibid_
Vegetable poisons, their use in poisoning of arrows, 568
Venice turpentine, 147
Versailles, fire-works at, in 1739, 257
Vinegar from wood, character of the, 93 quantity of the, _ib._ apparatus for obtaining the, 95
Violet match, 325
Vitriol, blue, its use in fire-works, 222
Volcano of Lemery, 323 how made, _ibid_ theory of, _ibid_ exhibition of a, in China, 256
Volute, grand, 417
W.
Wand, Mercury's, 401 fire, 400
War-rockets, 526 of the Asiatics, 262, 529
Water-squibs, 448 fire-fountain, _ibid_ balloons, odoriferous, 446 compositions for, _ibid_ mines, 444 fire-works, 442 rockets, 18, 443 of ammonia, 185 casks, the use of charring, 87 how preserved at sea, _ib._
Water, its presence in fire-works injurious, 8 weak, what, 64 strong, in nitre making, _ib._
Waterloo crackers, how made, 273
Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff, his mode of examining gunpowder, 141
Waved fire, 418
Wax, artificial, for candles, 51
Wheels, 19
Wheel cases, manner of loading, 237
Wheels, how made incombustible, 240
Wheel cases, standing and fixed, composition for, 388
Wheels, slow fire for, 389 dead fire for, _ibid_ single, vertical, &c. 391 plural, 393 illuminated spiral, _ibid_ balloon, 394 fruiloni, _ibid_ pin, 395 composition for, _ibid_ horizontal, how changed to vertical, with a sun in front, 399 cone, double illuminated, 416 vertical, on a horizontal table, _ib._ decoration of, 418 single, double, and triple table, 425 for water, horizontal, 444
White fire, composition for, 272, 580 flame lances, 315 composition of the, _ib._ iron of the French, what, 206 pitch, 147 Stars, 18
Whitening of cases, 370
Whirling serpents, 338
Wicks, lamp, of amianthus, 26 Kircher's, _ib._
Wild fire, 492
Will-with-the-Wisp, 85
Wings, 406
Women, Roman, their custom with fire, 37
Wood, charred, 90 carbonization of, how performed, _ib._ improved process for the, 91 kinds of, for making charcoal for gunpowder, 94 light, for gunpowder, _ib._ heavy, or hard, when used, _ib._ raspings of, used in fire-works, 163, 216 distillation of, 217 bronzing of, 242 ashes of, used in fire-works, 192 tubes of, used by the ancients in fire-works, 262 how preserved from the weather, 265 how made incombustible, 241 colouring of, how performed, _ibid_
Woolf, Arthur, his steam apparatus, 119
Wootz, 209
Worcester, the Marquis of, his destructive machines, 525
Works, detonating, 273
Workshop for artificers, 235
Wrought iron, 206
X.
Xenophon, his account of ancient jugglers, 23
Y.
Yew tree, illuminated, 402
Yellow fever, supposed cause of, 61
Z.
Zoroaster, the followers of, in Persia, 386 sacred fire of the, _ibid_
Zinc, 196
THE END.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATE.
FIG. 1.--A. is the entering rammer or driver. It is bored in such a manner, that the whole of the broach, or piercer above the nipple, n, may be admitted. The cavity of the bore is cylindrical, and equal in diameter to that of the foot of the broach. This driver serves to fix the rocket case, over the broach, in the mould G, and to form the cup, o, fig. 10, for receiving the priming.
B. is the driver of the first charge. It is bored in such a manner, as to admit the broach to within two-fifths of the interior diameter of the case, from its base. Its bore is cylindrical, and has the diameter of the broach, at the height of two-fifths the interior diameter of the case.
C. is the driver of the second charge, and admits the broach two-thirds of its length; the diameter of its bore being the same as that of the broach, at one-third of its height.
D. is the driver of the third charge, and admits one-third of the broach; the diameter of the bore being that of the broach, at two-thirds of its height.
E. is the last driver, and is solid; the charge being above the summit of the broach. See page 231.
FIG. 1. and FIG. 6.
FIG. 1. (cont.) and FIG. 6.--The broach or piercer I, fig. 1, (a section of which is represented in fig. 6), is a truncated cone, having a hemispherical summit. The cone is the part from a to b, fig. 6. The diameter of the base of the cone at b, ought to be two-fifths of the interior diameter of the case, and the diameter at the summit, one-fifth, which is also the diameter of the small hemisphere at the top. The height from b to a, ought to be seven times the interior diameter of the case, or 17.5 times the diameter of the base b. The part n, fig. 1, and from b to c, fig. 6, is rounded. Its diameter ought to be that of the interior of the case, and its height, seven-tenths of that diameter. This is called the nipple, and is the part, which gives shape to the cup o, fig. 10. The part m, fig. 1, and from c to d, fig. 6, is cylindrical, and may be made of any height or diameter, provided the latter is not less than that of the cone. It is generally one-twentieth more than the exterior diameter. This part ought to penetrate into the bottom of the charging mould, G, fig. 1, and fit closely, so as to be firm. The part from d to e, fig. 6, is the blade or tongue of the broach. It is rectangular, and enters into the block H, fig. 1, where it is firmly fixed. The size of this part is arbitrary, as well as that of the block H, fig. 1.
FIG. 2.--The Rocket finished.
FIG. 3.--Conical Mandril or Former, for the head of the Rocket.
FIGS. 4 & 5.--Head of the Rocket and _Pot de fusée_.
FIGS. 7 & 8.--Mealing table and Mullar.
FIG. 9.--The Rocket case choaked, and prepared for charging.
FIG. 10.--Section of the Rocket, after charging.
FIG. 11.--The Rocket with its stick. For want of room, the stick is represented in two pieces.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Exponents are denoted by ^ so for example 4^2 indicates 4 squared.
For consistency and clarity, a space (when absent) has been placed between the number and the unit of weight lb. and lbs. giving for example '21 lbs.' in place of '21lbs.'
Fractions, usually in the form '14 3-4' in the original text, have been converted to the form '14-3/4' in this etext.
Fractions in all tables have been converted to Unicode ½ ¼ ¾ ⅓ etc., for clarity and to conserve space in larger tables. A few tables have non-Unicode fractions which remain in the form 1-7/12.
Also, in a few larger tables with italic styling on some text, this italic styling has been removed, for clarity and to conserve space. In a few cases a word has been abbreviated to conserve table space: cal. = caliber; diam. = diameter.
Some instances of _Tome_ in French citations have been changed to Tome (no italic), for consistency.
Some accents and spelling in French citations have been corrected.
For consistency, instances of 'fireworks' and 'fire works' have been changed to the predominant form 'fire-works'.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted above and below, misspelling in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example: meal-powder, meal powder; quick-match, quick match, quickmatch; siege, seige; musket, musquet; hazle; dodecaedron; deposite; inclose.
Pg xiv. 'Meutrieres' replaced by 'Meurtrières'. Pg xiv. 'Siemienowick' replaced by 'Siemienowicz'. Pg xviii. 'accesssion' replaced by 'accession'. Pg xxv. 'alchohol' replaced by 'alcohol'. Pg xxxi. The references to 40° have been retained (should be 4°). Pg xxxv. 'indispensible' replaced by 'indispensable'. Pg xl. 'knowlege' replaced by 'knowledge'. Pg xliv. 'Siemienowick' replaced by 'Siemienowicz'. Pg 19. 'pluverized' replaced by 'pulverized'. Pg 19. 'foretel' replaced by 'foretell'. Pg 22. 'Belhelaive' replaced by 'Belhelvie'. Pg 24. 'Heroditus' replaced by 'Herodotus'. Pg 26 Footnote [8]. 'Pontoppidon' replaced by 'Pontoppidan'. Pg 26 Footnote [8]. 'seive' replaced by 'sieve'. Pg 31. 'Heroditus' replaced by 'Herodotus'. Pg 34. 'Tunesteick' replaced by 'Tunestrick'. Pg 44. 'skreen' replaced by 'screen'. Pg 53. 'Bradenburgh' replaced by 'Brandenburgh'. Pg 67. 'Rifault' replaced by 'Riffault'. Pg 68. 'indispensible' replaced by 'indispensable'. Pg 74. 'exhilirating' replaced by 'exhilarating'. Pg 100. 'salpetre' replaced by 'saltpetre'. (twice) Pg 100. 'decribed' replaced by 'described'. Pg 107. 'occured' replaced by 'occurred'. Pg 107 Footnote [17]. 'occurence' replaced by 'occurrence'. Pg 134. 'combustbile' replaced by 'combustible'. Pg 138. 'one-hundreth' replaced by 'one-hundredth'. Pg 140. 'eprovette' replaced by 'eprouvette'. Pg 140. 'pulverized quick-lime' replaced by 'pulverized quicklime'. Pg 142. 'processess' replaced by 'processes'. Pg 148. 'frankincese' replaced by 'frankincense'. Pg 158. 'by some. It is' replaced by 'by some it is'. Pg 159. 'guages' replaced by 'gauges'. Pg 163. 'tranverse' replaced by 'transverse'. Pg 172. 'which see.' replaced by 'which see below.'. Pg 188. 'XXXVI' replaced by 'Sect. XXXVI'. Pg 192. 'westtern' replaced by 'western'. Pg 193. 'nesessary' replaced by 'necessary'. Pg 197. 'absord' replaced by 'absorb'. Pg 203. 'harpsicord' replaced by 'harpsichord'. Pg 206. 'metalic' replaced by 'metallic'. Pg 221. 'Siemenowitz' replaced by 'Siemienowicz'. Pg 232. 'Britanica' replaced by 'Britannica'. Pg 234. 'paste-board' replaced by 'pasteboard'. Pg 235. 'whe r ' replaced by 'where'. Pg 236. 'Peirre' replaced by 'Pierre'. Pg 237. 'bass' replaced by 'brass'. Pg 241. 'repecting' replaced by 'respecting'. Pg 244. 'Britanica' replaced by 'Britannica'. Pg 245. 'cases is' replaced by 'case is'. Pg 251. 'abbe Raynal' replaced by 'Abbé Raynal'. Pg 256. 'Eygpt' replaced by 'Egypt'. Pg 257. 'groupes' replaced by 'groups'. Pg 258. 'Tuilleries' replaced by 'Tuileries'. Pg 259. 'Tuilleries' replaced by 'Tuileries'. Pg 262. 'Brittish' replaced by 'British'. Pg 271. 'pastebord' replaced by 'pasteboard'. Pg 274. 'parts length' replaced by 'parts in length'. Pg 276. 'breakes' replaced by 'breaks'. Pg 277. 'Volcono' replaced by 'Volcano'. Pg 278. 'sucession' replaced by 'succession'. Pg 284. 'esssential' replaced by 'essential'. Pg 287. 'ingedients' replaced by 'ingredients'. Pg 287. 'will to exhale' replaced by 'will exhale'. Pg 314. 'artficial' replaced by 'artificial'. Pg 320. The italic styling on the letters in the figure has been removed for clarity. Pg 324. 'phosporus' replaced by 'phosphorus'. Pg 325. 'pealed' replaced by 'peeled'. Pg 328. In the table '286' replaced by '280' and '338' by '330'. Pg 328. ': 160 :' replaced by ': 100 :'. Pg 331. 'section iv' replaced by 'section iii'. Pg 332. 'counter-ter weights' replaced by 'counter-weights'. Pg 343. 'desscribed' replaced by 'described'. Pg 345. 'unrol' replaced by 'unroll'. Pg 345. 'couratines' replaced by 'courantines'. Pg 351. 'fiit' replaced by 'fit'. Pg 359. 'thicknes' replaced by 'thickness'. Pg 362. 'case whirl' replaced by 'case whirls'. Pg 382. 'pyrimids' replaced by 'pyramids'. Pg 383. 'air' replaced by 'airs'. Pg 384. 'Votaic' replaced by 'Voltaic'. Pg 406. 'Sec. XIV.' replaced by 'Sec. XV.'. Pg 413. 'Archimedian' replaced by 'Archimedean'. (twice) Pg 414. 'star weeel' replaced by 'star wheel'. Pg 418. 'Archimedian' replaced by 'Archimedean'. Pg 431. 'Alchohol' replaced by 'Alcohol'. Pg 440 Footnote [28]. 'meditate' replaced by 'mediate'. Pg 440 Footnote [28]. 'Guillume' replaced by 'Guillaume'. Pg 443. 'ladle-full' replaced by 'ladleful'. Pg 453. 'sauccissons' replaced by 'saucissons'. Pg 454. 'sauccissons' replaced by 'saucissons'. Pg 454. 'squills' replaced by 'quills'. Pg 455. 'mosique' replaced by 'mosaique'. Pg 460. 'richochet' replaced by 'ricochet'. Pg 475. 'parallelopepids' replaced by 'parallelepipeds'. Pg 476. In the table, 'comsition' replaced by 'composition'. Pg 488. 'Shrapnell' replaced by 'Shrapnel'. (twice) Pg 491. 'Siemienowich' replaced by 'Siemienowicz'. Pg 514. 'Dictionaire' replaced by 'Dictionnaire'. Pg 517. 'passsing' replaced by 'passing'. Pg 519. 'He how' replaced by 'He now'. Pg 526. 'two-third' replaced by 'two-thirds'. Pg 533. Duplicate phrase 'Elevation for extreme range' removed from the table. Pg 535. 'their being' replaced by 'there being'. Pg 535. 'richochet' replaced by 'ricochet'. Pg 542. 'the' removed from header 'Base of the conical head' in the table. Pg 560. 'Siemienowick' replaced by 'Siemienowicz'. (twice) Pg 570 Footnote [43]. 'fennell' replaced by 'fennel'. Pg 580. 'seive' replaced by 'sieve'. Pg 581. 'pullies' replaced by 'pulleys'. Pg 585. 'de Gouvernment' replaced by 'de Gouvernement'. Index: Pg 590. 'Bertholet' replaced by 'Berthollet'. Pg 590. 'Cagliostra' replaced by 'Cagliostro'. Pg 590. [Callinicus:] '673' replaced by '544, 548'. Pg 593. 'Copal' entry moved to correct alphabetic order. Pg 596. 'Grœcus, Marcus' replaced by 'Græcus, Marcus'. Pg 598. Section for 'J' moved after section for 'I'. Pg 598. [Inflammable:] 'Gingembrie' replaced by 'Gengembrie'. Pg 598. 'Jassamine' replaced by 'Jessamine'. Pg 599. 'Lampadacea' replaced by 'Lampadaria'. Pg 599. 'Longschamp' replaced by 'Longchamp'. Pg 602. [Pliny:] 'Porcena' replaced by 'Porsena'. Pg 604. 'Rochus' replaced by 'Rochos'. Pg 606. 'Seneka' replaced by 'Seneca'. Pg 609. [Watson:] 'Landaff' replaced by 'Llandaff'. Pg 609. 'Will-with-the-whisp' replaced by 'Will-with-the-Wisp'.