Part 2 — CHAPTER XVI SIGNALS
Reading edition
The following tables tell their own tale:—
TABLE XIV.
Signal Rockets.
Chinese.650 13th Century. Greek.651 13th Century. Arab.652 13th Century. English.653 17th Century. English.654 20th Century.
Saltpetre61.069.269.560.061.6
Charcoal18.323.015.725.5’23.0
Sulphur18.3 7.814.814.4’15.4
Mi-to-sing? 2.4............
TABLE XV.
Fixed Lights.
Arab.655 “Light of the Moon,” 13th Century. English.656 “Light, Illuminating Wrecks, Mark IV.,” 20th Century.
Saltpetre71.472.3
Charcoal15.221.0
Orpiment13.4 6.7
TABLE XVI
Fireworks.
Saltpetre62.558.0
Charcoal25.012.0
Sulphur 6.2513.0
Steel filings 3.125 4.8
Cast iron borings...12.2
Bronze filings 3.125...
FOOTNOTES:
INDEX
Abd Allah ibn al-Baythar (d. 1248), 16
Abd ur-Razzak on Bijanagar (1441), 115
Accent de Sincérité, 126
Africanus, Sextus Julius, 40
Agniastra, 105
Al-Bunduqani, meaning of, 91
Alor, taking of (A.D. 712), 91
Amiot, Father, on Chinese powder, 128
Ammianus Marcellinus on fire-arrows, 30
Anagram, Friar Bacon’s, suggested solution of, 157
Anna Comnena, Princess, on crossbows, 48
—— on sea-fire, 44
—— on siphons, 43
Antiquity, Chinese veneration for, 125
’Arába (Persian), its double meaning, 114
“Arabian Nights,” mention of astrolabe in, 78
—— mention of qaus bunduq in, 93-4
Arabic language, general ignorance of, in Middle Ages, 82
—— words in Liber Ignium, 77
Arangal, siege of (1309), 119
Arderne’s recipe for powder (cir. 1350), 177
Arquebuse, original meaning of the word, 92
Arrows for muskets (1588), 200
Artillery, original meaning of the word, 7
Assos, flower of the stone of, 17, 151
Assyrians, early use of incendiaries by the, 29
Astrolabe = Asturlab = Usturlab, origin of, 78
Astronomy, Chinese, 113, 126
Babar’s projectiles, size and price of, 122
Bacon’s (Friar) charcoal, 149
—— mode of refining saltpetre, 25, 151
—— recipe for gunpowder, 157
Baghdad, siege of (A.D. 813), 96
Baldwin I. on Byzantine defences, 84
Balls, hot clay, British and Arabic, 90, 217
Barbour’s “Bruce,” mention of incendiaries in, 50
Barúd (Arabic), successive meanings of, 6
Baza, siege of (1325), 100
Bengali gunners, Babar on, 121
Benjamin of Tudela on Byzantines, twelfth century, 53
Bergen op Zoom, siege of (1588), 226
Beringuccio on iron round shot, 201
Berwick, Greek fire at (1319), 50
Bijanagur, alleged use of cannon at (1368), 113
Bilqan, siege of (1256), 203
Bitar taken by a single rocket (1657), 172
Bokhara, siege of (1067), 96
Bombshells originally oblong, 238
Bourne’s “box” for testing powder (1578), 192
Bows, cross-, 48
—— slur-, 168
—— stone-, 93
Boxer’s (General E. M.) wooden time-fuze (1849), 243
“Brazen Head,” legend of Bacon’s, 161
Breteuil, Greek fire at (1356), 51
Bristol, fire-pikes at siege of, (1643), 169
Bronze, Egyptian, 1750 B.C., analysis of, 203
—— price of, at various times, 204
Bullets, hot, for small arms, 202
Bunduq (Arabic),successive meanings of, 6
Calthrops = crowsfeet, 170
Cannon, invention of, ascribed to the Germans, 54
Cap, percussion, invention of (1818), 245
Carcasses, invention of (1672), 224
Carriages, gun-, field-, introduction of (1461-83), 114
Cartridge-cases, Artillery, flannel (1770-80), 230
Cartridges, Infantry, early composite (1590), 179
Case, early use of, 208
—— Zimmermann’s, 212-13
Casiri’s translations, 99
Caxton on price of naphtha (1480), 187
Chalcocondyles on early cannon, 54
Charcoal, hazel and willow wood for, 62, 137, 149
Charleston, siege of, 1863, incendiaries at, 49
Chen-tien-lui, Chinese projectile, 130, 138
China, early communication of, with the west, 136
Chinese historical works, 124, 126
—— snow, 17
Chronoscope, Wheatstone’s electro-magnetic (1840), 194
Combustion, progressive, 3
Compass, Mariner’s, 112
Comte, A., on the invention of powder, 111
Concussion fuze, invention of English (1850), 245
Conde’s metaphor, trueno con fuego, 101
Congreve, on his rockets, 175
Constantine VII., on sea-fire, 34, 46
Copredy Bridge, action at (1644), 208
Corning (graining) powder, first mention of (1429), 182
Cracker of Marcus Græcus, 87
—— of Friar Bacon, 87, 159
Creed, Apostles’, used to measure time, 239
Cressy, English guns at, 7
Crusades, no explosive used during the, 97
Crusoe’s (Robinson) wildfire, 52
Cunningham, General, on decay of Indian temples, 111
Cuprum (copper), origin of word, 80
Dahir, King of Alor (712), 91
Darts for cannon, 199
Delium, siege of (424 B.C.), 31
Dickson, General Sir A., on port-fires, 230
Discoveries, accidental, 162
Douglas, Captain Sir C., R.N., inventions of, 230
Drake, Sir Francis, demands arrows for muskets (1588), 200
Dunnett, Sergeant D., rockets at Waterloo under, 176
Dunois’ capture of Pont Audemer (1449), 173
Dutens on Marcus Græcus, 84
Encyclopædias, Chinese, 124
Espingarda, meaning of, 117
Europeans in China in early times, 135
—— in India in early times, 114, 121
Existence, the struggle for, 108
Explosion, meaning of, 3
Famagusta, Greek fire at (1571), 51
Feringiha, meaning of, 121
Firdusi, mention of incendiaries by, 96
Fire-arrows, defects of, 30
—— early use of, by Greeks (429 B.C.), 29
—— early use of, in Greece (480 B.C.), 55
Fire-ships, early use of (413 B.C.), 31
Firework, an Arabic and English, 247
—— soft or slow, as time-fuze, 233
Flexible instruments, Byzantine, meaning of, 48
Flint and steel as percussion fuze (1596), 244
Forsyth, Rev. A., applies fulminates to priming (1807), 245
Fother, an ancient English weight, 203
Fouling of serpentine powder, 179
Franks, Portuguese guns called, by Chinese (1520), 139
Freeburn, Quartermaster, R.A., invents concussion fuze (1846), 245
Friction tube invented by Mr. Tozer (1851), 231
Fulminates, first use of, in priming (1807), 245
Furtenbach’s instrument for testing powder (1627), 193
Fuze, concussion, first English (1846), 245
—— hand (1651), 236
—— percussion, earliest proposal of (1596), 244
—— —— first English (1850), 245
—— time, Boxer’s wooden (1849), 243
—— —— calculated, the phrase (1779), 210
—— —— early Arabic, 231
—— —— early Danish, 237
—— —— early English (1543), 235
—— —— proposed adjustment of (1596), 239
—— —— length of early, constant, 237
—— —— nineteen in English service (1850), 242
—— —— short, difficulties with, 241
—— —— short, Shrapnel’s mode of cutting, 242
—— —— Shrapnel’s, rendered useless by damp (1807), 213
—— —— Ufano’s experiments with (cir. 1600-13), 236
Gama, Vasco da, in Calicut (1498), 117
Gauttier on al-Bunduqani, 92
Geber. See Jabir
Gentoo Laws, code of, 105
Gibbon on firearms in China, 140
—— on gunpowder, 111
—— on Jesuits in China, 126
Gibraltar, hot shot at siege of (1779-83), 217
—— shell-fire from guns at, 209
Glazing gunpowder, mentioned in 1684, 182
Golail, a two-stringed long-bow, 93
Gold, alchemical preparation of, resembled that of saltpetre, 153
“Golden Garlands,” an Arabic firework, 247
Grain, influence of size of, of gunpowder, 195
Gram, the sword of Sigurd, 105
Greek fire, a Crusader’s term, 49, 76
—— —— composition of, 31
Greenhill, Professor, on stability of projectiles, 215
Grenados, spherical shell, 238
Guisarme, meaning of, 117
Gun, or gonne, triple use of, 7
—— pressure on bore of, with different projectiles, 206
—— nature of earliest missiles for, 199
—— flint-lock for, invention of (1778), 230
Gun-carriages, field, introduced (1461-83), 114
Gun-metal, composition of, 203-4
—— price of, 204
Gunpowder, Arderne’s recipe for (cir. 1350), 177
—— Friar Bacon’s recipe for (cir. 1248), 157, 177
—— Chinese, badly made, 134
—— composition of, at various times, 197-98
—— compressed, 222
—— corned (grained), advantages of, 182
—— —— too strong for guns at first, 183
—— damage to, by damp, 180
—— definition of, adopted here, 3
—— effects of invention of, 111
—— fouling of serpentine (ungrained), 179
—— French adopt one kind for all arms, 194
—— ingredients of, carried separately at first, 181
—— invention of (cir. 1248), 162
—— Louis XIV.’s Ordonnances about, 193
—— price of English, at various times, 184
—— ramming-home serpentine, 181
—— silent, 197
—— smokeless, 196
—— sulphurless, 196
—— tests of, 192-94
Gunstone-maker’s wages in the sixteenth century, 205
Halhed on early Indian firearms, 105
Hälle on time-fuzes and percussion shell (1596), 239, 244
Harquebuss, see Arquebuse
Hassan er-Rammah (d. 1295), 17
Havre, experiments with naphtha at (1758), 49
Hawker, Colonel P., invents percussion cap (1818), 245
Heraclea, siege of (805), 91
History, Chinese, the Jesuits on, 126
Homer, no mention of incendiaries in, 29
Hookah (Persian) = grenade or fire-pot, 94, 117
Huo-p’áu (Chinese), meanings of, 6
Igor, Russian Admiral, defeated by Greeks (941), 34
Ikreekh (Arabic), for igniting shell, 231
Incendiary, earliest, consisted of sulphur and pitch, 30
—— meaning of word, here, 3
Index, chemical, to Marcus’ Liber Ignium, 68
Iron, price of, at various times, 204
Jabir, the true and the false, 14
Jesuits superintend gun-casting at Peking (1618), 140
Jodhaimah possesses first Arabic machines, 90
Joinville on Arabic incendiaries, 4, 98, 102
Ka’aba, burning of the (683), 90
Kallinikos, the inventor of sea-fire (670-80), 33
Kallisthenes in Babylon (331 B.C.), 80
Khalid, Prince, the first Arab writer on incendiaries (d. 708), 72
Khubelai Khan sends for western gunners (1270), 133
Lateran Council, decree of, against incendiaries (1139), 88
Lead, price of, at various times, 204
Leipsig, battle of (1813), English rockets at, 176
Leo VI. on sea-fire, 46
Leo’s metaphor, thunder and smoke, 38
Liber Ignium of Marcus Græcus, a composite work, 83
“Light of the Moon,” Arabic fixed light, 246
Louis XIV., Ordonnances of, about powder, 193
Lys, Passage of (1382), hand-grenades at, 169
Machine, meaning of, here, 3
Maghribiha, meaning of, 119
Mahmoud Shah Begurra of Gujarat (1482), 116
Mangonals in China, 133
Manjánik (Arabic) = machines, 90
Manu’s “Code of Laws,” 106
Marcus Græcus, a mere name, 86
Marsh’s percussion tube (1831), 231
Masawyah (Mesué), Arab physician, 84
Masudi on autumnal rains, 77
——- on qaus al-bunduq, 92
Match, time-fuze called so by Stow, 235
Mecca, siege of (A.D. 638), 90
Mercier, Captain, 39th Regiment, proposes shell-fire from guns (1779), 209
Mercury, fulminate of, first used in priming (1807), 245
Metaphors, difficulties created by, 4, 101
Meyer, Hauptmann, on Shrapnel shell, 214
Mieth on early percussion shell, 244
Mills, powder, 187
Mithkal (or Miskal), a Persian weight, 122
Modhaffer Shah of Gujarat (1511), 118
Money, English and French, in fourteenth century, 186
Mons Meg, materials for repairing, 139
Moorsom’s (Commander, R.N.) percussion fuze (1850), 245
Mortar éprouvette, 193
Moyria de Maillac, Father, on Chinese historians, 126
Naphtha, Plutarch on, 39
Nassau, Graf. Johann von, proposes a percussion shell (1610), 244
Navez’s (Captain) electro-ballistic pendulum, 195
Niébla, siege of (1257), 101
“Nitiprakásika” on arms and armies, 107
Norton, time-fuzes called “pypes” by (1628), 237
Nye proposes mortar éprouvette (1647), 193
Oppert, Professor, on early Hindu gunpowder, &c., 107
Orgue, meaning of, 207
Paris, use of incendiaries in (1870), 49
Pellet, for bullet, 183
Pendulum, ballistic, of Robins, 194
—— electro—ballistic, of Navez, 195
—— for timing fuzes, 240
Percussion powder, earliest, 245
Persia, late in adopting firearms, 116
Peshawur, battle near (1008), 94
Petroleum mentioned in Anglo-Saxon work (cir. A.D. 900), 82
“Piber til Granater,” early Danish time-fuzes, 237
Pien-king, siege of (1232), 130
Pikes, fire, at the siege of Bristol (1643), 169
Placentia, attack on (A.D. 69), 217
Platæa, siege of (429 B.C.), 29
Pont Audemer, taking of (1449), 173
Porcelain, dates of, forged by Chinese, 125
Portfires (cir. 1700), 229
Pressure on bore, comparative, with different projectiles, 206
—— gauge, Rodman’s, 195
Printing press, invention of, 113
Projectiles for cannon, nature of earliest, 199
Pype, early time-fuze called a, 237
Quicklime, Pliny on, 39
Rain, autumnal, in Liber Ignium, 77
Ramming home serpentine powder, on, 181
Rantambhor, attacks on (1290 and 1300), 119
Rāy, Professor, on the Sukraniti, 110
Ribaudequin, 207
“Richard Cœr-de-Lion,” metrical romance (1272-1307), 50
Robins’ ballistic pendulum, 194
Rockets at Leipsig (1813), 176
—— Chinese, 135
—— Marcus Græcus’ (rec. 13, 32, 33), 62, 67
—— Tipu Sultan’s, 174
Rodman’s pressure gauge, 195
Roman candles, Chinese, 132
—— Marcus Græcus’ (rec. 12), 61
Romerentin, Greek fire at (1356), 51
Rose (Arabic), for igniting shell, 231
Round, one, comparative cost of, with different balls (cir. 1375), 205
Sal coctus, 13
—— Indicus, 15
Salonika, siege of (904), 40
Saltpetre, approximate date of discovery of, 28
—— Indian, price of (1580), 187
—— modes of refining:— Hassan er-Rammah’s, 24 Marcus Græcus’, 23 Friar Bacon’s, 25 Waltham Abbey’s, 18 Whitehorne’s, 20
Sauverchala (Sanskrit), meaning of, 16
Sea-fire, composition of, 41
—— unknown to Westerns, 41, 84
Seringapatam, rockets at (1792, 1799), 174
Shahnama, mention of incendiaries in, 96
Shatagni (Sanskrit), meaning of, 105
Shell, common, first use of, 227
—— —— number of pieces into which it broke, 210
Shell-fire from guns (1779), 208
Shot (cannon), hot (1579), 217
Shrapnel’s fuzes indifferent, 213-14, 242
—— mode of cutting short fuzes, 242
Shrapnel shell, experiments with (1819), 242
—— principles of, 211, 213
Siang-yang-fu, siege of (1269-73), 133
Sieves for coming powder, 190
Silver, fulminate of, 245
Sincérité, Accent de, 126
Siphon (Greek), meaning of, 46
—— two kinds of, 43
Slur-bow, 168
Smith, Captain G., R.A., on shell fire, 241
Sora (Indian colloquial), meaning of, 16
Spanish words, &c., in Liber Ignium, 81
Spell, Indian, to ensure victory, 107
Steganogram, Friar Bacon’s, suggested solution of, 151
Stirling, siege of (1304), Greek fire at, 50
Stone, best, for round shot, 205
Stone-bow, a golail, 93
“Stone which is not a stone,” 151
Stow on shell (1543), 225
Strada, Father, on bombshells, 226
Struphnos, Admiral, sale of naval stores by (1200), 53
“Sukraniti,” recipe for powder in the, 109
Sulphurs, several (so-called), in early times, 80
Talwood, 179
Tampions for musket-arrows (1588), 200
Tayif, siege of (A.D. 630), 90
Tea in China and Europe, 113
Tell, William, legend of, 127
Temples, Indian, causes of decay of, 112
Testing powder. See Gunpowder
Theophanes on invention of sea-fire, 33
Toll, Hauptmann, on Shrapnel shell, 212
Tourbillion, a firework, 247
Tozer’s friction-tube (1853), 231
Train of powder to fire early guns, 228
Translations, specimens of, 9
Trombes, or tronckes, 51
Tubes, friction (1853), 231
—— percussion (1831), 231
—— quill, for navy (cir. 1778), 230
Tung-kian-kang-mu, Chinese Encyclopædia, 130-31
Uddevalla, battle of (1677), 229
Ufano’s experiments with fuzes (cir. 1600), 236
Valturio’s bronze shell (1463), 138, 221
Wachtendonck, siege of (1588), 227
Watches invented (1674), 239
Weissenburg, siege of (1469), 220
Wheatstone’s electro-magnetic chronoscope, 194
Whitehorne on silent powder, 197
—— on serpentine and corned powder, 183
Wildfire, history of the word, 51
Words, changes in the meaning of, 6
Wright, Mr. Thomas, on mariner’s compass, 112
Xerxes’ fire-archers, 55
Yavakshara (Sanskrit), meaning of, 16
Yo (Chinese), successive meanings of, 6
Yung Loh, Chinese Emperor (1403),133-34
Yusuf ibn Ismaël al-Juni on saltpetre (1311), 103
Zarb-zan = swivel gun, Babar’s, 121
Zembaq (Arabic), doubtful meaning of, 81
Zimmermann’s projectile (1573), 212-13
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