34 Dr. Mae Culloch on the 
This was then the liquid fire that is said to have been used 
by hand at sea, or in close action, and which is also said to have 
been thrown by means of military engines, in sieges. It is evi- 
dent that this is not Anna Comnena’s fire, as that could not well 
be thrown from balistz, or attached to arrows; unless we ima- 
gine that it was always used with tow, as before mentioned. 
Hers appears rather to have been a solid composition. It dis- 
agrees still more with that of Leo and Joinville. 
It isnot very easy to conjecture what it really was. Sup- 
posing it to be naphtha, or petroleum, or any similar liquid, it 
is certain that it could not have been thrown from any machin- 
ery in a stream to any distance, as it must have been extin- 
guished in its passage through the air. As little could it have 
been used by hand to produce any serious effect, or not at least 
without the risk of equally injuring both parties. On the other 
hand, it could not have been thrown in an inflamed state in 
these “ phioles,” or in any other close vessels, as it could not 
have burnt without the contact of air. 
It is idle to say that the Arabs or Greeks of that day had 
chemical substances unknown to us; and as it is impossible to 
reconcile this description to any imaginable composition or 
effects, the point must fairly be given up as unintelligible. We 
cannot suppose the liquid in the « phioles” to have contained 
nitre, because that salt will not mix with any liquid of this 
nature in such a manner as to aid its combustion. 
Whatever this was, it has at any rate been shewn that it was 
but one of many military fires, and that it must not be taken as 
the standard of the “ feu Gregois.” 
It is worth while, however, to quote the opinions of the times 
respecting it, as 1t seems to have inspired:an unreasonable de- 
gree of terror. We cannot suppose that it ever was in very com- 
mon use, as many authors who have described the military 
operations of these times, and among the rest, William of Tyre, 
take no notice of it, though in his account of the sieges and 
actions which he relates, assaults and defences by ordinary fire 
are frequently mentioned. The romancers of these ages, the 
