308 Dr. Cutbush on the Greek Fire. 
at the battle near Mecca. In 1798 -M. Langles read a pa- 
per in the French National Institute, in which he endeavour- 
ed to prove that the Arabians obtained a knowledge of gun 
powder from the Indians, who had been acquainted with it 
in the earliest periods. The use of it was forbidden in their 
sacred books. 
that it may have lead to enquiries, which finally eventuated 
in i 
was composed of the charcoal of willow, salt, burnt brandy, 
sulphur, pitch, frankincense, flax and camphor, and that 
a alone has the effect of burning in water. He re- 
ks also, that when Constantinople was attacked, the em- 
peror Leo burnt the vessels or boats, to the number of one 
thousand eight hundred, by means of the Greek fire. The 
Journal des Savans, 1676, p. 148, speaks of the origin and 
use of the same fire. In 1249, at the siege of Damietta, 
the French experienced the destructive effects of it. The 
Journal des Savans for 1666, mentions a machine which, 
when applied against avessel, communicates fire to it imme- 
‘diately. withoutinjuring the person who uses it. In the French 
Gazettes for 1797, M. Chevalier announced that he had 
