218 



PYROTECHNY, 



than 85 years after the birth of Christ ; an invention 

 which, if admitted, would prove the much earlier know- 

 ledge of less difficult kinds of pyrotechny. We admit 

 that there is, however, somewhat of the air of fable in 

 this story ; yet, to confirm the probability of the very 

 early knowledge of explosive compounds in the east, 

 we may quote the code of Hindoo laws, in which it is 

 mentioned ; while oriental antiquaries suppose that the 

 date of this code reaches backwards to the time of 

 Moses. But to return to the tale respecting China, 

 which is quoted from Robert Norton's work, printed in 

 1664-. 



" Uffano reporteth that the invention and use, as 

 well of ordnance as of gunpowder, was, in the eighty- 

 fifth year of our Lord, made known and practised in 

 the great and ingenious kingdom of China ; and that, 

 in the maritime provinces thereof, there yet remain a 

 certain species of ordnance, both of iron and brass, 

 with the memory of their years of founding engraved on 

 them, and the arms of King Vitey, who, he saith, was 

 the inventor ; and it well appeareth, also, in ancient 

 and credible histories, that the said king Vitey was a 

 great enchanter and necromancer ; who one time being 

 vexed with cruel wars by the Tartarians, conjured an 

 evil spirit that showed him the use of making of guns 

 and powder, the which he put in warlike practice 

 against the realm of Pegu, and in the conquest of the 

 East Indies, and thereby quieted the Tartars ; the same 

 being confirmed by certain Portingales, that have tra- 

 velled and navigated those quarters, and also affirmed 

 by a letter from Captain Artred to the king of Spain, 

 wherein, recounting very dilligently all the particulars 

 of China, said, ' that they long since used both ord- 

 nance and powder ;' and affirming further, that he 

 found ancient ill-shaped pieces, and that those of later 

 foundry are of far better fashion and metal than the 

 ancient were.' " This testimony must stand for what it 

 may seem worth ; but it is abundantly plain, that such 

 stories could not have been invented without an ade- 

 quate cause ; and there is no reason to doubt that 

 the whole of these sister arts, depending on the proper- 

 ties of nitre, were known in ancient times, and that they 

 originated from the east. 



It is not easy to trace accurately their progress into 

 Europe ; but the same difficulty attends the mariner's 

 compass, attributed to a Venetian, but evidently im- 

 ported through the then ordinary track of Indian com- 

 merce. It is not improbable, however, that the arts 

 that depend on gunpowder came to us by the interven- 

 tion of the Arabians, as we shall shortly show that the 

 first description of a rocket that we have is by an Ara- 

 bian writer, in 1249. But here we are driven back to 

 examine the long disputed and.difficult question of the 

 Greek fire, the first firework of which we read in Euro- 

 pean history. The whole question, as well respecting 

 the nature as the origin of this invention, is extreme- 

 ly obscure; but on the former, at least, our present 

 knowledge of chemistry enables us to form some 

 more rational conjectures than those who have preced- 

 ed us. 



On the Greek Fire. 



On the This compound is said to have been invented by a 



Greek fire. Greek called Callinicus, in the reign of Constantine Po- 



gonatus, A.D. 668; though some assert that it was 



known to Constantine the Great. Callinicus wa" an 



architect of Heliopolis ; from the proximity of which 



to the oriental nations, we are the more inclined to sus- 

 pect that the invention originated there, and was bor- 

 rowed by the Greek artist. To confirm this notion of 

 ours, we must remark, that naphtha was one of the in. 

 gredients ; a substance well known to be common in 

 many parts of the ancient Persian kingdom, and in 

 India ; arising, in the former, out of the ground in such 

 abundance, in the form of vapour and otherwise, as to 

 be commonly, used for cookery, and other domestic 

 purposes, and also to be an object of religious attention 

 to the worshippers of fire. It is more likely, by much, 

 that a burning compound, in which this was an ingre- 

 dient, should have been invented where the substance 

 abounded, than where it was unknown. We are not 

 inclined, with some authors, to give the honour of this 

 invention to the Arabian chemists ; as we consider that 

 the greater part, if not the whole at least, of their early 

 knowledge, came from India. Our opinion on this 

 head is confirmed by a passage in Quintus Curtius, 

 where a compound possessed of these qualities is men- 

 tioned. It is not surprising if, when this burning com- 

 position, whatever it was, was new and little known, it 

 should have given rise to so many tales; and, as we 

 truly believe, much exaggeration ; for we hope by-and- 

 by to show, that it could not possibly have produced 

 all the marvellous effects that have been attributed to 

 it. Had the Mexicans given the history of the Spanish 

 arms, and that no other history of guns and gunpowder 

 had come down to us, it is easy to understand what the 

 consequences must have been. This composition was 

 kept a secret by the order of Constantine ; notwith- 

 standing which, it at length became generally known 

 and used by the neighbouring nations, us \ve find re- 

 corded in all the histories of those days. In the wavs 

 of the crusades, it was afterwards well known and used ; 

 or at least some similar composition, which might pos- 

 sibly have been an invention of the Arabians, then par- 

 ticularly addicted to chemical pursuits, 



It appears to us, indeed, that no single invention, or 

 composition of this nature, will fulfil all the conditions 

 of this supposed Greek fire. It is easy enough to con- 

 ceive how those who felt the effects and the alarm, and 

 knew not the means, should have conf >uncled all these 

 annoying contrivances under one term ; or it is possible 

 enough, that they might have given this as a generic 

 term to all offensive fire- works; while their readers, 

 ignorant of the subject, have imagined that the compo- 

 sition was as simple as the name. We shall presently 

 see, by a description of a few of the effects recorded by 

 the writers and eye-witnesses, what probability there 

 is in this supposition. 



But, for the present, to return to the date of this in- 

 vention, there is reason to think that, like the com- 

 pounds acknowledged to contain nitre, it was of orien- 

 tal origin. It is reported by the author of the Esprit 

 des Croisades, to have been known in China in 917- 

 This, it is true, is 250 years after the time of Constan- 

 tine Pogonatus ; yet as the Chinese have never been 

 known to borrow arts from the Europeans, it is far more 

 likely to have been known to them long before. That, 

 indeed, is a supposition scarcely to be rejected ; if, as 

 we have formerly shown, the eastern nations, and the 

 Chinese among the rest, were acquainted with the truly 

 explosive compounds, or with gunpowder. The same 

 reporter says, that it was there known by the name of 

 The Oil of the Cruel Fire, and that it had been intro- 

 duced by the Kitan Tartars, who had learnt the com- 

 positions from the king of Ou. Thus much respecting 



l?yrotech- 

 ny. 



