220 



PYROTECHNY. 



l-yrotech- our conjectures as to the exact nature of this fire ; as 

 n y- we have no other account of its use at this place than 

 that of Geoffry de Vinesauf, who attended Richard to 

 the crusade, and who describes it as consuming even 

 flint and iron, and as being unextinguishable by water, 

 while it was also attended by a pernicious stench and 

 livid flame. 



It appears, on considering this evidence, that we 

 have to choose between a rocket and a carcase. There 

 are difficulties both ways. The fact of being projected 

 from a mortar, if such was the petrary, is in favour of 

 a carcase ; as no rocket will bear the explosion of a 

 piece of ordnance, and as indeed it is not necessary. As 

 little would a cross bow be applicable to a rocket ; 

 while small carcases, or inflamed balls of a firm texture, 

 might easily be thrown in this manner. The tail of 

 light is compatible with any species of carcase ; and if 

 the projectile was a perfect one, would have proceeded 

 from the fuse; but the noise like thunder which attend- 

 ed its passage is not reconcilable to this notion. Thus 

 it might be supposed that it must have been a rocket ; 

 an opinion perhaps supported by the early knowledge 

 of this projectile in India, whence the Saracens seem to 

 have derived all their arts, and this among the rest, 

 yet still at variance with the described mode of pro- 

 jection. We do not pretend to overcome this difficulty, 

 and must therefore leave it, and, as we imagine, in a 

 hopeless state. Whatever this formidable fire was, it 

 seems however to have caused more alarm than injury, 

 as rockets are well known to do. 



But we have yet one remark to make on Joinville's 

 narrative, and it leads to our opinion respecting the true 

 nature, at least of this particular kind of the Greek fire. 

 If it was a rocket, it assures us that the Arabs were ac- 

 quainted with the explosive compounds that depend on 

 the properties of nitre. If, on the contrary, it was 

 any species of carcase, or fire-ball, the same is true; 

 as no resinous, bituminous, or other inflammable sub- 

 stances, could thus be projected in a burning state with- 

 out being extinguished ; particularly if confined in any 

 case, which seems implied in the comparison which 

 is made of it to a barrel. Nitre is here absolutely 

 necessary, and that in considerable proportions; and 

 thus only can carcasses be rendered effectual, to wit, 

 by compounding their materials on the same general 

 principles that regulate the composition of gunpowder. 

 The property of resisting water farther justifies this 

 supposition. We need not prolong this part of the 

 discussion, as no farther light can be thrown on the 

 ' subject ; but, to continue the history of this branch 

 of Pyrotechny to as late a period as is necessary, shall 

 mention the last instances of its use in the western parts 

 of Europe. 



At the end of the eleventh century, the Eastern Ro- 

 mans used it against the Pisans ; at which period the 

 secret of its composition was unknown, not only to the 

 sufferers, but to western Europe. We are farther in- 

 formed by Pere Daniel, that Philip Augustus brought 

 some from Acre, and used it against the English vessels 

 at the siege of Dieppe. Lastly, when Ypres was be- 

 sieged by the Bishop of Norwich in 1383, the garri- 

 son defended itself with Greek fire. At this time gun- 

 powder and ordnance had become common ; and from 

 this period the very term Greek fire fell into disuse, al- 

 though in France not many years ago, and in our own 

 country in very late times, different empirics and in- 

 ventors have pretended to have discovered this secret ; 

 always, of course, attributing to it the same effects as 

 the careless and credulous Byzantine writers. 



Pyrotech- 

 On the Earliest Fireworks containing Nitre. ny . 



As we can add nothing on this subject from oriental ' 

 history or tradition, beyond the testimonies which we 

 have already quoted, we shall here take up the first 

 positive evidence that we can find respecting the know- t a i n ing ni- 

 ledge of explosive fireworks, in or near to Europe, tre. 

 In these nitre is an indispensible ingredient, whatever 

 may be deemed respecting some of the varieties, at 

 least of the Greek fire; and they may be considered as 

 belonging to the family of gunpowder. The first po- 

 sitive authority that we can find on this subject is the 

 Arabic author already mentioned in 1249, who is trans- 

 lated by Casiri in his Bibliotheca Arabo-Hispanica. The 

 passage is as follows: " Serpunt susurrantque scorpiones 

 circumligati ac pulvere nitrato ineensi ; unde explosi 

 fulgurant atque susurrant. Jam videre erat manganum 

 excussum v-eluti nubem per ae'ra extendi, ac tonitrus 

 instar horrendum edere fragorem, ignemque undequa- 

 que vomens omnia dirumpere, incendere, in cineres 

 redigere." Here again we are somewhat puzzled to 

 choose between rockets and shells or carcasses. The 

 " serpunt," the susurrant," and the " circumligati," 

 apply but to the description of the former. But the 

 use of the " manganum," from whence our early en- 

 gine, the mangonel, derived its name, bespeaks a mecha- 

 nical force which could not have been required for a 

 rocket, and is moreover not very easy of application. 

 We might almost conclude the same from the effects ; 

 " omnia dirumpere, incendere, in cineres redigere," 

 applies rather to a shell than a rocket; unless indeed 

 these were contrived like the Congreve rockets, so as 

 to carry a shell with them. At any rate, the use of 

 nitre, and the true nature of the composition, as far as 

 that goes, is unquestionable. 



The next authority is decisive respecting the rocket, 

 and it is found in a manuscript quoted by Dutens, from 

 which Roger Bacon is supposed to have derived his 

 knowledge of fireworks. The author's name is Marcus 

 Graecus, and by the title it appears to be a general es- 

 say on military pyrotechny. " Incipit liber ignium a 

 Marco Grasco perscriptus, cujus virtus et efficacia est 

 ad comburendum hostes, tarn in mari quam in terra." 

 The directions for making a rocket are as follow : 

 " Secundus modus, ignis volatilis hoc modo conficitur ; 

 $3. libras duas sulphuris vivi, libras duas carbonis 

 salicis, salis petrosi libras sex ; quae tria subtilissime 

 tereantur in lapide inarmorea ; postea pulvis ad libitum 

 in tunica reponatur volatili vel tonitrum facientia. 

 Nota, quod tunica ad volandum debet esse gracilis et 

 longa, et praadicto pulvere optime calcato repleta ; 

 tunica vel tonitrum faciens debet esse brevis, grossa, et 

 praedicto pulvere semiplena, et ab utraque parte filo 

 fortissimo bene ligata. Nota, quod in qualibet tunica 

 primum foramen faciendum est, ut tanta imposita 

 accendatur ; quae tenta in extremitatibus fit gracilis, in 

 medio vero lata, et praedicto pulvere repleta. Nota, 

 quae ad volandum tunica plicaturas ad libitum habere 

 potest, tonitrum vero faciens quamplurimas plicaturas. 

 Nota, quod duplex poteris facere tonitrum, ac duplex 

 volatile instrumentum, vel tunicam subtiliter in tunica 

 includendo." There is here no direction, it is true, 

 for boring a rocket, without which it cannot fly by its 

 own recoil, so that it is possible this firework was a 

 kind of squib, intended to be rendered " volatile" by 

 mechanical means, and not by its own unassisted en- 

 ergy. We think it not unlikely that this is the very 

 fire of Joinville ; and the distinction into two parts, 

 the " tunica volatilis," and the tonitrum faciens>" 



