FIREBACK 



3157 



FIRE BRIGADE 



These were both bottle- shaped and 

 tubular in form, and at first were 

 employed to fire darts with either 

 metal vanes or a leather pad in 

 place of feathers, but spherical shot 

 were early introduced, being usu- 

 ally made of stone, as the guns 

 would not withstand the charge 

 necessary to propel the heavier 

 metal missiles. 



Early Developments 



The early guns were generally 

 built up of wrought-iron strips 

 welded together, but some con- 

 sisted of wooden staves bound with 

 iron, and all were valued far more 

 for the moral effect occasioned by 

 the noise of their discharge than 

 for the material damage caused. 

 " Hand guns," which appear to 

 have come in use about 1400, were 

 merely smaller sizes of cannon 

 mounted on a rough wooden stock, 

 and all weapons were discharged by 

 applying a piece of smouldering 

 match to the touch hole. 



The next improvement was the 

 invention of the matchlock about 

 1460, and it was not until the in- 

 vention of the flint lock early in 

 the 17th century that they were 

 generally superseded. Flint locks 

 remained supreme until early in 

 the 19th century, when percus- 

 sion caps were introduced. During 

 this time the only improvement in 

 cannon was better construction, 

 and they were cast in bronze in the 

 loth century and in iron by the 

 18th, enabling more powerful 

 charges and heavier missiles to be 

 fired, while larger weapons could be 

 constructed. The advent of the 

 wheel lock (q.v.) in 1515 had also 

 made it possible to produce a prac- 

 ticable pistol, so that three distinct 

 varieties of firearm, cannon, mus- 

 ket, and pistol, were in existence. 



In order to increase the accuracy 

 of weapons, rifled barrels were in- 

 troduced about 1520, probably by 

 August Kotter of Nuremberg, but 

 the slowness of loading from the 

 muzzle end with this type of wea- 

 pon restricted its use to sporting 

 weapons until the end of the 

 18th century, when a few regiments 

 of marksmen were formed, but it 

 was not until breechloaders were 

 definitely established that the rifle 

 superseded the musket. 



Breechloading guns have been 

 known for many years. Henry 

 VIII had a sporting weapon of 

 this type, but the Prussian needle 

 gun of 1841 was the first weapon 

 in which the principle was applied 

 with any real success. With a 

 view to increasing the rapidity of 

 fire, double-barrel guns were intro- 

 duced about the middle of the 

 17th century, and magazine rifles 

 about 200 years later, one of the 

 earliest being the Winchester of 



1867. Revolvers date from 1835, 

 when Colt developed a successful 

 type. 



Since 1880 progress has been 

 most rapid, improved construction 

 and the advent of smokeless powder 

 enabling weapons of great power 

 and extreme accuracy to be con- 

 structed; improved breech blocks 

 and the absorption of the recoil by 

 hydraulic buffers have revolution- 

 ised artillery practice ; the employ- 

 ment of the force of the recoil to 

 reload, cock, and fire the weapon 

 enables machine guns to fire at the 

 rate of 600 shots per minute. 



Developments in firearms during 

 the Great War were chiefly in the 

 employment of larger guns and 

 howitzers as mobile equipment ; in 

 the use of guns of immense power as 

 instanced by anti-aircraft artillery 

 and the German gun having a range 

 of 80 miles, which threw 9'1-in. 

 shell, weighing about 3 cwt. each, 

 into Paris ; the introduction of new 

 types of ammunition ; and the use 

 of trench mortars, which were es- 

 sentially extremely light cannon, 

 generally smooth-bored and often 

 muzzle-loading, which were capable 

 of firing heavy projectiles to short 

 and medium ranges. 



Firearms Act, 1920 



In Great Britain everyone who 

 wishes to use or carry a firearm, 

 except when the latter is solely em- 

 ployed for the destruction of ver- 

 min or is used in the course of mili- 

 tary duty, is required to take out a 

 licence, which costs 10s. In addi- 

 tion the Firearms Act of 1920 re- 

 quires that everyone in possession 

 of a pistol, revolver, or rifle after 

 Nov. 1, 1920, shall obtain from the 

 chief officer of police in the district 

 in which he usually resides, a per- 

 mit authorising him to keep such 

 weapon or weapons and the am- 

 munition for them. Particulars 

 (such as maker and number) suffi- 

 cient to identify the weapons have 

 to be recorded. Permits are not 

 required for military equipment if 

 the owner is a member of the forces, 

 or smooth-bore weapons such as 

 sporting shot guns, nor for antiques, 

 curiosities, trophies of war, etc., but 

 in the latter cases no ammunition 

 suitable for the weapons must be 

 kept. See Ammunition ; Arquebus ; 

 Breech Block; Bullet; Cartridge; 

 Explosives ; Ordnance ; Pistol ; 

 Revolver ; Rifle ; Trench Mortar. 



Fireback. Back wall of a fire- 

 place, introduced about the middle 

 of the 16th century as a protection 

 for the walls. Firebacks were of 

 cast iron, often elaborately decor- 

 ated with designs of flowers, figures, 

 etc., in high or low relief. The most 

 interesting series were those with 

 coats of arms and other heraldic 

 devices, with inscriptions. 



Fireball. Obsolete military 

 term employed to designate cer- 

 tain early types of projectiles, 

 thrown from mortars for incen- 

 diary and illuminating effects. 

 They consisted of a hoop iron 

 frame covered with canvas and 

 filled with composition. The term 

 is occasionally applied to the early 

 fireworks used in warfare by the 

 ancients. It is also used to describe 

 an electrical phenomenon occur- 

 ring during thunderstorms. , See 

 Lightning. 



Firebox. Steel, copper, or 

 wrought-iron box adjoining a 

 boiler, in which fuel is burnt for 

 generating steam in the boiler. A 

 firebox is fitted internally with an 

 arch of firebricks so arranged as to 

 check an undue escape of heat 

 through the boiler tubes and to 

 prevent the passage of solid 

 material through them. In a loco- 

 motive boiler a water space is pro- 

 vided over the top of the firebox, 

 and for the full depth on each side 

 and in front so as to present as 

 great a heating surface as possible. 



Firebrick. Bricks intended for 

 use in the building of structures 

 which are to be exposed to high 

 temperatures, particularly furnaces 

 for the melting of metals. They 

 are made of various materials all of 

 a highly refractory character, ac- 

 cording to the particular purpose 

 for which they are intended. 

 Common firebricks are made from 

 special clays ; while other materials 

 used comprise ganister, a sand- 

 stone with just sufficient clay to 

 permit the ground material to be 

 moulded ; Dinas rock, flints, and 

 other siliceous sands and stone ; 

 lime ; magnesia ; graphite ; chro- 

 mite, an iron ore containing 

 chrome ; " bull-dog," a mixture of 

 iron oxide and silica used for lining 

 puddling furnaces ; and some 

 other special compounds. See 

 Brickmaking ; Furnace. 



Fire Brigade. Organization 

 for combating outbreaks of fire. 

 There apparently existed fire 

 brigades in Egypt 4,000 years ago ; 

 while a very elaborate organization 

 was already in operation in Rome 

 by 40 B.C. Early in the Christian 

 era hose pipes appear to have been 

 in use. In England we owe the 

 development of the fire brigade to 

 the early fire insurance companies, 

 though an Act of Parliament of 

 1774 obliged the churchwardens of 

 all the London parishes to maintain 

 a proper engine for putting out fires 

 in their own boundaries. In their 

 own interests the insurance com- 

 panies organized very complete ; 

 brigades and equipped them with 

 the best appliances available. The 

 members at first were composed of 

 their own clerks and other officials. 



