14 Dr. Mac 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 balistse, 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 is not 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 it 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 



