Greek Fire of the Middle Ages. 15 



abstracts and brief chronicles of the times, are equally silent 

 respecting it. The pagans have all the credit of it, at least in 

 the following verses : 



Ignis hie conficitur tantum per Paganos 

 Ignis hie exterminat tantum Christianos 

 Incantatns nainque est per illos prophanos 

 Ab hoc perpetub, Christe, libera nos. 



The good monk seems to have held it in great horror. 

 The descriptions which represent it as unctuous and viscid, 

 and as adhering to the objects which it reached, may be per- 

 haps reconciled to the former, since a viscid substance, as well 

 as a liquid one, might have been kept in " phioles." But as 

 these viscid and unctuous substances only present the same 

 kind of difficulties as the former, I need not dwell on them. 

 They might easily have been all formed of the same resinous 

 ingredients in various proportions. 



There is a much greater difficulty coming. The opinion of 

 the Greek fire being inextinguishable by water, could not justly 

 have been entertained of any compositions of this nature, not 

 even of Anna Comnena's sulphureous compound. No burning 

 substance could have resisted an application of this nature, 

 provided it were employed in sufficient quantity, unless under 

 the protection of a carcass or tube of some kind, in which case 

 it must also have contained nitre. It is plain that there is 

 either a good deal of imagination or of ignorance in these re- 

 ports ; such, indeed, as to throw serious doubts upon much 

 more of the history of this substance. The Florentine monk, 

 who describes the siege of Acre, says, 



Pereat 6 utinam ignis hujus vena 

 Nou enim extinguitur aqua sed arena 

 Vixque vinum acidum arctat ejus fraena 

 Et urina stringitur ejus vix habena. 



That sand should have extinguished some of these fires, we can 

 understand ; but that it should have been put out by vinegar 

 and urine, and not by water, is impossible, as these were not 

 likely to have been procured in sufficient quantity, surely not 

 in such abundance as water ; and on no ether principle could 

 the one have acted better than the other. 



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