186 



DISCOVERY 



poem entitled " Ragho-Buns." A lesser poet, too, who 

 flourished some 200 years later, in a description of 

 the war between rival Hindu chiefs led by Risho and 

 Arjan, speaks of a " flying carriage " which did much 

 to hamper the movements of an army. In the Maha- 

 bharatta mention is made of a king presenting a brother 

 monarch with a flying machine as a token of friendship. 

 Also in Puranas one reads of a " huge flying carriage 

 possessed of the power of travelling by itself." 



In perusing the Sanskrit classics one comes across 

 numerous aeronautical terms. Some of the more 

 interesting of those may, perhaps, be quoted : 



Vaman-yanu, meaning : To propel a flying 



carriage. 

 Vaman-Chirya, meaning : To fly in a flying 



carriage. 

 Vaman-Perhhoot, meaning : A procession of flying 



carriages. 

 Vaman-Arj, meaning : One who works a flying 



carriage (an aeronaut). 



Such phrases are very frequently met with in the 

 Hindu epic writings. It is generally admitted that, 

 when a language is in process of formation, new words 

 and terms are coined as the necessity arises. Is it 

 venturing too far, therefore, to assert that, if flying 

 machines had not existed in Ancient India, such 

 phrases could surely never have come into common 

 use ? Why, then, do we find them so deeply embedded 

 in old Sanskrit ? 



That Rawun and other epic heroes were not without 

 means to strike a shrewd blow at an invader from the 

 air is manifest from further allusion in the Ramayana, 

 which described the " explosive torches " that they 

 hurled from their machines upon the heads of their 

 enemies. 



The manner of making these primitive bombs is 

 treated of in several ancient manuscripts which exist 

 in India. There are, it is well known, recipes for 

 making fireworks both for purposes of destruction 

 and purposes of pleasure. Rural poets have rendered 

 these recipes into colloquial verse, and in the Indian 

 villages which lie beyond the railway zone there are 

 few rustic youths who cannot recite these ancient 

 formulas. The pandits — priests — state that these 

 recipes are almost contemporary with the great epic 

 poems. 



The method of manufacturing these " aerial tor- 

 pedoes " was as follows : a pasteboard cylinder about 

 two feet long was filled with charcoal, saltpetre, and 

 nitre, mixed with nails and sharp pieces of glass. 

 The fuse was of coconut fibre, which was ignited 

 before the " bomb " was cast. 



According to common usage, the verses which refer 

 to these fireworks are to be recited as sacred passages. 



Some priests even go so far as to prohibit the vulgar 

 from learning them. Certain rites and ceremonies 

 are supposed to be celebrated prior to the manufacture 

 of these explosives, and occasionally the village pandit 

 opens the proceedings in person. All these facts 

 afford strong presumptive evidence as to the antiquity 

 of the art of fireworks in India ; and those who are 

 familiar with the religious traditions of the Hindus 

 cannot deny that the practice owes its sanctity to its 

 alleged association with the wars between the Brahmans 

 and the unfaithful King of Ceylon. 



In ancient Sanskrit records we have, then, not 

 only a most interesting record of conception of 

 aircraft in India in 500 B.C., but we are also afforded 

 a glimpse of their activity. It would seem that the 

 modern phase of aeronautic development is only a 

 replica of more ancient effort, and here as elsewhere 

 history has repeated itself. 



The Modern Uses of 

 Rubber 



A STOCK phrase is that " there is nothing like leather," 

 but at the present day this should be changed into 

 " there is nothing like india-rubber," as never at any 

 time have its uses been so varied and its commercial 

 demand so great. One sure sign of an article's utility 

 is the number of substitutes placed upon the market, 

 and of substitutes for rubber there have been scores, 

 not one of which possessed all the qualities of the 

 genuine article; and although very many nearly 

 approached it, yet they were short of one or more 

 essential features. Rubber is a curious substance, 

 much more so when manufactured than in the raw state, 

 the quality which so far renders it unique being its 

 high degree of elasticity, which it shows to the best 

 advantage in the rubber threads used for those textiles 

 known as elastic. Motor tyres, waterproof fabrics, 

 hose piping, and tobacco pouches are all dependent 

 on that elastic quality of the rubber, which causes it 

 to spring back to its original state ; whilst a host of 

 other articles, no less useful, are made from the hard 

 form of it commonly termed vulcanite. Owing to the 

 many uses to which rubber is now put, there is a con- 

 siderable denjand for old rubber materials, such as 

 worn-out motor tyres, door-mats, tubing, etc., all of 

 which arc utilised again for something after the style 

 of working up shoddy into fresh material. 



Existing as a natural gum in the stem or trunk of a 

 large number of tropical plants, rubber in the natural 

 state forms a thick milky fluid which oozes out from cuts 



