DISCOVERY AND INTRODUCTION OF GUNPOWDER. 431 







This information, it may very justly be presumed, was not ori- 

 ginal with himself, but rather obtained from the others of his 

 brotherhood, the monks, who had learned of its existence among 

 the Chinese, as well as seen its operations during their missions in 

 those far-distant regions, from whence they had then lately re- 

 turned. 



Some writers go so far as to suppose that the pious but wily 

 monk was well acquainted with the composition of gunpowder, 

 as well as its terrible effects, but at the same time assert that he 

 was fearful of betraying the wonderful secret, knowing full well 

 that its introduction into the world would be attended with the 

 most calamitous consequences ; and, for humanity's sake alone, if 

 not from other ulterior motives, he determined to keep the secret 

 as long from the knowledge of man as possible. 



Be all this as it may, there is no doubt that Berthold 

 Schwarz, a German monk of the Order of St. Francis, was the 

 first person who made the composition of this wondrous sub- 

 stance generally known to the world, and that the discovery, 

 though ancient it might be, was nevertheless altogether original 

 with himself. 



The circumstances of the discovery are these : Berthold Schwarz, 

 a native of Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, during his 

 relaxation from monastic duties, occupied much of his time in the 

 fascinating and absorbing pursuit of chemistry. During some of 

 his manipulations, having pounded in a mortar an accidental mix- 

 ture of charcoal, sulphur, and nitre, he was amazed and wildly 

 astounded by its sudden and fearful explosion on the hap-hazard 

 application of a spark of fire. 



This terrible but at the same time novel exhibition of power in a 

 simple compound like this very naturally aroused in the mind of 

 the zealous student a spirit of investigation; and the result of 

 further experiment was the discovery of that still mysterious 

 composition known as gunpowder, a discovery which has not only 

 immortalized the otherwise obscure monk, but, since its general 

 introduction and application to the use of fire-arms, has actually 



