Dr. Cutbush on the Greek Fire. 307 



of it, such as its fire descending, Sec. are incompatible with 

 the nature of things, and consequently exaggerated. 



We have some remarks of professor Beckman in relation 

 to salt petre, which have also a bearing on the subject of the 

 Greek fire. Speaking of salt-petre. Vol. II, p. 462 he says : 

 Though it can be certainly proved, that the nitrum of the an- 

 cients was alkaline salt, it is difficult to determine the time 

 when our salt-petre was discovered or made known. As many 

 have conjectured, that it was a component part of the Greek 

 fire, invented about 678, which, in all probability, gave rise 

 to the invention of gun powder. I examined the prescrip- 

 tions for the preparation of it. The oldest, and perhaps the 

 most certain, is that given by the princess Anna Commena; 

 in which I find, only resin, sulphur and oil, but not salt-petre. 

 K'lingerstein (Dissertat. de igne Grceca,) therefore, judges 

 very properly, that all recipes in which salt-petre occurs are 

 either forged or of modern invention. Of this kind are those 

 which Scaliger, at least according to his own account, found 

 in Arabic works, in which mention is made of oleum de 

 nitro and sal petrce. But it does not occur in that prescrip- 

 tion of Marcus Grsecus, and copied by Albertus Magnus, 

 who died in 12S0." Beckman infers, that the first certain 

 mention of salt petre is in the oldest account of the prepa- 

 ration of gun powder, which became known in the 13th 

 century, about the same time that the Greek fire, of which 

 there were many kinds, began to be lost. The work of 

 Albertus Magnus, and the writings of Roger Bacon, who 

 died in 1278, contain the oldest information on gunpowder. 

 But it is somewhat remarkable, that the manuscript preserv- 

 ed in the electoral library at Munich, announced for publi- 

 cation by Mr. Von Arretin, contained, it is said, the true re- 

 cipe for making the Greek fire and the oldest for gun pow- 

 der. The same writing, it also appears, was printed from 

 two manuscripts in the library at Paris ; for Professor 

 Beckman observes, that a copy was transmitted to the 

 library at Gottingen by M. Laporte Dutheil, conserva- 

 ieur des manuscrits de la bibliotheque.* He also adds, that 

 it contains many recipes, with a few variations, as in Alber- 



* Liber igaium ad comburendas hostes, auctore Marco Graeco ; on traite 

 des feux propres a detruire les ennemis, compost par Marcus le Grec. Public 

 d'apres deux manuscrits de la bibliothocjue nationale, Paris 1804, three 

 sheets in quarto. 



