Ordinary Meeting, January 12th, 1869. 
E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
Mr. William Huggins, F.R.S., &c., was elected an Hono- 
rary Member of the Society. 
M. Barre' de Saint Venant, Member of the Imperial 
Institute of France, was elected a Corresponding Member 
of the Society. 
“Remarks on War Rockets/’ by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S. 
At the last meeting of the Society a communication from 
Mr. J. Nasmyth was read “ On War Rockets.” I was not 
present at the meeting, but have read the paper as printed 
in our Proceedings. I propose to make a few remarks on the 
subject of his paper, and to suggest some other method for 
obtaining similar results. 
Rockets have been employed in warfare from a very early 
period. They were used by the Chinese in their wars with 
the Tartars in the 13th century ; by the Venetians in 1380; 
and by the French in 1449. They were also employed 
against our troops by Tippoo Saib at the siege of Seringa- 
patam. The merit of the introduction of this missile 
amongst our engines of war is due to Sir William 
Congreve, who in 1804 very materially improved the 
rocket for purposes of war, by making them of large size 
and giving them a greatly extended range, averaging 
3,000 yards. Since that time Congreve’s name has 
generally been connected with the war rocket. He had 
a very high opinion of the importance of these projectiles, 
and thought that rockets from half a ton to a ton in weight 
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.-— Vol. YIII. No. 8 — Session 1868 - 9 . 
