After the period that saltpetre became necessary to governments for the manufacture of gunpowder, they endeavoured to obtain it at a cheap rate; and for that purpose were guilty in some countries of the most violent and oppressive measures, intruding upon private property of every description to furnish it, hunting for the effervescence even in old walls, to the great annoyance of individuals. But after repeated acts of the most flagrant oppression from the public officers, and from farmers, to whom this iniquitous practice was entrusted, they could not procure a sufficiency; but were obliged to have recourse to traffic in India for that purpose. GUNS. That these dangerous weapons were not known in Europe previous to the introduction of gunpowder may be safely inferred; as without that substance their necessity or utility is wanting. At first the construction of this machine was characterised by that awkward, rude, and cumbersome appearance which generally distinguished all inventions in their infancy; reminding us of those very rude instruments brought from the Sandwich Islands, and deposited in our Museum. The first portable fire-arms were discharged by a match; in course of time this was fastened to a cock, for the greater security of the hand whilst discharging the piece. Afterwards a fire-stone was attached, screwed into a cock, with a steel plate before it, and fixed in a small wheel, which could be wound up by a key, affixed to the barrel. This fire-stone was not at first of a vitreous nature, like that now in use for striking fire, but a compact pyrites, long known as such, and called a fire-stone. As an instrument so furnished was often liable to miss fire, till a late period a match was still continued with the wheel; and it was not till a considerable time after that, instead of a friable pyrites, so much exposed to effloresce, a vitreous stone was affixed to the improvement of the lock, somewhat resembling our own gun-lock. But these progressive improvements advanced slowly, because as recently as the early part of the last century these clumsy contrivances were in use. During that period, those instruments were denominated by various names, chiefly German and Dutch, such as _buchse_, _hakenbuchse_, _arquebuss_, musket, martinet, pistol, &c. The first of these names arose from the oldest portable kind of fire-arms having a similarity to a box. There were long and short _buchse_, the latter of which were peculiar to cavalry; the longest kind also, from their resemblance to a pipe, were called in Germany, _rohr_.