+--------------+-------------+-----------+----------+-------------+-------------+ | |Chinese.[650]|Greek.[651]|Arab.[652]|English.[653]|English.[654]| | | 13th | 13th | 13th | 17th | 20th | | | Century. | Century. | Century. | Century. | Century. | +--------------+-------------+-----------+----------+-------------+-------------+ | Saltpetre | 61.0 | 69.2 | 69.5 | 60.0 | 61.6 | | Charcoal | 18.3 | 23 | 15.7 | 25.5’ | 23 | | Sulphur | 18.3 | 7.8 | 14.8 | 14.4’ | 15.4 | | Mi-to-sing? | 2.4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | +--------------+-------------+-----------+----------+-------------+-------------+ TABLE XV. _Fixed Lights._ +--------------+----------------+------------------------+ | | Arab.[655] | English.[656] | | | “Light of the | “Light, Illuminating | | | Moon,” | Wrecks, Mark IV.,” | | | 13th Century. | 20th Century. | +--------------+----------------+------------------------+ | Saltpetre | 71.4 | 72 | | Charcoal | 15.2 | 21 | | Orpiment | 13.4 | 6.7 | +--------------+----------------+------------------------+ TABLE XVI _Fireworks._ +--------------------+----------------+--------------+ | | Arab.[657] | English.[658]| | |Golden Garlands,|Tourbillions, | | | 13th Century. |20th Century. | +--------------------+----------------+--------------+ | Saltpetre | 62.5 | 58 | | Charcoal | 25 | 12 | | Sulphur | 6.25 | 13 | | Steel filings | 3.125 | 4.8 | | Cast iron borings | -- | 12.2 | | Bronze filings | 3.125 | -- | +--------------------+----------------+--------------+ FOOTNOTES: [1] Escorial MS., No. 1249, given in Casiri’s _Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana Escur._, ii. 7. [2] _Hist. du Roy Saint Loys_, Paris, 1668, p. 39. He calls the projectile “ung tonneau,” which it probably was. See the section on “Incendiary Fireballs.” [3] Estimated for gunpowder at 3373° C. [4] “... to be the mark Of smoky muskets.” —_All’s Well that Ends Well_, iii. 2. [5] Chaucer’s “Legend of Good Women,” 637. Professor Skeat points out that the word “gonne” applies to the projectile in this line. [6] Only the whirring of the shot. [7] Only the faint light of the time fuze. [8] Sacy’s _Chrestomathie Arabe_, Paris, 1827, iii. 68. [9] Cod. MS. phil. 63, in the library of the University of Göttingen, quoted by Romocki, i. 134.