IV. ANALYTICAL TABLE OF AMMUNITION 167 V. PRICE OF ENGLISH POWDER AT VARIOUS TIMES 184 VI. CONNECTION BETWEEN SIZE OF GRAIN, MUZZLE VELOCITY, AND PRESSURE 195 VII. COMPOSITION OF ENGLISH POWDER AT VARIOUS TIMES 197 VIII. COMPOSITION OF FOREIGN POWDER AT VARIOUS TIMES 198 IX. PRICE OF METALS IN 1375 AND 1865 204 X. COMPARATIVE COST OF ONE ROUND FIRED WITH SHOT OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS, _cir._ 1375 205 XI. COMPARATIVE PRESSURE ON BORE WHEN FIRING SHOT OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS, _cir._ 1375 206 XII. COMPOSITION OF MATCHES AT VARIOUS TIMES 229 XIII. COMPOSITION OF TIME FUZES AT VARIOUS TIMES 243 XIV. COMPOSITION OF SIGNAL ROCKETS AT VARIOUS TIMES 246 XV. FIXED LIGHTS 246 XVI. FIREWORKS 247 INDEX 249 BOOKS OFTEN QUOTED The following works are frequently quoted, and are only designated by the author’s name. Thus, “Elliot,” ii. 75, means Sir H. M. Elliot’s “Hist. of India, as told, &c. &c.,” vol. ii. p. 75. BACON, ROGER, _Opera quædam hactenus inedita_, ed. by Professor Brewer; Rolls Series, 1859. BERTHELOT, M. P. E., _La Chimie au Moyen Age_, Paris, 1893. BRACKENBURY, Lieut.-General Sir H., G.C.B., “Ancient Cannon in Europe,” in vols. iv. and v. of _Proceed. Roy. Artillery Institution_, Woolwich, 1865-6. ELLIOT, Sir H. M., “Hist. of India, as told by its own Historians,” ed. by Professor J. Dowson, M.R.A.S., London, 1867-77. JÄHNS, Oberst-Lieut. M., _Handbuch einer Geschichte des Kriegswesens_, Leipsig, 1880. NAPOLEON III., _Études sur le Passé et l’Avenir de l’Artillerie_, Paris, 1846-71. NYE, Master-Gunner N., “Art of Gunnery,” to which is added a “Treatise on Artificial Fireworks” (separately paginated), London, 1647. REINAUD (Professor) et FAVÉ (Capitaine), _Du Feu Grégeois_, &c., Paris, 1845. ROMOCKI, S. J. VON, _Geschichte der Explosivstoffe_, Hanover, 1895. WHITEHORNE, P., “Certain Waies for the ordering of Souldiers in Battelray,” London, 1560. PART I THE ORIGIN OF GUNPOWDER CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I Much discussion has been caused in the past by the vagueness of the word _gunpowder_. The following are the meanings which this and a few other words bear in these pages:— _Explosion._—The sudden and violent generation, with a loud noise and in a time inappreciable by the unaided senses, of a very great volume of gas, by the combustion of a body occupying a comparatively very small volume. _Progressive Combustion._—Combustion which takes place in a time appreciable by the unaided senses, such as that of rocket composition or a bit of paper.