_N.B._—All these writers give the proportions of gunpowder in their own times. TABLE VIII. _Foreign Gunpowder._ +---------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+------------+ | |France[498]|Sweden[499 |Germany[500]|Denmark[501]|France[502]|Sweden[503]|Germany[504]| | | 1338 | 1560 | 1595 | 1608 | 1650 | 1697 | 1882 | +---------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+------------+ |Saltpetre| 50 | 66.6´ | 52.2 | 68.3 | 75.6 | 73 | 78 | |Charcoal | ? | 16.6´ | 26.1 | 23.2 | 13.6 | 17 | 19 | |Sulphur | 25 | 16.6´ | 21.7 | 8.5 | 10.8 | 10 | 3 | +---------+-----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+------------+ CHAPTER XIII SHOCK PROJECTILES The nature of the first Artillery projectiles was determined by the nature of the small-arm missiles in use when cannon were introduced by the Germans. To use the bulky and ponderous projectiles of the machines in these small and feeble pieces was out of the question; nothing remained, therefore, but to adopt the darts, bolts, or quarrels which produced such deadly effect when shot from cross-bows:— "Of Arblasters grete plenté were, Noon armure myght her stroke withstonde."[505] _Darts._ The iron darts feathered with brass—"garros ferrés et empanés en deux cassez"—which are mentioned in the earliest document relating to Artillery that has been found in France,[506] dated 1338, belonged unmistakably to the same family as those used for cross-bows. The brazen feathers were nailed to the shaft, and the missile, which weighed about 7 oz.,[507] was wrapped in a leather covering, so as to fit the bore tightly. Experience quickly proved these darts to be quite unsuited for firearms; yet they dragged on a lingering and precarious existence for quite 250 years. In the anonymous _Livre de Canonnerie et Artifice de feu_, Paris, 1561, the title of the seventy-fourth chapter is: “Pour tirer lances ferrées d’une bombarde, canon ou autre baston à feu de cannonerie.”[508] To a return of the powder on board his squadron, dated March 30, 1588, addressed to Government, Sir Francis Drake added a P.S.: “Forgett not the 500 musketts, and at least 1000 arrows”;[509] and on the 8th April following the Privy Council ordered him to be supplied with “muskittes, 200; arrowes for the said muskittes with tamkines for eche, 1000.”[510] _Round Shot._ On the failure of the darts, informal trials were begun everywhere with balls of stone, iron, bronze, and lead, to discover which material was best suited for ordnance.