“You must have stands made as usual, only the rails must be placed flat, instead of edgeways, and have holes in them for the rocket sticks to go through; for if they were hung upon hooks, the motion of the water would throw them off: the stands being made, if the pond is deep enough, sink them at the sides so deep that when the rockets are in their heads may just appear above the surface of the water; to the mouth of each rocket fix a leader which put through the hole with the stick; then a little above the water must be a board, supported by the stand, and placed along one side of the rockets; then the ends of the leaders are turned up through holes made in this board, exactly opposite the rockets. By this means you may fire them singly, or all at once. Rockets may be fired by this method, in the middle of a pond, by a Neptune, a swan, a water-wheel, or anything else you chuse.” It will be seen that the rockets themselves are above the surface, which seems more reasonable than the instructions of some writers, who, to get the effect of a rocket rising from actually beneath the surface, give themselves an infinite amount of trouble to render the case and connections waterproof. The effect seen from a short distance is identical. CHAPTER II SIMPLE FIREWORKS—SHELL CLASS We now come to a distinct class of fireworks, those whose functioning depends on the propulsion of gunpowder. The first and parent of this class is the shell or bomb. The original name of the shell was “air balloon,” which is now obsolete. Some writers have been misled by its appearance in old amusement announcements into thinking a balloon ascent was referred to, or that a balloon carrying fireworks was to be exhibited, at dates considerably before the invention of gas or hot-air balloons. In this connection it is interesting to note that Ruggieri claims that his father was the first to release a balloon carrying fireworks in 1786. As we have seen, the military use of shell dates from at least as early as the middle of the sixteenth century. Both Babington and Bate, writing in 1635, give instructions for making shell, and although the book of the former is more advanced in this particular matter, he is, generally speaking, considerably more primitive. Babington describes a hollow sphere of canvas, a part of which is filled with a slow-burning composition, the remainder being filled with stars and grain powder, the canvas is pierced to expose the slow composition. The shell is fired from a mortar having a touch-hole. The following are Babington’s instructions in the matter: