The modern designer of pyrotechnic pieces has great advantage over the earlier practitioners in that he has available an infinitely larger range of colour and other composition. It is often possible to get a much-enhanced result with less cases giving more or varied effects as opposed to a larger number of cases of similar effects, which, in an attempt to produce a lavish show of fire, end in confusion.
His fourth division begins with the “Caprice simple”; this is the modern horizontal wheel. This wheel is similar in arrangement to the vertical above-mentioned, except that its cases are arranged so that the first plays horizontally in the plane of the wheel, the next at an angle downwards, and the third upwards. This succession is repeated with the remaining three cases. In addition, the horizontal wheel has either a mine which is lit from the last case, or Roman candles and mine, at the centre playing upwards. The second form is arranged so that the Romans are fired simultaneously with the fourth case and the mine from the last.
The wheel given by Ruggieri has a gerb in the centre. He explains that Caprice is a generic name applied to all horizontal wheels which vary the direction of the fire when revolving. However, at the present time the name Caprice is only applied to a wheel with three tiers of three cases, each similar in appearance to three single triangle wheels superimposed at distances about equal to their diameter, the grooves in the end of the spokes being so arranged as to vary the direction of the fire. The cases are led up in the following order—one case horizontal, one up, one down, one horizontal, two cases one up and one down, four cases in each direction and one vertical. For a compact piece this is one of the most effective made.
A similar piece is the Furiloni Wheel, which has, however, two tiers of three cases each.
Jones describes a furiloni wheel which is more elaborate, having twenty-five cases. His method of leading would, however, not be so effective as the modern wheels of this type. The cases used for these wheels are charged with a steel mixing formerly known as brilliant fire.
He mentions two other devices—Caprices petans and Caprices des pâtés. The first of these was a modification of the piece formerly used in this country as the balloon wheel. It consisted of a solid wheel round which are a series of mines which discharged in succession as each turning case lit. The second was similar but more elaborate, having rockets as well as mines, and was a variation of the rocket wheel.
In his description of the Girandole, he explains that it is composed of two horizontal wheels one above the other. This is the form taken by the rocket wheel as fired in this country which, as we have seen, was known as the girandole wheel. Ruggieri, however, appears not to have used rockets on his girandole.
The last device he mentions in this class is the Spirali, which consisted of a framework in the form of a cone, round which was wound a spiral of cane fitted with lances.
A very effective piece, not mentioned by Ruggieri, is the revolving fountain; it consists of a wood centre bored to turn on a vertical spindle. The centre has two spokes fitted with gerbs for turning, and has playing vertically a large gerb and Roman candles. The turning gerbs play tangentially and slightly upwards.
Jones describes a similar device under the name of “illuminated spiral wheel”; also two other horizontal pieces—the spirali and the plural wheels, which approximate to the furiloni and caprice wheels of the present day.