It must be remembered that the constituents of gunpowder must be present in approximately exact proportion, whereas with primitive pyrotechnic compositions, if the ingredients saltpetre and charcoal are present, it is almost impossible to fail in getting some result.
The above suggestion must not be taken literally as a statement of fact, but rather as an attempt on the part of the writer to trace the stages by which pyrotechnic and explosive compositions came to be evolved.
If one disabuses one’s mind of the curiously widespread belief that all fireworks are composed chiefly of gunpowder, and that without the invention of gunpowder fireworks could not have been constructed, it seems far more likely that pyrotechny is based on the discovery of the assistance given to combustion by saltpetre, than on the discovery of gunpowder.
CHAPTER II
PYROTECHNY IN THE EAST
Pyrotechny undoubtedly had its genesis in the East, and for that reason we will deal with its development there first. As he has intended to convey, the writer is strongly of opinion that the discovery of pyrotechnic compositions antedated that of gunpowder. In many cases earlier writers have discovered passages which they consider prove the use of firearms and gunpowder; in reality these refer to Greek-fire and similar compositions, which were used as projectiles, being thrown from machines or catapults, and not as propellants. Gunpowder as a mixture of ingredients may have been known from remote times, as undoubtedly were other simple pyrotechnic compositions, but all evidence goes to show that its use as a propellant was not known until well into the Christian Era.
The composition Greek-fire, known in ancient times as “naphtha,” was a mixture of pitch, resin, and sulphur, with the addition in some cases of crude saltpetre. It may be considered that in the absence of the latter ingredient the mixture does not constitute a pyrotechnic composition, but from the description of the use of “naphtha” in early writings, it appears at least likely that it was generally present.
The fire was either enclosed in hollow stones or iron vessels, and thrown from a catapult, or sometimes filled into the end of arrows and assisted to propel them forward or sustain their flight.
Philostratus (170–250 A.D.), writing of the Indian Campaign of Alexander the Great (B.C. 326), relates that the inhabitants of a town on the river Hyphasis (Beas) “defended themselves by means of lightning and thunder, which darted upon their besiegers.” This has been considered as evidence of the use of firearms, but is more probably the first reference to Greek-fire. Greek-fire or “naphtha” was used at the defence of Constantinople between 660 and 667.
