[37] Ibid.
[38] Lieut.-Col. H. W. L. Hime: The Origin of Artillery.
[39] In the Histoire d’Artillerie of MM. Reinaud and Favé long excerpts from Bacon are examined, from which it appears that he suggested the use of gunpowder in military operations. Gibbon says: “That extraordinary man, Friar Bacon, reveals two of the ingredients, saltpetre and sulphur, and conceals the third in a sentence of mysterious gibberish, as if he dreaded the consequences of his own discovery.”
[40] Lieut. H. Brackenbury, R.A.: Ancient Cannon in Europe. Vol. IV and V of Proc. R.A.I.
[41] Schmidt: Armes à feu portatives.
[42] Sir Harry Nicolas, in his History of the Royal Navy, attributes the documents to the reign of Edward III: an error of more than seventy years. The mistake is exposed by a writer in Vol. XXVI of The English Historical Review, in an article on “Firearms in England in the Fourteenth Century.” The writer also gives the English records relating to the use of firearms at Cressy.
[43] Brackenbury.
[44] The secrecy of the early writers of Italy on gunnery and kindred subjects has been remarked on by Maurice Cockle in his Bibliography of Military Books. He attributes it to two motives: fear that the Infidel (the Turk) might profit by the knowledge otherwise gained, and a desire to keep the secrets of the craft in the hands of their countrymen, whose knowledge and assistance the foreigner would then be forced to purchase.
[45] The Great Cannon of Muhammad II: Brig.-Gen. J. H. Lefroy, R.A., F.R.S. Vol. VI of Proc. R.A.I.
[46] Ascribing the deliverance of Constantinople from the Saracens in the two sieges of A.D. 668 and 716 to the novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of Greek fire, Gibbon says: “The important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis in Syria, who deserted from the service of the caliph to that of the emperor. The skill of a chemist and engineer was equivalent to the succour of fleets and armies.”