The Mysteryes of Nature and Art / Conteined in foure severall Tretises, The first of water workes, The second of Fyer workes, The third of Drawing, Colouring, Painting, and Engraving, The fourth of divers Experiments, as wel serviceable as delightful: partly Collected, and partly of the Authors Peculiar Practice, and Invention

by John Bate

How to make Petards.

You must make the coffins for them either of white yron, or else of paper, or parchment rowled upon a Former for the purpose, and afterwards fitted with a couer, which must be glewed on: these coffins must be filled with whole gunpowder, and peirced in the midst of the broad end, and primed thereat with prepared stouple; the paper ones must be couered all ouer with glew, and the peirced. The figure of a Petard ready made, and primed, is signified by the figure E.

How to make compounded Rockets.

First you must make the Rocket I taught you before; you must not choake the end of it, but eyther double downe halfe the coffin, and with the rammer and a mallet, give it one or two good blowes: then with a bodkin pierce the paper unto the composition, or else drive a bottome of leather fitted unto the bore of the Rocket, and pierce it through in two or three places; then pare or cut off the coffin equall thereunto; to this end of the rocket you must binde a coffin wider a great deale then the Rocket is; strew into it a little gunpowder dust, that it may cover the bottome of this coffin, and put therein with their mouthes downeward eyther golden rayne, or serpents, or both; also starres, or petards; you must put some gunpowder dust among these; when you have filled the coffin with these or such like, cover the top of it with a peece of paper, and paste upon that a picked crowned paper, balast it with a rod, and it is finished; the figure followeth.

How to make fiends, or fearefull apparitions.

These must bee made of the compositions for Starres, wrought upon cotton weeke dipped in aqua vitæ, wherein camphire hath beene dissolved, and after what fashions your fancy doth most affect.

How to make fire Boxes.

You must make the coffins for fire Boxes of paste-board, rowled upon a Former, of what bignesse you list; then binde them about with packthread, and glew over the cords; also glew bottoms unto them, which must be pierced with a bodkin to prime them at. In these boxes you may put golden rayne, starres, serpents, petrars, fiends, devils. The tops of these fire boxes must bee covered with paper as the compound Rockets. Note that you must strew gunpowder dust a pretty thicknesse on the bottome of the fire-boxes, and prime the hole at the bottome with prepared stouple.