Fig. 337
It is difficult to discover when gunpowder was first used. Probably its use was learnt from the Saracens in the fourteenth century. Roger Bacon (? 1214-1294) suggested that it might be used in warfare.
In a Florentine document of 1326 mention is made of the use of gunpowder in Europe. The first use of the cannon recorded in English history is in 1327, when Edward III was at war with Scotland.
In making the guns described in this chapter it is necessary to distinguish between breech-loading cannons and muzzle-loading.
The breech-loader is loaded from the breech or rear end of the barrel and not at the muzzle. Figs. 334, 335 and 337 are examples of this kind and therefore must have a hole at each end.
Figs. 331 and 332 are examples of muzzle-loading cannons and therefore have holes only at one end.
During the sixteenth century breech-loading was gradually abandoned for muzzle-loading owing to the large escape of gas and air at the breech. It was not until 1860 that it was reverted to with great improvements.
Fig. 338