| Kind of Rockets. | 6 Pr. | 4 Pr. | 2 Pr. | 1 Pr. | ¹⁄₂ Pr. | ¹⁄₄ Pr. | ¹⁄₈ Pr. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | ft. | in. | |
| Distance of poise from the point of the cone | 4 | 1¹⁄₂ | 3 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10¹⁄₂ | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
Rockets of between 3 and 4 inches diameter have been observed to ascend as high as 1000 or 1200 yards; but the height of common rockets is between 450 and 600 yards; and their flight usually short of 7 seconds.
Rocket as used in India. A most formidable weapon against cavalry; they are made of the hollow tube of the bamboo, of a very large size, filled with the usual composition of rockets. The rod is only a part of the same bamboo, the six eighths or seven eighths of which is cut away, leaving the rod. See [Fougette].
Rockets. See [Laboratory].
ROD. See [Measuring].
RODS, or rammers, either of iron or wood, to drive home the charges of musquets, carabines, and pistols.
Rods, or sticks, fastened to sky-rockets, to make them rise in a straight line.
RODOMONT, Fr. A bully. An unmilitary character.
Raire le Rodomont, Fr. To bully, to talk loudly without possessing the real spirit of a man or soldier.
RODOMONTADE, Fr. Rodomontade. The act of bullying, vain boasting or arrogating to ourselves qualities which we do not possess. A French writer has very justly observed, that there cannot be a greater defect in the character of an officer than an overweening display of real or fictitious talents. The word is derived from one Rodomont, the hero or principal character in an old romance, who makes himself conspicuously ridiculous in this way. Sir John Falstaff and Bobadil in English comedy, are specimens of this character.