The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-12 00:00:00

WHAT IS " GREEK FIRE ?"

A vitally important question just now : thus answered by
Dr. Richardson, in to-day's number of the Social Science
Review : —From the number of times I have been asked
this question during the last few days, the answer to it
seems to be one that would prove of great interest. I shall
try and give the answer, therefore, as briefly and clearly as
I can. The term " Greek fire," as applied to the substance
which the Federals are pouring into Charleston, is strictly,
a misnomer. The secret of the manufacture of the
original Greek fire has been lost for nearly nine hundred
ant fitly years, and it is probable that it will not again be
found, seeing that modern chemistry suggests agents
quite as dangerous, and perhaps simpler than the original.
The modern representative of " Greek Fire," although in-
tended for the same purposes, is different in character,
more portable, more certain, mote terrible. It is a fluid
substance, is cheaply made, keeps for years, and is pro-
duced so quickly that the ingredients of which it is com-
posed may be put together at the moment when the com-
pound is required. In using the liquid it has to be enclosed
in a shell which shall burst at a given point of destination
and allow the fluid to be distributed. The occurrence of
flame from this liquid is not immediate, various
circumstances modifying its action in regard to
time. I made some experiments in the course
of the present week with a little of the fluid that had been
in ray possession seven years, and found that with the tem-
perature of the air at 63 deg. Fahr., and a fair wind blow-
ing, combustion took place in four minutes and a half, the
fluid being distributed on dry wood : on a moist surface of
wood, however, at the same temperature and with the same
wind, combustion was delayed half-an-hour. There are

other differences, varying with the external conditions; but
these are really of no moment ; because the engineer, if it
were requisite, by calculating the temperature of the air,
the force of the wind, and the moisture of the air, could come
to a very accurate conclusion as to the period of combus-
tion after exposure of the liquid. When combustion has
taken place, or before combustion has taken place, it may
be suppressed by water, and other means of extinguishing
flame : but there is this peculiarity, that the fire is sup
pressed only, it is not extinguished; let the water evapo-
rate, or remove the covering, and, though a month, a year,
or a century I had almost said, had elapsed, the chances
are that the fire will break out again; and paradox as it
may seem, it is still true, the more effectual the suppres&ion
for the time, the greater is the danger when that suppres-
sion is removed.

The construction of modern "liquid fire" is based on
simple scientific principles, and more methods than one may
be discovered for producing it. I think—and I know its
inventor, to whom I shall refer in a moment, thinks so too
—that it might be so formed that it would actually burn
under water. But, however much it might be modified in
detail, the principle would be the same, and the principle is
this : a rapidly oxydizable substance—which means a sub-
stance that in combining greedily with oxygen whenever

it can get it, gives rise to the evolution of heat and flame—
is suspended for a time through a liquid, in which it is held
innocuous, so long as the two are confined together, but
from which it is separated spontaneously when both are set
free in the open air.

The modern chemist who fit st brought liquid fire into
notice, was Mr. Wentworth Scott. I have been told that
the method suggested by the late lord Dundonald was of
the same nature; but, for special scientific reasons, this
view is not probable. Mr. Scott suggested the principle
eleven years ago, and during the Russian war he was un-
tiring in his efforts to get it practically into use in our army
and navy. There is an official board which received Mr.
Scott, heard his plans, promised him means for experiment,
nibbled at his idea, and then repudiated it, and did many
foolish things which it is not worth while to rake up;
suffice it, that after tantalising Mr. Scott for a long season,
and after supplying him with " lots of forms," our circum.
locutionists became acquainted with another gentleman,
who proposed a liquid fire, but who I believe in the end was
gently dropped also, I mean, Captain Disney.
While Mr. Scott's and Captain Disney's experiments
were being canvassed, in 1855, I wrote a letter to the limes
on the whole subject, which letter was inserted, and gave
rise to much comment. I may state now what I could
not state then positively, that at the time some in-
quiriea were being made in a continental laboratory,
having in view the supplying of information on "liquid
fire," to the Russian Government, and my great object in
writing to the leading journal was to apprise our people
that the Russians,who, under the direction of Prof. Jacobi,
were constructing very terrible implements of war, might
some day. and quickly, envelope the whole of the British
fleet in flames. Fortunately the peace which followed
shortly afterwards put a stop to all proceedings of a war-
like 'kind, and my warnings, as well as those of that
eminent patriot, Mr. Punch, who came up nobly to
second them, fell uselessly on the public ear. At the
same time experiments with liquid fire did not cease;
there was a gallant and ingenious officer named Captain
Norton, who took up the inquiry and advanced it an im-
portant stage. Captain Norton invented a small shell for a
rifle, which shell, filled with the liquid, would discharge its
contents by merely striking a piece of stretched canvass,
like the sail of a ship, and would set the whole rapidly in
names. His experiments, of which he carried out a great
number at his own expense, pointed but to one conclusion,
namely, that certain kinds Of warfare, such as sieges, and
battles in wooden ships, could be rendered impossible from
the certainty of entire destruction. At last, that which the
English nation, or rather Government, refused to study as
a means of warfare, has been turned to practical account in
America. Liquid fire has found its way into Charleston,
and the gut stion to be asked is, Will its application stop
there ?

,
TifUrt
Cirmlar

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, Sept 11.

Her Majesty drove in the grounds this morning.
The Ear! of Caithness and Col. Hon. A. Liddell
are tho lord and groom, and Major-General F
Seymour the equerry in waiting.
The Hon. Horatio Stopford and the Hon. Lucy
Lyttelton are the maids of honour in waiting to her
Majesty.

,f,,,-_-___

DEPARTURE CI THE QUEEN FOR SCOTLAND.--
Her Majesty is expected to leave Windsor Castle
for Scotland on Monday. As at present arranged, the
Queen will travel by the Great Western Railway,
and will
leave Windsor terminus at 10 minutes to 6, proceeding by
way of Leamington to the Bushbury junction, where
charge of the train will be taken by the North-Western
Railway officials. The train is timed to arrive at Perth at
20 minutes to 9on Tuesday morning. After a stoppage of
an hour and a half the journey will be continued, and Aboyne,
the last station, will be reached shortly before 2, when the
Queen will pursue her journey to Balmoral by road.
His Majesty Dom Fernando, King of Portugal,
fattier of the reigning King, Dom Louis, arrived in Amster-
dam on Monday last. Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg
visited his royal relative on Tuesday.

The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, and LAY'
Blanche Somerset, who came to town for the marriage of
Lord and Lady Londesborough, left on Thursday afternoon
for their seat in 'Wales.

The Duke of Newcastle has arrived at Thomas's
Hotel, Berkeley-square, from his seat, Worksop, Notts-
The Marquis and Marchioness of Anglesey have
left town for Eastwell Park, Ashford, Kent, the seat of the
Earl and Countess of Winehilsea.

The Earl and Countebs of Howth, and Mrs. Bar.,
foot, have arrived at Claridge's Hotel, from Dublin.

_ ------
Earl Brownlow and Lady Marian Alford have
arrived at Ashridge Castle, from Belton House, near
Grantham. The noble earl intends to pass the winter at

Madeira.

The Earl and Countess of Lincoln, with their
daughter, Lady Beatrice Clinton, have arrived at Clumber
Park, the Duke of Newcastle's seat in Nottinghamshire.

Adelaide, Countess of Yarborough, has left
London for their marine residence at St. Lawrence, Isle of
Wight.

The Countess (Frances) Waldegrave and Mr.
Chichester Fortescue, M.P., have been receiving companY
at Dudbrook House, Essex. Among the visitors were the
Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, Prince Conde, the Belgi9
Minister, Miss Van de Weyer and Mr. Victor Van de
Weyer, Lady Gilbert Kennedy, Hon. T. Stonor and Miss
Stonor, Hon. and Rev, Francis Byng, Mr. and LadY
Horatio Wardlaw, the Rev. C. Harcourt, Captain Beau-
champ Seymour, Mr. George Russell, Mr. and Mrs.
Urquhart and Miss Money. The party will separate this
day.

Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston intend to
save town early in the ensuing week for Brcadlands, near

Romsey.

Lady Hermoine Graham, who came to town from
Cumberland to visit her sister, Lady Ulried, Thynne, has
left town on her return to Netherby Park.

It is understood that the marriage of Major the
Hon. Augustus H. Anson, V.C., brother of the Earl of
Lichfield, with Miss Claughton, daughter of the Rev. rlr•
and Hon. Mrs. Claughton, will take place at Whitley Court,
the Earl of Dudley's seat in Worcestershire. The day is
not yet fixed.

Lieutenant the Hon. Albert Denison, R.N., who
came to town to be present at the marriage of his brother,
Lord Londesborough, has left Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-
square, for Portsmouth.

Sir George Grey arrived in London on Thursday
night from his seat, Falloden, Northumberland.

Sir Edward and Lady Synge have arrived at the
Alexandra Hotel (late Wallace's), Hyde-park. corner, from
Windermere.

The marriage of the only daughter of the Count
and Countess Metaxa with Mr. Crawshay Bailey, onlY '3°ll
of Mr. Crawshay Bailey, M.P., will take place on. Tuesday'
the 29th inst., in Cheltenham. In the neighbourhood of
Nant-y-Glo and Aberaman Park the day will be kept with
a general holiday and great festivities, the inhabitants of
these localities being desirous of thus testifying the great
esteem and respect which they have always felt towards Mr. Crawshay Bailey and his son.
HEALTH OF THE DUKE OF ATHOLE.—His grace's
health shows no symptom of improvement ; on the contrary,
it is unclerstoOd that his eyesight is failing rapidly under
the medical treatment which has been adopted with a view
to induce sleep, from the loss of which he has of late suf-
fered much. The most sincere sympathy is universally
felt for this esteemed nobleman, whose benefactions to the
labouring classes on his estates have greatly endeared /ain't
in their ebtimation.—Perthshire Advertiser.

AT THE KAISER'S ARRIVAL IN VIENNA, the
burgomaster, Dr. Zelinka, addressed his Majesty in
tho following terms your Majesty deign to allow me
to give expression to the joyful feeling which animates the
entire population of your capital of Vienna at the return of
their beloved Emperor. Our blessings attended your
Majesty during your journey—you are received with.
our joy on your return to your faithful city of Vienna. This
general joy will proclaim through the whole of ,Germany'
yea, through Europe, that the people of Austria are bound
toyour Majesty by everlasting gratitude. For your Majesty
has magnanimously resolved that the historically just prin-
ciple should be recognised that Austria promotes the unit)?
of Germany, and also that Austria's strength is necessary
to protect Germany from all danger. This strength of
Austria is also rooted in the free institutions generously
granted by your Majesty, in the bravery of the Austrian
army, and, before all however, in the love and devotion of
all your people, who regard their Emperor with pride. God
preserve our good Emperor, and long may he live I Rio
Majesty, thereupon, replied as follows :—I joyfully return
you my thanks for the friendly reception prepared for me•
I endeavoured to promote the interests of Austria
,moat
energetically at Frankfort, and I rejoice to be able to assure
you that everywhere in Germany I have met with the
warmest sympathy for our fatherland, On this occasions
Mr. Burgomaster, I renew to you verbally my approbation
and thanks far the pains you took in carrying out the na-
tional festival. It did my heart good to hear of the VP/
order, and the lively patriotic sentiments of the inhabitants
of my imperial city and capital, and I regretted that I wag
not in a position to personally take part in the festival.

" CLAW ME, CLAW THEE !" OR CUTTLE FISH AND
CRAB.—The cattle fish, aptly called, by old Ger-
man writers on natural history, the "suer spinn," or sea'
spider, not only resembles a fat spider in its appearance, but
takes after the spider also in its habits, for it squeezes its
body into ambush, and there waits patiently till its prey
comes to it. True, it does not spin a web, but has enore
mously long prehensile tentacles, covered with suckers,
with which it is enabled to grasp any living thing that
comes within its reach. The specimen at the Zoological
feeds principally upon crabs. The moment the foalish crab,.
in his constitutional walk round the tank in search or
amusement, comes near one of the outstretched arms of the
octopus, it tw ices round him with the celerity of a whip'
lash round a gig-shalt. The crab struggles and fights with
all his legs working all abroad, reminding one of a naked
child about to be ducked under water by the remorseless
bathing woman who, coming stealthily round the corner,
has seized the infant from the steps of the bathing-ma-
chine. The crab in the arms of the octopus is as help-
less as the child in the arms of the bathing woman. Go
he must; but there is this difference, the child is after a
while restored; the crab never. In and in and in he goes,
slowly and gradully ; the other arms of the hungry monster.
involved
like to the rescue; the poor victim is hopelessly
like a fly in a spider's web, and at last, thoroughly worn
out and exhausted, he is dragged up to the feartul mouth
of the octopus—the arms all fold up in a bunch, and all is
quiet. How the octopus manages to crack the shell of the
crab and get out the meat we know not ; but yet, after a
certain time, the octopus relaxes his grasp, and out falls the
shell of the poor crab as empty as the egg-shells IA hich can
be found on the table after the repast of a hungry tourist.
'IRE WORLD TOPSY TURVY ! or Life at the An-
tipodes : being a few among the many Peculiarities
of Australia.--7-What strikes the European traveller the
most vividly when he arrives in this land of the Antipodes,
is the total ovet throw of the physical conditions to which
he has been accustomed. The course of the seasons, for
instance, is the reverse of what it is in Europe. January
marks the middle of summer, and July the middle of winter.
Spring embraces September and October; summer gees
from the commencement of November to the end of Febiu-
ary. March, April, and May are the autumn months : the
remaining time to the 31st August represent winter. There
ate three months of rain : in March and April, two of the
auttrenal months, and in August, the concluding winter
month. When it is midnight in Europe it is noon in Aus-
tralia ; and reciprocally. When it is tiny weather in Atree
tralia the barometer sinks—to announce bed weather it
rises. The longest day comes in June with us, in December
with the Australians. Tde heat blows from the north, the
cold from the south, and it is on the top of the mountains
that the heat is greatest. Everywhere there is the same
contradiction. The swans are black in New South Wales,
the eagles are white. The bees do not sting, the birds do
not sing ; the owl comes forth during the day, the cuckoo
utters his own name to the echoes during the night. Quad-
rupeds are seen which have a beak and which lay eggs,
others are furnished with pouches to carry their young
The cherries hvo no stones; pears, which are so richly
melting in our climate, leek in Australia os if they had
been cut out of oak. The trees do not in general give anY
shadow, because it is the edge of their leaves, not the sides
which is turned toward the gun.