The mountain Democrat., 1863-11-28
Greek Fire.

The following description of this terri
Die means OF human destruction We take
from Appleton's New American Cyclic
pcdia
GREER FRE.-The knowledge possess
ed Of this ancient material of war is gath.
cred by Gibbon in the Decline and Fall
Of the Roman Empire" chap Ill. The
subject is also ably treated by DR.. Nc.
Culloch in vol. xiv. Of the "QuarterIy
Journal of Science" The Greek fire
was most advantag1onSly employed in
the defense of COnStantinople during the
two sicges by the Saracen>, A. ID. 6GS.
675 and ZIG 7lS. The secret Of its pre-.
paratiun and u>c was derived from na.
tive of HelIopolS Of Syria, or, according
TO Cedrenus, of Egypt, who deserted to
the service of the Emperor. 1t appears
to have been a compound of bitumen,
sulphur aud pitch, and TO have been
poured from caldrOnS, or projected in fire
balls, or ON arrows and javalins around
which flax was twisted. saturated with
the inhaI mable compound. 1t was vom.
tied through long copper tubes from the
mouths of hldeOuS figures, which were
set in the prowS Of fire ships. These
were themselves consumed, as they set
fire. aud destruction among the galleyS OF
the enemy. For 400 years its secret was
successfully preserved by the Romans OF
the East, the vengeance Of Heaven being
imprecated upon whOnSoevcr should iii.
vulge this composition, which the people
were taught to believe was mysterou>ly.
revealed by an angel to the first and
greatest Constantine. The Mahommc.
dams finally obtained the secret, and in
the holy wars of Syria and Egypt turned
the art against the Christians. Joinville,
in his :" Historic dc ST. Louis" describes
the fire as coming through the air like a
winged long tailed dragon, about the
thickness of hog>hrad, with the report
Of thunder and the velocity of lightning,
producing so much light from the qunn.
tity of fire it threw out. that one might
see in camp as if it had been day-a de-
scription not inapplicable to the rocket.
Its use was continued until the middle If
the fourteenth century. when it gave
place 10 the more efficient compound Of Il
similar nature then invented The name
of Greek fire has been applied to com.
pounds that burn on the surface of or un-
der water. An inhamInabIe liquor of
this character is said to have been dis
covered in l775 by n goldsmith Of Paris,
named Dupre, who was not, however,
permitted to make its character known.
The photographer, NJ. Nicpcc de ST Vic
tor. has experimental, by request Of the
French Minister of War, upon the prop.
ertv uf bpnznle to hum upon water and
Of igniting if II bit Of potassium or of
ph0SPhurct 0i raIcinm hc Contained in il.
He fund that if vessel containing 300
gramme< Of hrnz"lc and ! sramne of 30
taSSium were hrnien on the a,Irfacr OF
tho water. the bruZnlc would immediately
overspread a considerable surface, hurst
ing at the same tim, into flame. a mix
ture Of 8 parts of brnznle and Of sui.
phurct Of carbon. being put into n hand
grenade, previously heated by immersion
in boiling water, produced diSrngage.
ment Of vapOr which could be ignited
and would continue to burn from a let
until the whole was consumed. Phns
phOrus in solution increases its power To-
set fire to other objects. Oil of petroleum
NAV DC SHUSllluteI IOT inc DthEOIe. "
was thought that this mi.ht be used in
naval warfare. as the ancient Greek fire
was empioved. The subject is fully treat.
ed by ScnfFrn in his work, PrJectie
Weapons "f War and Explosive Com.
pounds" Q.ondon, 1858 in which he al
50 names several liquid mixtures that
spontaneously ignite, and may be used
for tho same purposes as Greek fire. A
solution of phosphorus in sulphuret of
carbon thrown in glass grenade was
found,in experiments conducted at Wool.
wich, to ignite soon after the LIQUID was
scattered. Chloride Of sulphur NAV be
substituted for the sulphuret of carbon.
the ignition not taking place quite so soon,
thus giving time to the liquid to pene.
trate into wood work and canvas. An
H6OIDinabie odOr is diffused during the
combustion. The arsenical alcohol, de.
scribed under Kakodyle, is proposed for
= similar purpose. the fumes from which
would greatly add to It's deadly effects
(See also mechanics Magazine, Aug. .1s,
1S44.)