The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-12-16

the dogs of war was to equip them with d pot of blazing rosn. a collar of spikes and jacket of leather scales to protect their backs from the fire. and send them among cavalry, much to the confusion of the horses.
 An Arab writer describes some wonder ful war dogs which belonged to the Grand Seignior, which he says were as big as donkeys. were clad in rich cloth. silver collars and neck rings and a circle of Iron points around the neck Some were even clad in armor. They were equal to tack ling wolves dragons in the fire. eagles in the air and crneodiles in the water to say nothing of being able to bring down a man from horseback. However stout a fellow he may be" Dogs equipped in much the same manner were also used for incendiary purposes to set villages on fire, as were also cats and pigeons.
 Queer Weapons Invented.
 With the advent of artillery and fire arms all kinds Of queer weapons were from time to time invented Many of them distinctly foreshadowed our modern repeating and rihed weapons. Not a few revolvers, repeaters and rihed muskets were made in the sixteenth and seven teenth centuries, but as the whole affair had to be made by hand their cost pre- cluueu any general duOpllOn Ol lnese ll- genious devices. The earliest cannon were breech loaders, and like our modern guns were built up rather than cast. But even after the invention of cast iron and brass cannon the smaller pieces were generally made to load at the breech. A couple of such weapons mounted in kind of cart were used by Henry VIII against the Scots, and would appear to have been quite practical little affairs. They evil dently could be wheeled like hand bar rows: the sloping shield would afford eX- cellent protection to the gunners and proo- ably contained receptacle for ammuni- ton.
 War carts or chariots were not unusual at this time, especially in Germany. They generally took the form of a rude machine gun, several musket barrels being placed together In the center. and a great array of curly, murderous looking spears and halberds arranged on either side. The Lyoners is a later type without musket barrels and intended for blocking a mar row passage. These contrivances were called orgues, from their resemblance to the pipes of an organ, or sometimes thun- der carriages.
 Monster cannon were an early form of extravaganza in military weapons. There are several accounts of such pieces of ord
 
 had seen at Brunswick gun or rather mortar cast in All. It was made of brass, was ten feet six inches long and no less than nine feet two inches in diameter and was said to be capable of throwing a 1000 pound shell. India boasted several of these monstrosites One still to be seen at Kubberpore Is said to be no less than twenty-one feet three inches long and five feet six inches around the muzzle. It is called Jaun Kushall. or destroyer of life, by the natives. and was probably cast some where in Persia.
 Cannon Had Tremendous Bore.
 Another Indian piece, cast by Chueby Koomy, Kahn of Ahmednuggeer, about the year 1500, has such a tremendous bore that the interior Is now fitted up as a kind or summer house. A cannon made at Bruges in 1346 had a square bore and fired cubical shot. Guns were made of all kinds of materials. though all such may be regarded as freaks or experiments The leather guns invented by an officer in the army of Gustavus Adolphus had a certain vogue on account of their lightness Some were effectively used against us by the Scots under General Leslie at the battle of Newburn Ford in 1640 They were made by wrapping rope and twine around copper cylinders strengthened by iron rings. They were then coated with plas- ter, and finally covered with leather They were very portable but unreliable and short lived. Guns have been made of wood hooped with iron, not only in ancient times, but quite recently in the Philip pines, where they were used against the American troops.
 The Chinese had a gun made of bamboo in 1259, but only the other day the Japan ese were making effective use of wooden mortars bound around with bamboo for throwing explosives into the Russian works at the siege of Port Arthur Guns have been made of glass and even of ice Some of the latter, made for salutng pur- poses at the marriage of the Russian Prince Gallitzzi in 1739, are stated to have been "ferd more than once without burst ing Guns have even been made of the precious metals. In 1863 there was in the arsenal of Verona "a great gun found in Candid, all of gold and silver. A golden cannon was captured at Pekin In 1S60 and King Thebaw of Burma was the possessor of another, which was also incrusted with precious stones. The early caliver was little inferior to cannon in clumsness, as it took three men to carry 1t and a fourth to fire It.
 When fire arms became somewhat more portable. and especially when pistols were
 
 most extraordinary fashions. Shields or targets not infrequently had pistol fixed in the center with small grating for aiming through, but there is an account of a shield at Genoa which had no Jess than 120 pistols connected with it. Rather heavy affair to handle one would imag- inc. The Emperor Charles V. had a curi- ous shield which he carried when walking about at night; "a spear came out of the side of it. besides that in the middle: if any thrust was made at the shield, the swords point was catched in 1t and broken
 Another surprising mediaeva1 contrv- ance was an iron hat or helmet, which is described as having two crowns, each with four pistols" A volley of eight shots from an opponents head piece must have been very disconcerting-pro probably to all parties concerned A curious mortar in the Tower of London is square in front and has no less than nine separate bores The eighteenth century was distinctly the epoch of sieges. The attack and defence of carefully fortified places was carried out in the most methodical and patient | manner.
 There were many inventions at that time especially applicable to the attack and defence of fortified towns. The pe- l tard was much used. It consisted of a 1 bell shaped iron receptacle filled with 1 powder and clamped down to a block of hard wood. It was intended to be fixed to doors and gates for the purpose of blow l ing them in. Another device was the pot a feu or fire pot, which was a kind of ball or globuar jar filled with old tarred rope, which was thrown upon the enemys Drtr. frbt ,irLt