Gunpowder and Ammunition. By Lieutenant-Colonel Henry W.L. Hime. (Longmans and
Co. 9s. net.)—" The invention of gun- powder was impossible, "writes Lieutenant-Colonel Hime, "until the properties of salt-petre had become known." This, then, is the terminus a quo. The discovery belongs to the thirteenth century, and is not to be credited to the Chinese. "Chinese snow" was, it is true, the name very soon given to it ; but then "Jerusalem artichokes" were not first grown at Jerusalem. Our author dis- cusses the claims of the Greeks, of the Arabs, the Hindoos, &o. Then he brings us to Friar Bacon, and after a process of reasoning which we cannot attempt to set before our readers, comes to the conclusion that, "whether as discoverer or inventor, Roger Bacon made and fired the first gunpowder." Much curious information of a more modern date is given in the succeeding chapters.
Previous page
