not do for
money. I offered him a ducat, which quieted his fears, and he
taught me all he knew, and even gave me the moulds in wood,
with the other ingredients, which I have brought to France.'
... When Constantinople was attacked, the Emperor Leo burnt
the vessels or boats, to the number of one thousand eight
hundred, by means of the Greek fire.... Its composition was
kept secret at Constantinople, pretending that the knowledge
of it came from an angel to the first and greatest of the
Constantines, with a sacred injunction not to divulge it
under any pretext, etc. It ... was kept secret above 400
years ... was stolen by the Mahometans, who employed it
against the Crusaders. A knight, it appears, who despised the
swords and lances of the Saracens, relates, with heartfelt
sincerity, his own fears at the sight and sound of the
mischievous engine that discharged a torrent of fire. 'It
came flying through the air, like a winged, long-tailed
dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with a report of
thunder, and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of
the night was dispelled by this deadly illumination. The use
of the Greek, or as it might now be called the Saracen fire,
was continued to the middle of the Fourteenth Century, when
the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur and
charcoal effected a new revolution in the art of war, and the
history of mankind.' ... We do not know of any imitation of
the original Greek fire having been used in modern warfare,
but have no hesitation in believing that naphtha prepared as
already stated would in many cases prove advantageous. It
seems to be well calculated for close naval combat, if the
object be to destroy the sails and rigging of an enemy's
ship. The rapidity and extent of its combustion, added to the
circumstances of its peculiar properties, that of resisting
the action of water in particular, contribute altogether to
this opinion."

The entire article from which these excerpts have been made is worthy
of study, even at this late date. It is suggestive and carries with it
many historical references of value. The enthusiasm of Cutbush for
pyrotechnic bodies is manifest in every line of this publication.

About a year later (1823) Cutbush discussed the formation of cyanogen
in processes not previously noticed. He spoke of the appea