Fire-BALLS, are bags of canvas filled with gunpowder, sulphur, saltpetre, pitch, &c. to be thrown by the soldiers, or out of mortars, in order to fire the houses incommoding trenches, advanced posts, or the like.—The Greeks had divers kinds of fire-balls, or Πυρροβολιλιαι; one kind called, more particularly, σκυλαλιαι, or σκυλαλιδαι, made of wood, sometimes a foot or even a cubit long; their heads being armed with spikes of iron, beneath which were hemp, pitch, and other combustibles, which being set on fire, they were cast among the enemy. The preparations of fire-balls, among the moderns, consist of several operations, viz. making the bag, preparing the composition, tying, and, lastly, dipping the ball. 1. The bags for this purpose are either oval or round. 2. The composition wherewith fire-balls are filled is various: To ten pounds of meal-gunpowder add two of saltpetre, one of sulphur, and one of colophony; or to six pounds of gunpowder, add four of saltpetre, four of sulphur, one of powdered glass, half a pound of antimony, as much camphor, an ounce of sal-ammoniac, and four of common salt, all pulverised. Sometimes they even fill fire-balls with hand grenades. 3. For tying the fire-balls, they prepare two iron rings, one fitted round the aperture,
Balls. aperture, where the ball is to be lighted, the other near its base. A cord is tied to these rings in such a manner, as that the several turns represent semicircles of the sphere cutting the globe through the poles: over the cords, extended according to the length of the ball, others are tied, cutting the former at right angles, and parallel to each other, making a knot at each intersection: lastly, after putting in a leaden bullet, the rest of the space is filled with tow or paper. 4. Thus completed, the fire-ball remains to be dipped in a composition of melted pitch four pounds, colophony two, and linseed oil or oil of turpentine two; after dipping, they cover it round with tow, and dip again, till it be brought to the just diameter required.
Light-Balls, are such as diffuse an intense light around; or they are balls which, being cast out of the hand or a mortar, burn for some time, and illuminate the adjacent parts. 1. Luminous or light-balls for the hand are made of ground powder, saltpetre, brimstone, camphor, and borax, all sprinkled with oil, and moulded into a mass with suet; and this is wrapped up in tow, with a sheet of strong paper over it. To fire it, they make a hole into it with a bodkin, into which they put some priming, that will burn slow. Its use is to be cast into any works they would discover in the night-time. 2. For the larger light-balls, or those to be thrown to a greater distance, they melt equal quantities of sulphur, turpentine, and pitch; and therein dip an earthen or stone ball, of a diameter much less than that of the mortar out of which the fire-ball is to be cast: then rolling it in gunpowder, and covering it round with gauze, they dip it again, and repeat the rest till it come to fit the cavity of the mortar: lastly, they sprinkle it round with gunpowder. This, being once kindled, will strongly illuminate all around the place where it is thrown, and give opportunity to examine the state and condition thereof.
Smoke or Dark-Balls, those which fill the air with smoke, and thus darken a place to prevent discoveries. To prepare a darkening ball, make an oval or spherical bag; melt rosin over the coals, and add an equal part of saltpetre not purified, also of sulphur, and a fifth part of charcoal. The whole being well incorporated, put in tow first shred, and fill the bags with this composition, and dip it after the same manner as a fire-ball.
Stink-Balls, those which yield a great stench where fired to annoy the enemy. Their preparation is thus: Melt ten pounds of pitch, six of rosin, twenty of saltpetre, eight of gunpowder, and four of colophony; to these add two of charcoal, six of horse-hoofs cut small, three of asafoetida, one of stinking-saracen, and any other offensive ingredients. The rest as in the former.
Sky-Balls, those cast on high out of mortars, and which, when arrived at their height, bursting like rockets, afford a spectacle of decoration. Sky-balls are made of a wooden shell, filled with various compositions, particularly that of the stars of rockets. These are sometimes intermixed with crackers and other combustibles, making rains of fire, &c.
Water-Balls, those which swim and burn a considerable time in the water, and at length burst therein. These are made in a wooden shell, the cavity of which
is filled with refined saltpetre, sulphur, saw-dust boiled in water of saltpetre, and dried; to which sometimes other ingredients are added, as iron filings, Greek pitch, amber dust, powdered glass, and camphor. The ingredients are to be ground, mixed up, and moistened with linseed oil, nut oil, olive oil, hempseed oil, or petrol. At the bottom is placed an iron coffin, filled with whole gunpowder, that the ball may at last burst with a greater noise: and, lastly, the ball is by the addition of lead or otherwise, made of the same specific gravity with water.
Land-Balls are those which, being thrown out of a mortar, fall to the ground, burn, and burst there. The ingredients are much the same as in the water-balls, only the specific gravity is not attended to.