Hide Article Text (OCR)
itl433% lt;•%CAPTAItf DlSJtEf*S WAR PROJECTILE,Yesterday Captain Disney performed some experiments illustrative of his war prqjectile, in the old Ranelagh grounds of Chelsea Btbspitai. There is nothing new in the projectile Jtself^the invention consists in a fluid—-well named by the inventor “infernal fluid with ^hich any hollow projectile may be wholly or partly filled. The hat life ■ of the fluid is such that within a few seconds of beingf exposed to the air it inflames spontaneously, and Sets fire to any inflammable matter with which it conies in contact,; Captain Disney poured some on canvas, carpet, the grass, j and stone, and in each case ignition speedily followed.! The futhes resulting from iff combustion are, according to 3 Captain Disney, poisonous; they are certainly very disagreeable and suffocating, and have a strong odour of phosphorus. The inventor has also anothef fluid whichignites spontaneously, and the fumes of which permanently destroy the sight of all persons whom they reach. Captain Disney states that these fluids are cheap, and that they can be manufactured, packed, carried, and used, without danger. The way in which he proposes to employ his fluid is to fill glass hand-grenades with it, or to pour it into a chamber in ari ordinary shell, the chamber being sealed so as to he air-tight, and the Shell loaded with the usual substances in a distinct cylindrical chamber, so that the combustible matter is surrounded by, but separated from, the fluid. The hand-grenade may be thrown by tire hand, j and the shell may be made to explode in any of the oTdi-f | nary Ways, by percussion, concussion, or a lighted fuse, e | Whichever projectile is tised, when It bursts, and the fluid e | is scattered and exposed to the air, liquid fire arid poisonous 1 gases are generated. It was not explained whether the fluid would corrode the metal chambers in q | which it might he contained, and indeed very little b explanation at all was given. The fluid is Certainly not I cacodyl (or liquor of cadet), supposed to be the old Greek 1} j fire, though it resembled it in au respects, except that the combustion of cacodyl produces a fat more destructive vapour, which has an unbearable odour of arsenic—cacodyl t, I being, in fact, made bf equal parts of acetate of copper and white arsenic. The experiments were, as far as they went, perfectly successful There were present on the grounds f8 I Lord ftanelagh, Mr. French, and several other gentlemen, j? and even ladies. Captain Disney has been to Scutari and ig the Crimea, and has showfl his experiments there, and even 1(j succeeded ip getting a committee to inquire into his inven-:b tiofi; but though they have rejmrted, he has not been ablei: to see their report. He has been hitherto unable to get b any notice taken of it by the home authorities.teI■ rnisisy
Newspaper Details
Christian Weekly News
London, Middlesex, GB
Tue, Jul 31, 1855
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
FL, USA 06 Sep 2022
Other Publications Near London, Middlesex
Bingleys Journal
Arminian Magazine
London Daily Mail
London Stars and Stripes
London Daily Universal Register
