content_output-069_5 (Q6497)

No distinction can be drawn between the small cannon or "crash-guns" of the fourteenth century and the earliest hand fire-arms. A pyrotechnical piece developed into a variety of hand weapon, and used for military purposes—especially for causing disturbances among troops, frightening horses and stampeding cattle—was employed by Eastern nations and by the Arabs in Northern Africa. The following description of this weapon is from the "Dictionnaire Mobilier Français," and, according to that work, it was also used by incendiaries, pillagers, and outlaws. In the illustration B shows the exterior of the gun; A is an end elevation, and C a sectional view showing the construction. The gun consisted of an iron tube about six feet long, covered with two hollowed pieces of wood, and bound round with