content_output-039_2 (Q6049)

Although Philostratus is not considered the most veracious of ancient authors other evidence corroborates the truth of this account, and it is now generally acknowledged that the ancient Hindoos possessed a knowledge of gunpowder-making. They made great use of explosives, including gunpowder, in pyrotechnical displays, and it is not improbable that they may have discovered (perhaps accidentally) the most recondite of its properties, that of projecting heavy bodies, and practically applied the discovery by inventing and using cannon. The most ingenious theory respecting the invention of gunpowder is that of the late Henry Wilkinson:—