SPECIMENS 
 
 OF 
 
 ANCIENT ORACULAR AND FIGHTING 
 
 EOLIPILES: 
 
 WITH REMARKS ON 
 
 DRAGONS AND OTHER FIRE BREATHING MONSTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 % 
 
 MYTHOLOGY AND THE MIDDLE AGES, 
 
 BEING 
 
 A SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO HIS 
 
 TREATISE ON HYDRAULICS AND MECHANICS. 
 
 BY THOMAS EWBANK. 
 
 They moved gods to compassion by wires, and roused them to anger by explosive compounds. 
 
 NE W.-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 99 CROSBY-STREET ; 
 
 AND FOR SALE BY 
 
 GREELY AND M‘ELRATH, OPPOSITE THE CITY HALL; 
 AND BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 
 
 1845. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by Thomas Ewbank, in the Clerk’s 
 Office of the Southern District of New-York. 
 
SUPPLEMENT: 
 
 ON 
 
 ORACULAR AND FIGHTING EOLIPILES. 
 
 In consequence of a suggestion that a little additional matter on Eoli- 
 pilic automata would add interest to this volume, a few specimens accom- 
 panied with cursory observations are subjoined. The figures themselves 
 constitute, perhaps, a better exposition than anything which can now be 
 written on the devices which they represent — devices once wielded with 
 terrible effects by both sacerdotal and military engineers. 
 
 Like extinct natural monsters, oracular and warring Eolipiles have 
 disappeared from the earth and left scarcely any authentic vestiges be- 
 hind. They belonged to certain states or conditions of society which 
 they could not survive. Indigenous to ages of darkness, they flourished 
 only in the absence of light. Receding, as civilization advanced, it may 
 be said of them, as of spectres, they flutter at dawn and vanish as soon 
 as the sun (of science) has risen. But they are not the less interesting 
 subjects of research because of the evils they inflicted on our species, 
 any more than are geological remains of mammoth beings which preyed 
 on inferior tribes. Antique Eolipiles are in some respects the richest of 
 artificial, as fossil bones are of natural, relics. Both are unique memo- 
 rials of past times — vivid remembrancers of strange beings and dark 
 deeds. The former afford proofs of stupendous animals reigning as mo- 
 narchs over the woods and waters of the old world ; and the latter re- 
 mind us of moral monsters, preying with surprising facility upon all 
 classes of men. 
 
 Pictorial representations of idolatrous and fighting eolipiles are ex- 
 ceedingly rare ; and these, few as we find them, if not transferred to mo- 
 dern pages will soon be irrecoverably lost. Those which follow, though 
 deplorably imperfect and obscure, will be acceptable to most readers, if 
 not to all. Examples of the employment of elastic and inflammable 
 fluids under singular circumstances, they can hardly fail to elicit the 
 attention of inquirers into the origin and history of motive mechanism. 
 They may afford hints on old and lost arts. Nor do they lack interest to 
 general, or even learned readers ; for, besides illustrating ancient society 
 and manners, they reflect light on the darkest passages of poetry and ro- 
 mance : they add strength to the conviction that much which ancient 
 literature has failed to explain, a close examination of ancient arts may 
 yet render clear. Even the Eolipile, simple as it seems, promises to 
 conduct inquirers, like the clew of Ariadne, through labyrinths as per- 
 plexing as those which puzzled old travellers to Egypt and Crete. 
 
 Of all the freaks of poor human nature, idolatry is the strangest ; and, 
 taken in connection with evils springing from it, the most infectious and 
 fatal of maladies. Hitherto ineradicable, inexpugnable, it has tainted 
 all epochs, polluted all people. Its ravages have been more destructive 
 than war, more distressing than famine. It has been the fertile source of 
 both. Superstition, the parent of idolatry, is peculiar to man, unless de- 
 mons be tormented by it, which is not unlikely ; for, besides its associa- 
 
G 
 
 Rise of Idolatry, Magic, S^c. — Monsters. 
 
 tions being truly diabolical, (it has every where erected altars to Baals 
 and furnished victims to Molochs,) it seems the natural, and may be the 
 universal punishment of mental debasement. It is to the mind what pre- 
 mature decrepitude is to the body — a horrible penalty for violating a 
 fundamental law of our nature, for stunting the soul’s growth, for not 
 cultivating the intellectual with the physical faculties, that both might 
 expand and improve together ; that infant puerilities might be succeeded 
 by youthful intelligence and masculine knowledge. Instead of this, 
 superstition unites dwarfed and crippled minds to grown up bodies — 
 stocks the world with souls blind to their destinies and duties, and con- 
 sequently to the great purposes of existence lost. Where else, then, can 
 such abortions be more appropriately consigned than to the hades of ig- 
 norance — of sottish delusions — to murky regions, where the sickly ima- 
 gination sits an incubus on the prostrate judgment, and visions of insanity 
 are reckoned as realities ; where the occupants wander among shades, 
 and mutter the gibberish of phantoms. 
 
 A stranger to natural causes, startling phenomena have ever filled the 
 barbarian with dread. To account for such things he peoples the ele- 
 ments with imaginary beings, who control, as he supposes, all mundane 
 affairs at their will. Meteorological commotions, pain, sickness, death, 
 and every public and private calamity, were held as manifestations of 
 their power or their wrath ; hence the idea of propitiating beings so 
 mighty and malignant ; hence idolatry with its direful progeny, magic, 
 divination, necromancy, and their congeners ; and hence too the rise of 
 those astute spirits who, from the beginning, have subdued the million 
 by working on their fancies and fears — who have raised themselves into 
 gods and sunk the rest of mankind into brutes. I 
 
 Idols were almost invariably modeled after hideous forms, because 
 designed to excite terror. This was in accordance with the principles 
 on which demonolatry was founded. As fear was to be awakened it was 
 essential to make them correspond, as nearly as could be, with the evils 
 they had power to inflict or emotions they were designed to inflame. 
 To have made them more attractive than repulsive would have been 
 preposterous, since it would have been neglecting the cultivation of that 
 passion upon which their efficiency rested. Their makers knew their 
 business better. In nothing is the versatility of ancient genius more 
 apparent than in representations of the horrible — in conjuring up images 
 to cause the timid to tremble and the bold to recoil — the most hideous of 
 hybrids, in which were combined features derived from every thing on the 
 earth and in the waters under the earth calculated to excite abhorrence 
 and dread. Perhaps it is not too much to say that here also little is left 
 for professors of the fine arts to do, except to imitate works of old mas- 
 ters. Invention seems out of the question. Our best and worst specimens 
 of diablerie and the monstrous are but copies and caricatures of originals 
 in old galleries of furies, minotaurs, hydras, chimseras, centaurs, sphinxes, 
 fauns, dragons, grifiins, gorgons, satyrs, harpies, hippogriffs, and other 
 unearthly combinations of human bodies with those of beasts, birds, fish, 
 reptiles and demons. 
 
 But ghastly, terrific or fiendish features were not always deemed suffi- 
 cient. It was expedient to communicate active qualities, such as might 
 influence other senses than the sight, and which, being appropriate to 
 the character an idol was intended to sustain, might serve still further to 
 establish or increase its fame. Thus, some moved their heads, arms, 
 hands, eyes ; others spoke, groaned, smiled, perspired, laughed, &c. &c. 
 
7 
 
 Origin of Eolipilic Idols — Their Authors. 
 
 A few, like the image of Nabis, squeezed unbelievers to death in their 
 arms, and others, like the gods of the Zidonians, in their fury swallowed 
 offenders alive. The repeated declarations in the Bible that gods of 
 stone, wood and metal, neither saw, heard, ate nor “ spake through their 
 throats,” &c. imply that by priestly artifice these and other functions were 
 imitated. Had all been dumb, motionless statues, this constant denial of 
 such powers to them would have been nugatory. 
 
 The date of androidal idols is unknown : they appear to have been 
 co-eval with the use of metals — are perhaps of a still earlier date, for 
 modern savages have attempted them. They were found so effectual as 
 to have become important instruments in the hands of rulers in ante-his- 
 toric eras ; while to devise and work them became the profession of 
 priests. As society advanced the treasures of states and temples were 
 expended in their production, and the influence of both was exercised in 
 establishing their reputation : a union of wealth and intelligence which 
 accounts for the perfection and celebrity of many ancient androids. 
 
 Ever on the look out for novel and imposing devices, the founders 
 and fosterers of idolatry were too close observers to overlook the most 
 appalling of nature’s displays, and too keenly alive to their interests to 
 remain ignorant of the means of imitating them. At an early day those 
 gods were counted the greatest that had power over fire and controlled 
 atmospherical tempests— that spake in thunder and whose darts were 
 the electric fluid. On this belief Eolipilic idols arose, a class certainly 
 among the most productive if not among the most ancient. They were 
 necessarily the work of the founder, not of the carver, and, as already 
 intimated, not a few of the “ brazen” or “ molten” images of the Old 
 Testament were more or less allied to them — an inference justified by 
 numerous allusions to blasts of flame, smoke and wind issuing from their 
 mouths and eyes, &c. There was probably less difficulty in the apotheosis 
 of Eolipilic images than of others. When idolatry was universal few 
 could refuse subjection to deities that rivalled Neptune in shaking the 
 ground — J upiter in his character of the thunderer ; and Pluto — the grim 
 and inexorable — the sulphur-enthroned god — in the worst of his func- 
 tions. To none were apotrophic hymns so fervently addressed, for none 
 looked more threatening and fierce, or gave out such awful manifesta- 
 tions of wrath. 
 
 Of their authors or inventors there is no room to doubt. They were 
 men whose intelligence was far in advance of their times, who mono- 
 polized knowledge for the sole interest of their class. Claiming kin- 
 dred with heaven, freed from worldly cares, clothed in reverend vest- 
 ments, they lived apart from other people ; holy and artless in appear- 
 ance, yet adepts in artifice and very devils in craft. Hierophantic magi- 
 cians sojourned in temples, feasted on tythes and got rich by means of 
 idols. They moved gods to compassion by wires, and roused them to 
 anger by explosive compounds. Their professional attainments are in- 
 disputable. In the roguish departments of physics they were never sur- 
 passed. What resources and talents did those of Egypt display in com- 
 jieting with Moses, even to the development of lower forms of life ! 
 The laboratory was their study, natural science the volume over which 
 they pored, the knowledge of latent phenomena their wealth. It is im- 
 possible to think on the variety, magnitude and difficulties of some of 
 their impostures without conceding to them excelling ingenuity and im- 
 pudence sublime. In chemistry and mechanics they were profound : of 
 their contrivances few were more successful than those to which both 
 
8 
 
 Pustcricli, an Eolipilic Idol. 
 
 sciences contributed ; but of all their chemico-mechanical productions 
 perhaps none performed greater deeds of renown than the Eolipile. 
 
 To accomplish its purposes this instrument put on a strange diversity 
 of shapes, and was endowed with such attributes as its adroit managers 
 required; but, purposely disguised as it was, and its movements inge- 
 niously masked, its former tricks are not entirely concealed by the veil 
 which time has dropped over the stirring dramas of ancient life. It may 
 be detected, though too remote to be distinct. In the deepest obscurity 
 its performances are too peculiar to be mistaken. It appears to have 
 flourished in mythologic and heroic ages, and, naturally enough, these 
 were the times of its greatest achievements. Besides a few minor en- 
 gagements, it was principally employed in personating three remark- 
 able characters : — a god, a warrior, and a guardian of treasure. In the 
 temple it descended with neophytes into the sacred chambers and took 
 part in the lesser and subliraer mysteries, while at the altar it confirm- 
 ed the faith of its worshipers by miracles wrought in their presence. 
 
 In war its effects were once equally decisive. Its appearance alone 
 sufficed, like the head of Medusa, to petrify opponents with horror. 
 Superstitious troops (in early times all were superstitious) were as- 
 tounded at the sight of an enemy, supernatural in form, borne along in 
 chariots of clouds and whirlwinds of fire ; no stronger proof of the gods 
 being against them could be adduced. Like the affrighted Philistines 
 under a similar persuasion, their hearts would melt within them, and 
 ere they fled they exclaimed with the warriors of Canaan, “Wo unto 
 us ! Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty gods 'I” 
 
 As a serpent or dragon, it couched by the portals of palaces or lay 
 at the entrance of caverns to protect the plunder its owners had gotten 
 together. 
 
 The annexed figures and subsequent remarks may serve to elucidate in 
 a feeble degree a few of its performances under each of these characters. 
 
 Idols, especially Eolipilic ones, belong to a department of ecclesias- 
 tical history hitherto little examined and less 
 understood. True, they recall no very pleasing 
 associations, yet they make us acquainted with 
 many curious transactions. This figure is a re- 
 presentation of Pusterich, a bronze Eolipilic 
 god of the ancient Germans, described at page 
 399, to which the reader is referred. The burn- 
 ing fluids and flame issued from the mouth and 
 the eye or orifice in the middle of the forehead. 
 
 This is not near so repulsive as many An- 
 cient and modern idols : compared with some 
 it might almost be deemed engaging. Perhaps 
 its admirers were too far advanced to relish a 
 mongrel deity, or one with an extra number of 
 heads or limbs. It is but one among many of 
 its kind which might be adduced, had we the 
 history of numerous bronze images extant, or 
 of others noticed in antiquarian works. Seve- 
 ral have openings behind and fitted for plugs, 
 as if designed for charging them with liquids. 
 
 There is an impressive resemblance between this figure and that of a 
 Cyclop, and there may be a real similitude between idols of this kind 
 and the three fabled sons of Neptune and Amphitrite. As remarked fur- 
 
 No. 287. Ancient Eolipilic Idol. 
 
C y clops. — Fighting Eolipiles. 
 
 9 
 
 ther on, Jire-hreathing and other mythic monsters were not all mere vi- 
 sions, mystic emblems, or hieroglyphical pictures, but actual brazen be- 
 ings, of the forms and with many of the functions described — in other 
 words, Eolipilic idols, personified as all idols were. The reader need 
 not be reminded of the relation of the Cyclops to fire, since they were aids 
 to Vulcan, and were destroyed by Apollo for manufacturing or ejecting, 
 like Pusterich, thunderbolts. They are sometimes described as having 
 but one eye, at other times represented with three — two in the ordinary 
 places, and a third in the forehead, as in the preceding figure. [See plate 
 page 141, vol. 1, Fosbroke’s Encyc. Antiq.J This idol is supposed to have 
 belonged originally to a high antiquity, and may possibly be a genuine 
 Cyclop. 
 
 Two or three more metallic deities, which appear to be Eolipilic, might 
 here be introduced ; but as the fact is uncertain, and nothing but con- 
 jectures could accompany them, we forbear. Had more data been ac- 
 cessible the subject would needs be a thrilling one. No work of imagi- 
 nation could be richer in interest or more fertile in intrigue and plots 
 than accounts of idolatrous androids of the more advanced nations of old, 
 of the puppet-machinery in each famous temple, and the by-play by 
 which the reverend showmen set them off’ to advantage, lulled suspicion 
 and kept their audiences in the right humor. We may descant as we 
 please on epic poets, on tragic and comic authors and actors, but what 
 were the best of them compared to those proto-fathers of fiction and his- 
 trionic professions ? Men whose theatres were temples, whoso stages 
 were altars : master players on the passions, who excited what emotions 
 they pleased, and impressed on their congregations an abiding sense of 
 the realities of the illusions they exhibited. The subject reaches down to 
 the nonage of society and comes up with it to our own days; has relation 
 to the most stupendous system of deception ever conceived, and the most 
 successful one ever practised by man upon man; affords the most de- 
 plorable and durable examples of human credulity and cunning ; in- 
 volves the early history of all races and of nearly all arts. Its exposition 
 of principles of ancient science would be highly instructive, and their 
 villanous applications often amusing. The mystery that envelopes it 
 irresistibly whets curiosity. The little that is known makes us anxious to 
 push aside the skreen that hides from our view the ingenious and elabo- 
 rate mechanism by which pagan monks emasculated the species and 
 kept an awe-stricken world at their feet. 
 
 The following figures illustrate the fighting qualities of the Eolipile. 
 As a war-instrument it became better known than as an oracle confined 
 in temples. In the field it was exposed to the scrutiny of the curious as 
 well as of its immediate managers, so that, whether captured or not, the 
 secret of its construction could not long remain one, or the device be 
 confined, if much employed, to one people. Nor did it cast off’ its pre- 
 tensions to divinity with this change of occupation, but rather sustained 
 them, for it was as a god that it first became terrible in battle — as such 
 its military achievements shook neighboring nations with alarm and ac- 
 quired for it a celebrity that has reached to our times. The nature of its 
 performances remained the same as at the altar, except that it now did 
 not hesitate to destroy those whom it could not convince. 
 
 Every people, no matter how barbarous, esteemed their own gods .su- 
 perior to others. It was indispensable to the interests of priests tu keep 
 this conviction alive under all exigencies ; hence while victories served 
 to establish it, defeats did not overthrow it. These, it was artfully sug- 
 
10 
 
 Deceptions of the Pagan Priesthood. 
 
 gested, were only proofs of a deity having become temporary offended, 
 either for not being properly invoked or on account of indignities offered 
 to his ministers. It was only to make his proteges sensible of his dis- 
 pleasure that on such occasions he left them a prey to their foes ! Pagan 
 history is full of examples, they abound in the Iliad, which opens with 
 one. Thus the character of an oracle or idol, and the influence of its offi- 
 cials were ingeniously preserved whether those who trusted in it became 
 conquerors or conquered, victors or victims. Such was the practice un- 
 der ordinary circumstances, the god remaining the while undisturbed in 
 his fane ; but when extraordinary calamities threatened, when an invad- 
 ing army approached and his worshippers were menaced with captivity 
 or famine, corresponding efforts were made to appease and even to com- 
 pel him to be propitious. Bribes were held out, votive gifts, hecatombs 
 and new temples promised — processions in his honor were got up, with 
 sacred banners, relics, &c. borne aloft, (an European practice through 
 the middle ages, and an Asiatic one yet.) Then to make sure of success 
 by connecting his fate with that of his followers, the latter took him down 
 from his shrine and carried him to the battle-ground, under a belief that 
 he would not suffer himself to be taken if he were disposed to leave 
 them in the lurch. On the same principle idolaters of every age have 
 acted. The early Jews were not free from the strange infatuation^ nor 
 is it easy to see how they could have been better informed previous to 
 or at the period of the Exodus. They were as much attached to idols as 
 the Egyptians, and took the first opportunity that the absence of Moses 
 presented for making an image of Apis. After the severe defeat at 
 Aphek, some of the ignorant got up a cry to bring the ark to the camp and 
 renew the contest under its auspices. “ When it cometh among us it may 
 save us out of the hands of our enemies.” To this the better informed 
 probably acceded with the hope that Jehovah would protect it, and the 
 people for its sake, but they were mistaken — they were routed, thirty 
 thousand were slain, “ the ark of God was taken,” and exhibited in the 
 principal cities of the captors for a period of seven months, during which 
 Phenician priests and artists were probably not very scrupulous in ex- 
 amining its contents, its designs and decorations, the cherubim of ham- 
 mered gold, their forms, features, wings, &c. 
 
 In this same manner warring Eolipiles became known to others than 
 their designers : as gods and demi-gods they made their debut in battle. 
 As such they were victorious, and as such were eventually captured. 
 Exaggerated accounts of some of the earliest are preserved in mythologi- 
 cal annals. So awful were their attributes and so terrific their appearance, 
 that their very looks overcame their opponents. Of this Briareus was 
 an example ; but when their artificial nature became known they put on 
 less formidable shapes, their efficacy then depending more on what they 
 did than how they looked. In comparatively modern epochs they 
 never, however, attained much beauty, if we might judge of the one 
 on the following page. 
 
 The age to which the specimen figured in the next cut belonged is 
 unknown. It and No. 289 are from a Latin folio published in Paris in 
 1535, containing Vegetius on Military Machinery and Institutions, Elian 
 on Tactics, Frontinus on Strategems, and the Book of Modestus on 
 Military Affairs : — collated from codices by Budeus, the celebrated 
 
 French critic. Attached to, and paged with Vegetius, are one hundred 
 and twenty folio illustrations, rudely executed on wood. They are co- 
 pies of those of the old German translation to which we have frequently 
 
11 
 
 Ancient Fighting Eolipile, 
 
 referred, with the exception of a couple of reduced fac -similes which 
 are now before the reader, (a ) 
 
 No. 288. Ancient Fighting Eolipile. 
 
 As not a word of explanation accompanies this singular figure, (nor 
 any other in the book,) and little or nothing is to be found in Vegetius 
 or other Roman authors to aid us, all that we can offer must be received 
 as conjecture. If the magnitude of the machine be judged from other 
 illustrations in the collection, it was colossal. No object is portrayed 
 near it by which to infer its relative dimensions. The general outline 
 represents the- human bust, and the whole seems to have been an enor- 
 mous Pusterich on wheels. It probably combined the god with the war- 
 rior, assuming the character of each as occasion required. It is no bad 
 representative of both ; and the powers it possessed of punishing its 
 enemies are as obvious as they were awful. The ignited jet issued from 
 the conical tube whose wide end is riveted to the forehead — (a small 
 pipe descending from it to the bottom of the bust, as in the air-vessels 
 of fire-engines,) and possibly, also, out of its eyes and mouth. The pro- 
 longation of the nose, and the daggers projecting from the mouth, were 
 intended to ward oft’ blows during assaults, and to prevent access to 
 it, lest the orifice or orifices should be spiked or otherwise closed. Point- 
 ed projections of this kind are quite common adjuncts in old war en- 
 gines. 
 
 As this Eolipile is figured at rest and not in use, neither fire, fire-place, 
 nor the mode of charging it is delineated. The fuel was probably applied 
 in the lower part of the bust behind, though it may have been kindled 
 
 («) “ FI. Vegetii Renati viri illustris de re militari libri quatuor. Sextiivlii Fron- 
 tini viri consularis de str^tegematis libri totidem. ^liani de instruendis aciebns 
 liber unus. Modesti de vocabulis rei militaris liber unus. Item picUiroe bellica? 
 cxx. passim Vegetio adjectse. Collata sunt omnia ad antiques codices, maximo 
 Buda2i, quod testabitur iElianus. Parisiis, mdxxxv.” 
 
12 
 
 Eolipilic War-Dragon. 
 
 externally, the head being for that purpose inclined backwards and rest- 
 ing on the cornigerous and auricular prolongations, which would, like 
 the feet of a caldron, form a tripod to support it. But much allowance 
 must be made for old illustrations. Scarcely ever is an attempt made to 
 delineate interior parts or external details. One object of the horn and 
 ears was obviously to vary the direction of the jet, to incline the tube to 
 the right or left, up or down, somewhat in the manner of the syringe 
 engine of Besson. The wheels are solid, and as there are but two, some 
 mechanism for preserving the image in an upright position was neces- 
 sary : as they moved on separate axles the tube could as readily be 
 turned in a lateral direction as it could be elevated or depressed. The 
 manner of conveying this machine to considerable distances is not indi- 
 cated, probably because it was rather intended as a stationary means of 
 defence, than, like the next> a moveable one for attack. 
 
 Here is a variety of the griffin, hippogriff, or dragon genus, placed on 
 four wheels, and evidently designed to break the ranks of an opposing 
 army, by being driven through them. The burning liquids rushed out ot 
 two rows of small holes on the upper jaw or lip : the effect forcibly re- 
 minding one of mythic monsters from whose nostrils went forth smoke, 
 and from whose mouths issued flame. No provision is shown for raising 
 or lowering the jets, nor was any necessary, for from the elevation and 
 position of the orifices, troops among whom this engine forced its way 
 could not avoid either right or left its fluid and scorching missive. The 
 rod held by the captain or leader is enlarged and pierced or cloven at 
 its upper end, where it is joined to the head : it is apparently a lever by 
 which the plug of a cock was turned to open and shut off the discharge. 
 We may suppose the passage was closed in the present position of the 
 lever, and that to open it the manager pulled back the end he grasps, 
 until, like a modern artillerist, he became sufficiently in the rear to be 
 out of harm’s way when the jets found vent ; he then could join his asso- 
 ciates in directing the monster’s movements. The wheels, as in the last 
 figure, are represented solid, a feature undoubtedly genuine ; for it was 
 the uniform practice to attempt to stop the progress of such war-chariots 
 as had wheels with spokes, by throwing spears, &c. between the latter; 
 
Its ejf'ccts in battle. — Dragons figured on 'Banners. 13 
 
 and hence such wheels were sometimes covered with boards or plates of 
 iron previous to entering into battle. 
 
 The sword or dagger-like tongue kept an enemy from approaching 
 too near in front, while the flames protected both sides. It would not 
 have answered the purposes of this war-engine to have made its sides 
 horrent with bayonets, for they would have retarded its progress by con- 
 tact with every obstacle within their reach. Its efflciency depended chief- 
 ly on the velocity and precision of its movements, it would therefore be 
 divested, of every thing calculated to interfere with these. The inclina- 
 tion of the tongue was designed to remove obstacles from the path. 
 Had the spike been horizontal it would have transfixed objects it met 
 with, and the progress of the machine would soon have been stopped. 
 This machine is apparently represented as in times of peace, for, unlike 
 most others in the collection, no signs of war are delineated in the land- 
 scape. The fire was perhaps applied externally, as in the case of Pus- 
 terich, the brazen monster belonging to the Tyrant of Agrigentum, and 
 other ancient devices of the kind: but this part of the subject is very 
 obscure. Like chariots with swords and scythes fixed to them, and 
 others with similar weapons revolving in their fronts, this machine when 
 in active service was most likely urged forward by horses }^oked behind ; 
 or by a number of men applying their force to bars attached to and ra- 
 diating from the rear — both ancient and very common war devices. 
 
 An enormous Eolipile, formed after the above pattern, charged with 
 inflammable liquids, and driven furiously and unexpectedly upon a su- 
 perstitious foe, must not only have borne all before it, like a modern 
 locomotive, but must have rendered opposition hopeless until its contents 
 were expended. 
 
 The dimensions of this war dragon cannot safely be inferre^d from 
 those of the men attached to it, for in most of the plates in the work 
 whence it is taken, no kind of proportion is preserved. Soldiers raising 
 ladders to scale the walls of high towers are often drawn sufficiently tall 
 to reach the roof with their hands. 
 
 As the name of a war machine, the term dragon was continued to 
 modern times. It was early given to pieces of ordnance, to devices re- 
 sembling in their attributes ancient Eolipilic monsters. Ciilverines were 
 originally called fiery-dragons. The Draconarii of the Romans bore 
 dragons on their standards ; the Parthians, Indians, Persians, Scythians, 
 Assyrians, Normans, Saxons, Welsh, and all the Celtic and Gothic na- 
 tions painted the same thing upon their banners and pennons, as the 
 Chinese, Russians, Tartars, &c. do now. Modern dragoons have pro- 
 bably also derived their designation from soldiers who formerly managed 
 Eolipilic dragons, as in the preceding figure ; the name being preser\’ed 
 in war’s vocabulary after the office and instrument were forgotten. Or- 
 ders of chivalry were named after the dragon, and heraldry abounds 
 with its figures. 
 
 Let us now turn to the history of the Goths, by Olaus Magnus. (Basil 
 ed. 1567.) The fourth chapter of the ninth book is headed, “ De cereis 
 equis ignivomis^^ — “Of brazen horses that vomit fire.” The materials of 
 the chapter are condensed from the History of the Danes, by Saxo 
 Grammaticus, a writer who flourished A. D. 1140. The principal inci- 
 dent relates to the stratagetic skill of an old king, licgnerus, who was 
 eventually put to death by his sons, Daxon and Dian. On one occasion 
 the two rebellious brothers invaded their father’s kingdom, having been 
 furnished for the purpose with a large army by king Ruthenus, whose 
 
14 
 
 'Brazen Horses that vomited Fire. 
 
 daughters they had married. Alarmed at the mighty forces brought 
 against him, Regnerus ordered a number of brazen, fire-breathing horses 
 to be secured on chariots, and whirled suddenly into the densest body 
 of his enemies. The manceuvre succeeded, and his unnatural sons were 
 put to flight. It appears that the chariots and their burdens were ex- 
 ceedingly massive, since they overwhelmed whatever opposed them. 
 We add the passage at large from Saxo. It will be perceived that he 
 is silent respecting the fire-vomiting faculty of the metallic chargers, 
 though that was clearly implied in the opinion of the Gothic historian ; 
 an opinion that can hardly be questioned. 
 
 Post haec Regnerus, expeditionem in Hellesponticos parans, vocata- 
 que Danorum concione, saluberrimas se populo leges laturum promit- 
 lens, ut unusquisque paterfamilias, secut ante, quern minimi inter 
 liberos duxerat, militaturum exhiberet, ita tunc valentioris operae filiuin 
 aut probatioris fidei servum armaret, edixit. Quo facto omnibus, quos 
 ex Thora procreverat, filiis, praeter ubbonen, assumptis, Hellespontum 
 ejusque regem Dian variis contusum bellis lacessendo perdomuit. Ad 
 ultimum eundem creberrimis discriminibus implicatum extinxit. Cujus 
 filii Dian et Daxon, olim Ruteni regis filias maritali sorte complexi, im- 
 petratis a socero copiis, ardentissimo spiritu paternas vindictae negotium 
 rapuerunt. Quorum Regnerus immensum animadvertens exercitum, 
 diffidentia copiarum habita, equos ceneos ductilibus rotalis superpositos ac 
 versatilibus curriculis circumductos in confertissimos hostes maxima vi 
 exagitari praecepit. Quae res tantum ad laxandam adversariorum aciem 
 valuit, ut vincendi spes magis in machinamento quam milite reposita 
 videretur, cujus intolerabilis moles, quicquid impulit obruit. Altero 
 ergo ducum interfecto altero fuga sublapso, universus Hellisponticorum 
 cessit exercitus. Scithae quoque, Daxon arctissimo materni sanguinis 
 vinculo contingentes, eodem obstriti discrimine refuruntur. Quorum 
 provincia Witserco attributa, Rutenorum reg. parum viribus fidens, for- 
 midolosa Regneri arma fuga praecurrere maturavit. 
 
 [Saxo Grammatici Historia Dania. Edited by P. E. Muller. Copenbagen, 1839. Liber ix. p. 452.) 
 
 In a note on the Equos ^neos, the editor, not knowing that such 
 things had ever been, observes, “ commentum nescio unde petitum.” 
 
 No. 290. Eolipilic War-Engines. 
 
 The cut No. 290 is copied from the rude illustrations of the fourth and 
 fifth chapters, Book ix, of Olaus Magnus. A figure of one of the brazen 
 
Greek-Jire . — Cojypcr imagoes of Men. 
 
 Id 
 
 horses is in the foreground, but as usual it is a mere outline, and was 
 perhaps designed by the illustrator of the Gothic historian’s work from 
 the meagre description its pages or those of Saxo alford. Nothing defi- 
 nite can be derived from it which the text does not furnish. Neither the 
 carriage nor its load comes up to the description : the words imply that 
 the images had some elastic and revolving mechanism of their own, and 
 versatile chariots meant something more than common carts. 
 
 The fifth chapter (Book ix) is on the same subject, and to this effect. 
 * Vincentius in Spec. Histo. L. xxxi. Cap. 10, asserts that the king of the 
 Indians, commonly called Prester John, being attacked by a powerful 
 army of Ethiopian Saracens, enemies of the Christian faith, delivered 
 himself by a stratagem not unlike that of Regnerus, for he made copper 
 images of men and mounted each upon a horse. Behind every image was 
 a man to govern it, and to blow with a bellows, through holes made for 
 the purpose, on fumid materials inserted beforehand into the body of the 
 image. Provided with a large number of these he proceeded vigorously 
 against his enemies, whom Vincentius calls Mongols or Tartars. The 
 mounted images being ranged side by side in front of the hostile army, 
 their managers were directed to advance, and when arrived within a 
 short distance of the foe to commence blowing with their bellows the 
 smoking fire within, and with a continual blast to fill the air with dark- 
 ness — the consequences of which were that many of the invaders were 
 slain and others took to sudden flight. Large numbers of horsemen and 
 horses were burnt to death and some reduced to ashes hg Greekfre, 
 composed of the following ingredients, by the artificers of Prester John: 
 
 Aspaltum, nepta, dragantnm, pix quoque Greca, 
 
 Suiphur, vernicis, de pelrolio quoque vilro, 
 
 Mercuriij sal gemmee Gfaeci dicitur ignis. 
 
 Item: Sulphur, petrolium, colopho, resi, terebinthi, 
 
 Aspaltum, camphora, nepta, armo, benediclum.’ 
 
 Magnus could make nothing out of these old poetic recipes. He thought 
 it would be a vain task to attempt their explanation, and wicked to revive 
 the invention. He seems to have been of an opinion — once heartily enter- 
 tained — that the souls of the authors of Greek-fire and gunpowder were 
 reaping their appropriate rewards in perdition, doomed for ever to taste 
 of torments which their “devilish devices” inflicted on others. Vincen- 
 tius, or Vincent De Beauvais, was a learned monk of the 13th century, 
 and one of the most voluminous writers whose works furnished employ- 
 ment to the first race of printers. He died about 1260. His “Speculum 
 Historiale” was printed in 1473. The most striking incident drawn from 
 it by the Gothic writer we quoted at page 400, from Carpini, a contem- 
 porary monk, who began his travels in 1245, and to whom he of Beauvais 
 was most likely indebted for it. 
 
 If the reader will now look again at the last cut he will find on the 
 back ground a miniature of one of the brazen horsemen in the act of 
 attacking the Mongols, and with a living soldier on the crupper per- 
 forming his part of the business with bellows. There is certainly an air 
 of romance about these figures ; but accounts of them reaching us through 
 ages and hot-beds of legends, might be expected to be loaded with 
 apocryphal matters. Of the main feature, that of- ejecting flame and 
 smoke, there is no room to question, since it is corroborated by old 
 writers on Greek-fire, by the brazen horses of Saxo, and the preceding 
 figures in this supplement. But Carpini’s relation does not savor so 
 
16 
 
 Greek-Jire a liquid. — Modes of ejecting it. 
 
 much of poetry as may be supposed. The principal difRculty is in 
 mounting the images on natural horses; but this is not a necessary in- 
 ference. They may have been artificial as well as their automaton 
 riders — and we believe were so — were secured, like those mentioned 
 by Saxo, on carriages, and behind them the bellows-blowers were loca- 
 ted. If this is not what Carpini meant, we should say he misunderstood 
 his informant. Living horses, with flames roaring and rushing from ori- 
 fices close to their eyes and ears, would be as likely to be afirighted as 
 those they attacked : however drilled, they could not in such circumstan- 
 ces be managed without difficulty and without requiring the whole at- 
 tention of their riders, but the latter were entirely engaged in urging the 
 fires at the most critical periods of the charge, leaving the animals to 
 pursue the right course of themselves. W e presume the metalline ima- 
 ges were a species of Hippocentaurs, the flames issuing from the hu- 
 man bust, and the fluid and other materials contained in the spacious 
 abdomen below. 
 
 It is said these equestrian images cast forth G reek-fire; were they 
 then Eolipiles'f mounted Pusterichs'? i. e. were they charged with li- 
 quids, or with dry substances, which once ignited continued of them- 
 selves to burn until the whole became expended % From the want of 
 specific information it is difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion on this 
 point. The evidence, however, preponderates in favor of their Eolipi- 
 lic character. Had the contents been a composition similar to any thing 
 used in modern pyrotechnics, what need of fire to heat them and of bel- 
 lows to urge the fire 1 How did the flaming stream continue to issue 
 from its orifice with unabated force as the material diminished within, 
 as it sank far below the place of exit % Would not the image be liable 
 to explode ere its contents were half emptied % If not, why have me- 
 tallic images % Those of fragile materials wmuld have done. Again, the 
 reaction of the jet, like that of a rocket, would require no small force to 
 be overcome : it would be very apt to shoot the brazen warriors back 
 among their friends, instead of their carrying destruction among their 
 foes. But not one of these objections, and others which might be named, 
 apply to Eolipiles — to a liquid discharged by the elasticity of its own 
 vapor, or the vapor itself thus shot forth. With these instruments the 
 employment of fuel was necesary and the application of a blast in time of 
 action important if not indispensable. But, what is more to the point, 
 Greek-fire was a liquid. See p. 307, 8. Meyrick, in his account of ancient 
 armor, gives its composition from an author of the time of Edward HI. 
 Several ingredients enumerated are mentioned in the preceding re- 
 cipes from Vincentius : — An equal quantity of pulverized rosin, sul- 
 phur and pitch ; one fourth of o^opanax and of pigeons’ dung well dried, 
 were dissolved in turpentine water, or oil of sulphur : then put into a 
 close and strong glass vessel and heated for fifteen days in an oven, after 
 which the whole was distilled in the manner of spirit of wine, and kept 
 for use. Another account makes it to consist chiefly of turpentine 
 water (spirits of turpentine) slowly distilled with turpentine gum. It 
 was said to ignite by coming in contact with water. 
 
 Two distinct modes of dispersing the horrible fluid are mentioned ; 
 one by forcing-pumps, the other by “ blowing” it through tubes and 
 from the mouths, &c. of metallic monsters. The former is noticed in 
 connection with naval warfare, and the latter, if we mistake not, was 
 chiefly employed in conflicts on land. Any one can see how difficult it 
 would be for soldiers promptly to apply pumps in the confusion of bat- 
 
Greek-Fire and modes of projecting it. 
 
 17 
 
 tie. Apparatus equal to our fire-engines would have been of little effect, 
 for the jets could but feebly be sustained, and worse directed while the 
 reservoirs, engines and men were in motion, whirling hither and thither, 
 now advancing and anon retreating. We read also of portable “ siphones'* 
 being also used, but these and the necessary ^•essels to hold the liquid 
 were still less likely to be effective except on ships in close combat ; 
 where to keep up conflagrations, the fluid could be ejected, cold and un- 
 ignited, on parts already kindled-~as if our engines were to be employed 
 to lanch oil or turpentine on objects already in flames. On ship-board, 
 the reservoirs were always at hand, and both men and the fixed pumps 
 they worked relatively at rest, and moreover protected either between 
 decks or in equally secure locations, so that one or two individuals alone 
 sufficed to direct the fiery streams over a galley’s bow or sides, and 
 through flexible or jointed ajutages. 
 
 The expression “ blown thi'ough tubes,” &:c. could, of course, have no 
 reference to any thing like the sarbacan, nor to any employment of hu- 
 man lungs. No adequate and no continuous force could have been ob» 
 tained except by artificial means, and of those by none so readily as by 
 the Eolipile. That this instrument was intended, the figures in the cut 
 strongly indicate. If the vapor of the fiery liquid was ejected, we know 
 that nothing else could have answered. But both the idea and expression 
 are used at this day with respect to modern Eolipiles : engineers “ blow 
 off” steam by opening a safety valve or other aperture of a boiler; and 
 when one of these explodes, on shore or afloat, how often is it said of 
 missing individuals and objects, they were “ blown overboard”- — or 
 
 blown to such and such distances.” On a review then of the particu- 
 lars that have reached us respecting the famous Greek-fire, it seems that 
 the machinery for ejecting it on shipboard was a species of pump ; and 
 on land by large boilers, suspended on wheels and driven by horses or 
 men, made in fantastic forms of men and animals, fiom whose mouths 
 the flaming torrents were ejected. This, ancient writers have asserted, 
 and the figures we have given confirm. 
 
 That Greek-fire was rather the revival of an old thing than the dis- 
 covery of a new one, and that both the fire and the machines for dis- 
 persing it — -Eolipilic devices infinitely more grotesque than any figured 
 on these pages — -were known in extremely remote times, is, we think, 
 pretty clear. Under this impression some further remarks are submitted 
 with the view of eliciting attention to a curious and interesting subject 
 of archeological research — one which, it will be conceded, appears to 
 reflect light on old legends as well as on old Eolipiles. 
 
 The history of idolatrous and other Eolipilic automata is lost or per- 
 haps never was written, and now the (opportunity, the materials and men 
 for preparing it are gone ; the requisite knowledge did not sufficiently 
 transpire beyond the walls of temples, and even there was confined to a 
 privileged few. Such a record could only have been furnished by those 
 who had every earthly inducement to suppress it — by men whose private 
 labors were devoted to disguise the elements of deceptive devices they 
 employed, and whose public administrations still further concealed them. 
 It may therefore be concluded that such an exposed was never made, or, 
 if made, religiously reserved for the perusal of heads of colleges or the 
 eyes of arch-magicians alone. It is to be regretted that so valuable a 
 fund of hidden knowledge, of mechanical and chemical combinations, of 
 singular discoveries and inventions; a bibliotheca for philosophers and 
 
18 
 
 Mythic Monsters and Dragon-killing Heroes. 
 
 artisans, illustrating, probably, every branch of ancient science and ex- 
 posing the secret worldngs of some of the shrewdest spirits of antiquity — 
 should bo lost. It would have enabled us to repeat staple tricks of Baby- 
 lonian sorcerers and soothsayers, and would have placed us in a more 
 favorable position for observation than was Pharaoh when he commanded 
 “the magicians of Egypt and the wise men thereof” to exhibit their 
 skill in his presence. 
 
 It is with Eolipiles as with other materiel of old jugglers. The few 
 broken specimens and straggling notices which have come down are in- 
 teresting but unsatisfactory; they tantalize with a sip, and make the 
 mouth water for more, provoking a thirst which they cannot allay. That 
 these instruments are of a very high antiquity is undeniable, and that 
 they were occasionally used to eject inflammable fluids for deceptive 
 and destructive purposes is equally certain. The resemblance in the 
 forms and functions of those we have figured to mythological fire-spout- 
 ing monsters, is too striking to escape observation. And is there any ab- 
 surdity in supposing both were artificial ; that the latter were literally 
 what they are described ; and that stories of dragon-killing heroes are 
 not quite so romantic as they appear % A literal interpretation of such 
 matters may appear preposterous, but a slight view of the subject will 
 convince unprejudiced minds that it is not half so absurd as many receiv- 
 ed metaphorical solutions, nor is it, like them, embarrassed with insur- 
 mountable difficulties ; on the contrary, it renders things intelligible 
 which paleologists have not ventured to explain, and which, without re- 
 ference to Eolipilic automata, we presume they never can explain — 
 things so bizarre they know not what to make of them. But once admit 
 they were what they pretend to be, and there is little difficulty in receiv- 
 ing them ; interpret them by some other rule, and we are at once cast 
 adrift on the ocean of conjecture. 
 
 Admit that mythic characters obtained celebrity from battling with 
 Eolipilic opponents ; that some, at least, of the dragons and many-headed 
 monsters of antiquity performed actions ascribed to them — belched out 
 smoke and flame, shrieked and growled, and on the approach of strangers 
 or “curious impertinents ” shook theraselv-es, sprung from their caves, 
 (they were commonly and for good reasons located in dark places) often 
 destroyed those who attacked them, and sometimes disappeared in sudden 
 bursts of thunder and amidst showers of thunderbolts — very much as 
 their descendants, the steam-dragons of the present day, unfortunately 
 now and then do. Admit this, and passages in history, poetry and tradi- 
 tion, hitherto inexplicable, become recitals of facts; embarrassing enig- 
 mas are unriddled, and the supposed offspring of fancy are found sober 
 children of truth. That Greek and Roman writers did not perceive this 
 is little to the point, since they do not appear to have been acquainted 
 with fighting Eolipiles; they were therefore necessarily at a loss to ex- 
 plain, except by metaphor, conflicts between these machines and heroes 
 of ancient days. But the presiding spii’its at Eleusis and Delphos could 
 have furnished the clew, and, had it suited their views, could have illus- 
 trated the entire series of fire-breathing monsters, by reference to their 
 own collections ; for, as before remarked, Eolipiles went from the altar to 
 the field. 
 
 In those remote times, when superstition reigned paramount, when 
 common objects and events were construed into omens and uncommon 
 ones were looked on as prodigies, the defeat of an army by fire-breathing 
 warriors would form an epoch in barbarian annals ; exaggerated descrip- 
 
Wars of the Giants. 
 
 19 
 
 tions of flaming cliariots, of giants, dragons, liippogrifls and hybrids of 
 every horrid form, and possessing supernatural powers, would be bla- 
 zoned abroad and become permanently preserved in tradition. It could 
 not be otherwise ; and that such was really the case is evident, for my- 
 thology and remote history is replete with these very things ; with battles 
 between Gods, Cyclops and Titans. But in process of time the artificial 
 nature of warring Eolipiles would sooner or later be suspected and as- 
 certained. Intrepid individuals took courage to attack and had the good 
 fortune to destroy one. Success made them heroes, if not something 
 more. To swell their fame the form and faculties of their strange oppo- 
 nents were distorted, and the story repeated, with every addition that a 
 love of the marvellous could invent or credulity receive, till, as ages 
 rolled away, it became just what such stories yet extant are — stories of 
 monster-killing gallants from Jason to Saint George. 
 
 AVARS OF THE GIANTS. 
 
 In the wars of the giants, fire, thunder and thunderbolts were the 
 chief destructive agents, and these, w^e are told, Avere produced by and 
 ejected from monsters, apparently precisely in the maimer of Pusterich, 
 Some had more heads and arms than have Hindoo deities, with bodies 
 terminating, like that of Dagon, in legs resembling fish or serpents. 
 When brought into battle their terrible aspects and the A'olumes of flame 
 they poured forth filled their enemies, the gods, with consternation. 
 Defeated, these fled into Egypt, where they learned the nature of their 
 ardent foes. Jupiter, Hercules, and their associate refugees having thus 
 ascertained that their victors were not invincible, recovered courage, 
 returned, and were at last victorious. Now Avhat, when stripped of orien- 
 tal ornament, does this amount to, but a conflict similar to that between 
 Prester John and his Mongolian invaders; between Begnerus and his 
 unnatural sons, and othersHn which fire-spouting images, figured in this 
 supplement, were employed % The most ingenious conquering, whether 
 gods or mortals were combatants. The names of the mythic parties 
 were misnomers, for the deities were ignorant braggarts — they could not 
 withstand their “ earth-born ” enemies, but fled for refuge and instruction 
 into other lands. The accounts remarkably resemble Chinese bulletins 
 of fights with Europeans — contests between modern “Celestials” and 
 “outside barbarians.” For, ancient like, existing “sons of heaven” 
 seem to have placed at first as much dependence upon their divine pre- 
 tensions and their comminations as in their weapons, and therefore AA^ere 
 defeated. The giants were probably ingenious or scientific men — the 
 Roger Bacons of their day — in advance of the age and consequently de- 
 nounced, as such have ever been, by self-styled heirs of heaven, as infidel 
 dogs or children of Tartarus. 
 
 The circumstance of the divinities flying to Egypt when they could not 
 cope with the fire-breathing monsters, or rather with the cunning mon- 
 ster-makers, is remarkable. There they, like less pretenders, improved 
 themselves in knowledge. That it Avas an early Pharaonic policy to en- 
 courage the discontented of neighboring nations, is abundantly proved 
 in the Old Testament. “Wo to them that go to Egypt for help — that 
 strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh !” [See Isa. chaps. 30 and 
 31 ; Jerem. 42 and 43.] How deep and general must have been the im- 
 pression of the power of the Pharaohs to call forth the declaration — “ Noav 
 the Egyptians are men and not God ; their horses flesh and not spirit.” 
 
20 
 
 Typhon . — Colchian Bulls and, Dragon. 
 
 T Y P H O N. 
 
 Here is a description of Typhon, the most famous of fighting giants — 
 can it be doubted that he was a genuine Pusterich 1 “ He had nume- 
 rous heads resembling those of serpents or dragons. Flames of devour- 
 ing fire rushed hissing from his mouth and eyes ; he uttered horrid yells 
 like the dissonant shrieks of different animals. He was no sooner born 
 than he warred with the gods and put them to flight.” Not a circum- 
 stance is here mentioned that does not accord with his alleged artificial 
 character, and there are few others which do not harmonize with it. 
 He went to battle as soon as born, that is, as soon as he was made. The 
 whole family was said to be “ earth-born ” — the members rising out of 
 the ground completely formed, &c.; indications of their gross not ideal 
 nature, of their secret construction in subterranean workshops — the lat- 
 ter a precaution essential to the recognition of, and belief in their super- 
 natural origin. 
 
 She sings, from earth’s dark womb how Typhon rose, 
 
 And struck with mortal fear his heavenly foes. — [Ovid, Met. v.j 
 
 The name, Typhon, is derived from a word signifying, “ to smolceT 
 The goddess of night was the mother of monsters ; an enigma beau- 
 tifully expressive of the secret fabrication of Eolipilic imagery. Typhon 
 and his brethren were moreover sons of Tartarus as well as of Terra — 
 were brought forth of earth by the assistance of hell — a trait still further 
 significative, and particularly of the element by which they were anima- 
 ted, that from which their terrors were derived. Demons they were in 
 shape, occupations and attributes ; in the torments they inflicted and 
 the victims they slew ; tangible, and the most perfect representations of 
 evil principles and passions. The paternity of these monsters is the 
 same as that given to modern ordnance, so true it is that similar things 
 ever produce the same ideas. A thousand times have guns and gun- 
 powder been described as infernal inventions, as conceptions injected 
 by demons and matured by their influence. 
 
 Does the idea seem too gross for contending gods and demi-gods to 
 fight with Eolipiles ] Let it be remembered that Milton could find no 
 warring engines so appropriate for Satan and his hosts as artillery. In 
 fact, poets can only arm mortal or immortal warriors with weapons and 
 agents that are known,- although they may exaggerate them. All sym- 
 bolic imagery must be derived, directly or remotely, from earthly types. 
 The author of Paradise Lost necessarily followed, in this respect also, 
 the old mythologists he copied, and as “ fiery monsters,” whether guns 
 or Eolipiles, are not in their nature and effects much unlike, we find 
 little difference in ancient poetic descriptions of one, and modern poetic 
 descriptions of the other. Indeed they might often be interchanged with- 
 out detection. The monsters described by Milton as mounted upon 
 wheels, wh©se mouths with hideous orifices gaped, and which, with im- 
 petuous fury, belched from their deep throats chained-thunderbolts and 
 iron hail, are therefore no stronger proofs of guns and gunpowder being 
 known during the English Commonwealth, than are fire-breathing hy- 
 brids of mythology, of the early use of Eolipilic engines. 
 
 THE COLCHIAN BULLS AND DRAGON. 
 
 If we turn to later examples we shall find circumstances leaking out 
 which betray the artificial character of mythic monsters. The Argo- 
 nautic, like all early expeditions, was of a piratical nature. Its object 
 
Medea and Jason. — Flying- Dragons. 
 
 21 
 
 the Colchian treasury, or the “ golden fleece,” a term in ancient Syriac 
 implying treasures of gold. These were protected by a dragon, and by 
 two brazen-horned and hoofed bulls, which flashed from their mouths 
 and nostrils flames and smoke. As usual, they were located at the en- 
 trance of a cave. 
 
 “ Thick smoko their subterraneous home proclaims ; 
 
 “ From their broad nostrils pour the rolling flames.” 
 
 \Apollonlus, L. iii.J 
 
 The daughter of ^Eetes (the Colchian king) becomes enamored of 
 Jason. The lovers swear eternal fidelity to each other; and to save the 
 adventurer’s life, Medea explains to him the secret of the monster’s 
 powers. Thus informed, and furnished with an ointment to protect his 
 face and hands from the singeing blast at the onset, he approached with 
 a smiling countenance, as well he might, and quickly, to the chagrin of 
 the monarch, subdued the “ brazen ” monsters. If any doubt remains re- 
 specting the true character of this transaction, it is greatly if not wholly 
 removed by the subsequent conduct of Medea. She every where evin- 
 ces familiarity with the principles of the Eolipile — with secret applications 
 of fire, steam, sulphur, inflammable fluids and explosive compositions. 
 (See page 120.) By the adroit use of these, which she introduced into 
 Greece, she became celebrated as the most expert enchantress of an- 
 tiquity. It was by a clever but diabolical trick in Pyrotechnics she de- 
 stroyed Creusa, while, further to be revenged on her unfaithful husband, 
 she contrived to set his palace in flames and then disappeared in a cha- 
 riot drawn by winged dragons! — probably some startling pyrotechnic 
 device learned from the magicians at her father’s court, and under the 
 cover of which she withdrew ; unless we are to suppose she was blown 
 up by the explosion of one of her own caldrons or compounds. 
 
 There is no improbability in the supposition that attempts at flying 
 were somewhat frequent in remote ages, and that jugglers and artists, 
 like Dsedalus, did then, as in subsequent times, get up exhibitions of the 
 kind ; but, be this as it might, it may be taken for granted that so expert a 
 pyrotechnist as Medea, was at no loss in sending up a chariot with an 
 artificial representation of herself, on the same principle as such things 
 have been done from time immemorial in India and among the Chinese. 
 They were common a few centuries ago in Europe. Like most old 
 writers on fire-works, John Bate gives directions how to make “ fire- 
 drakes ” and “ flying-dragons.” The latter were to be constructed of 
 ribs of light and dry wood, or with whalebone “ covered with muscovie 
 glasse and painted.” They were to be filled with “ petrars,”— fiery ser- 
 pents were attached to their wings, which were arranged to shake when 
 the monster moved. A sparkling composition was to burn at the mouths 
 and tails, and one or two large rockets were to be attached, “according 
 to the bignesse and weight of each dragon.” The trick of Simon Magus, 
 in presence of Claudian or Nero, was perhaps allied to that by which 
 the Colchian enchantress astounded her adopted countrymen. Giving 
 out that he would prove his divinity, or his alliance with the gods, by 
 flying, he appeared at the appointed time, as the story says, on the top 
 of a high tower, whence he flung himself, (or an artificial substitute,) 
 and floated for some time in the air, supported by demons or dragons. 
 The latter no doubt as real as the huge scarabeus which Dr. John Dee, 
 state -conjurer to Elizabeth, made, and which flew off v/ith a man on its 
 back, and took a basket of provisions for the journey. 
 
 Oriental literature is laden with aerial exploits of this nature — of en- 
 
22 
 
 Ancient and Modern Jugglers. — Medea and the Dragon. 
 
 chanters, who like Medea, or Urganda in Amadis de Gaul, transported 
 men through the air on artificial serpents and dragons, and of conflicts be- 
 tween knights and monsters. But for the loss of those volumes on “ cu- 
 rious arts,” — the pile of magical books burnt at Ephesus — (Acts, xix. 19.) 
 many an ancient and modern prodigy might have been explained. "We 
 know with w’hat ardor marvellous tricks and stories were devised and 
 concocted in the middle ages, ai]d with what avidity gaping multitudes 
 received them. Even at this very day similar tricks are played off* suc- 
 cessfully by monks to unsuspicious congregations. Is it any wonder, 
 then, to find pagan boors in Roman times, and others in the darkest of 
 mythic epochs, dupes to expert jugglers % We may regret the infatuation 
 of remote ages, but we should not forget how, in comparatively late 
 days, traditions arose and swelled in wonder as years rolled over them, 
 and how mechanical devices, simple in themselves, but not comprehend- 
 ed by the public, were metamorphosed into supernatural productions, 
 which increased in mystery and magnitude as the times when they were 
 contemplated receded from those of their birth. Had printing not been 
 introduced we might have competed wfith the ancients in prodigies, and 
 prodigies as fully believed ; for there are few old examples derived 
 from tangible mechanism, or pure phantasma, that have not been 
 imitated by modern manufacturers. But alas for these ! the revival of 
 letters is the bane of their fame. Stripped of their borrowed garments 
 they stand before us as ordinary mortals — a predicament most of their 
 predecessors would be in, had we equal facilities to disrobe them. 
 
 The manner of taming the dragon at Golchis is characteristic. It was 
 the work of Medea rather than of Jason, accomplished privily, and at 
 midnight. Instead of instructing the leader of the Grecian adventurers 
 to attack it as he attacked the bovine monsters, armed with his faulchion 
 and club — a species of combat that might have alarmed the palace, she 
 adopted a process more quiet and equally eff’ective ; in fact, just such an 
 one as might have been expected from her. 
 
 “ To make the dragon sleep that never slept, 
 
 Whose crest shoots dreadful lustre ; from his jaws 
 A triple tire of forked stings he drawls, 
 
 With fangs and wings of a prodigious size: 
 
 Such was the guardian of the golden prize. 
 
 Yet him, besprinkled with Letlicean devj, 
 
 The fair enchantress info slumbers threivd^ \^Met. vii.] 
 
 That is, in unadorned prose, she turned or threw on the concealed 
 boiler and furnace a shower of cold water ; and thus, without injuring 
 the dragon, sent him as effectually to sleep as a steam-engine is without 
 steam — the very device which has been recommended to render harm- 
 less a boiler when ready to explode. 
 
 The incident mentioned by Apollonius of the dragon hissing so hor- 
 ribly and loud, when the two lovers approached, as to cause neighboring 
 forests to echo back the sound and make distant people start in their 
 dreams, is pure hyperbole : if modified to an ordinary growl it is hardly 
 reconcileable with what he just before narrates of the lady being so cau- 
 tious of awakening the numerous palace-guards as to escape through 
 by-paths barefoot. Sensible of the solecism he in the next breath as- 
 cribes the undisturbed repose of ^etes and his family to magic. It 
 would however be futile to attempt to extract unadulterated truth in 
 every particular from labored fiction, and particularly in dragon history, 
 to make out where truth and fable meet, where one begins or the other 
 
The ChimcLra . — Cacus. 
 
 no 
 
 ends. Facts woven up in old poetry were like woollen threads in Baby- 
 lonian garments — valued in proportion as they were embellished. The 
 poet’s like the sculptor’s or embroiderer’s skill was measured by the art 
 with which ordinary materials were lost in forms and ornament. Fev/ 
 think of aluminous earth while viewing the splendid vase, and none look 
 for truth unadorned in works of classic artists. 
 
 THE CHIMERA. 
 
 The Chimaera destroyed by Bellerophon looks very like another speci- 
 men of Eolipilic ingenuity, though represented of course as a living ani- 
 mal, agreeably to legendary tradition and poetic license. Homer de- 
 scribes it as 
 
 Lion faced, 
 
 With dragon tail, shag bodied as the goat, 
 
 And from his jaws ejecting streams of fire, \ll. vi.j 
 
 The most popular of ancient explanations supposes this monster sig- 
 nified a burning mountain, whose top, on account of its desolate nature, 
 was the resort of lions, [an obvious contradiction] the middle being fruit- 
 ful, abounded with goats, the marshy ground at the bottom swarmed 
 with serpents, and Bellerophon by cultivating the mountain subdued it ! 
 Such is one of the best specimens of classical guessing, and yet both 
 mountain and its inhabitants were suppositious — assumed for want of 
 better grounds of conjecture. It is observable that old fire-breathing 
 monsters are represented as akin to each other: thus the Chimaera, the 
 dragon which guarded the golden fruit in the garden of the Hesperides, 
 Cerberus and others, were related to Typhon and the rest of the giants — 
 as if to intimate their common nature, so that, according to mythology 
 itself, if one was an automaton, all, or nearly all, partook of the same 
 character. If the mountain supplied the true solution of the Chimaera, it 
 should furnish a key to unriddle the rest, but it would be impossible to 
 locate volcanoes where fiery dragons were — -in gardens, cellars, palaces, 
 &c. and still more so to make them travel abroad and rush hither and 
 thither in battle. 
 
 How much more reasonable to admit the Chimaera to have been an 
 Eolipilic dragon; its description is then natural, its appearance and per- 
 formances credible, and its demolition by the great captain consistent. 
 Old demi-gods did not acquire their titles by wielding the mattock. 
 
 If the figure No. 289 had a couple more heads and were furnished 
 with the caudal terminus of a lizard or cayman, it would form no bad 
 representation of the Chima3ra. 
 
 CACUS. 
 
 As like causes produce like effects, so in early as in later times dis- 
 banded soldiers turned often robbers. Too idle to work, numbers of 
 these ruffians lived by private plunder when opportunities ceased for 
 sharing public spoils. Not a few of the old heroes belonged to this class, 
 and among them was Cacus. The story of this famous thief is an adini- 
 
 ^ There is a striking likeness in the manners, customs and superstitions of the Co! 
 chians, as portrayed by Apollonius Rhodius, and those of the people described bv Saxo 
 and Olaus Magnus, It would be a curious fact if fighting and juggling Eolipiles, or 
 the knowledge of them, lingered in the regions of the Euxine and Caspian from the 
 adventure of the Argonauts to the battles in which the automatons represented in figs. 
 289 and 290 are said to have been employed. It was from Scythia the arts of brass- 
 founding and working in metals descended to lower latitudes, according to Pliny, 
 
24 
 
 Tersomjication of Eolipiles — Geryon. 
 
 rable comment on the state of society in his day, besides famishing an- 
 other specimen of fraud preying on credulity by means of Eolipiles. A 
 son of Vulcan, he knew something of machinery and of the wonders, 
 honest and dishonest, his father wrought by it. As usual, he occupied a 
 cave favorably located for his purposes. 
 
 .... See yon rock that mates the sky, 
 
 About whose feet such heaps of rubbish lie; 
 
 Such indigested ruin ; bleak and bare, 
 
 How desert now it stands, exposed in air ! 
 
 ’Twas once a robber’s den, enclosed around 
 With living stone, and deep beneath the ground 
 The monster Cacus, more than half a beast. 
 
 This hold, impervious to the sun, possess’d. [En. viii. Dryden ] 
 
 At the cavern’s mouth he had a triple-headed image, which (not its 
 owner') belched black clouds and livid lire. It was at length destroyed 
 by Hercules, who we have seen had some experience in such matters. 
 The success of Cacus in levying contributions from the fields and folds 
 of the simple inhabitants of the neighborhood, and on drovers passing 
 through it, appears to have been due to the tact by which he made it 
 generally believed that he and the monster were one and the same indi- 
 vidual : — a common ruse this in such cases, and one by no means pecu- 
 liar to mythic epochs. He made his forays in the night, and lay concealed 
 during the day. 
 
 The personification of Eolipilic and other images was in keeping with 
 their design, and necessary to preserve their influence over the igno- 
 rant. As they sustained the characters of gods and demigods, they were 
 addressed as such. The practice differs but little from what is now in 
 vogue ; fire-engines, mills, ships, guns, &c. have male and female desig- 
 nations, are often spoken of as if endowed with spontaneity and pas- 
 sions ; but with not half the propriety as androids representing and per- 
 forming functions of living beings. Sometimes these are so delineated in 
 their appearance, feelings, employments, &c. that no doubt of men being 
 intended could arise, were they not at other times associated with attri- 
 butes and deformities unknown to humanity. The solution is however 
 easy : — The ancients like the moderns gave their names to certain classes 
 of devices, and it is descriptions of these which we confound with the 
 persons after whom they were named — ^the artificial dragon of Cacus 
 with that individual. The same cause of misapprehension may take place 
 with regard to men and things of our day. What, for example, must peo- 
 ple think, some thousands of years hence, of Washington and Franklin, 
 if all memorials of them should then be lost except a few statements, of 
 which one described them as floating monsters, 300 feet>in length, with 
 scores of brazen mouths through which they vomited floods of fire and 
 roared so loud as to make mountains quake : — or according to another 
 they were of less majestic size, but showering volumes of smoke from 
 iron throats, trembling with passion when obstructed in their progress, 
 and then starting forward, gasping and galloping over the ground with 
 almost lightning speed, and leaving trains of fire behind ! Land and wa- 
 ter dragons ! What could such people think unless informed that 74 gun- 
 ships and locomotive carriages often bore the Christian names and sur- 
 names of those celebrated men. 
 
 GERYON. 
 
 Geryon, another demigod, resembled Cacus in appearance but not in 
 circumstances and condition, for he was a prince, and rich in flocks and 
 
Hercules. — Primitive prevalence of Rohhery. 
 
 25 
 
 herds, and to guard them had a dog with two heads and a dragon with 
 seven ; both of which were overcome by Hercules, who also slew their 
 owner and seized the cattle as his rightful spoil. This Quixote of mytho- 
 logy travelled in quest of strange adventures, and enriched himself, as 
 all heroes did and do, by rapine. In his time, as in Job’s, wealth consist- 
 ed principally in cattle ; and cattle stealing was, as in subsequent times, 
 not held dishonorable — except when unsuccessful. Gods and demigods 
 followed and acquired fame by the profession. Of primitive moss-troop- 
 ers none equalled Mercury and Hercules in cunning; it was therefore a 
 sad mistake in Cacus to seize eight of Geryon’s kine while in the posses- 
 sion of such a bold and knowing drover as Alcides. Though he succeeded 
 in getting them unperceived into his den, his fire-spitting image had no 
 fears for the enraged loser, who was too familiar with such things to 
 dread them. ^ 
 
 This primitive prevalence of robbery sufficiently accounts for the 
 adoption of secret and extraordinary devices to scare night thieves from 
 folds and dwellings of the rich ; and sure we are that modern ingenuity 
 might be taxed in vain to produce one better adapted to terrify the igno- 
 rant and keep the dishonest at bay, in dark and grossly-superstitious times, 
 than fame-ejecting Eolipiles. On the approach of a thief, the concealed 
 attendant had only to open a cock to send a scorching blast on the offend- 
 er, or the latter might himself unconsciously be made to open it by his 
 weight — a species of contrivance perfectly in character with the genius 
 and acknowledged jiroductions of ancient artists. Vulcan was full of such 
 conceits. Even now a grim-looking image of the kind would excite no 
 little horror among stupid burglars, while it would strike savages dumb. 
 
 The word Geryon, according to some paleologists, signified thunder- 
 bolts, and was allusive to the hissing, piercing, overwhelming and scorch- 
 ing blasts which issued from the dog and dragon, or from a tiiple-bodied 
 monster called Geryon : not a slight intimation this of their Eolipilic 
 nature. In fact, to consider them as figurative creations, and the rest of 
 the characters and objects real, is inconsistent ; unless it be conceded 
 that Geryon’s cows were kept from thieves by metaphors, and that these 
 were hacked and shattered by material clubs and faulchions. It would 
 have required some flaming similes to frighten experienced cattle-lifters 
 like Cacus and Autolycus from their destined prey, or to induce them to 
 yield up acquired spoils. 
 
 To resolve these “brazen” monsters into mere creations of the brain, 
 appears to us as reasonable as to explain away in like manner metalline 
 automata of the Bible — representing them as having had no connection 
 with the crucible, but simple abstractions : the serpent, for example, as 
 emblematical of the cunning of hlosos, and the calf of stupidity in the 
 people. By the same process, we miglit interpret the “bronze” vessel 
 or statue in which Eurystheus concealed himself from Hercules into an 
 imaginary symbol of excessive fear; and so with the brazen bull of 
 Bhalaris and horse of Aruntius, in which human victims were consumed, 
 and their shrieks made to resemble the bellowing of oxen, by reverbera- 
 ting through interior tubes : a device probably as old as Amalekitish 
 artists, and even older. The calf or heifer cast by the Israelites in the 
 wilderness “ lowed,” according to the Koran. (Chap, vii.) 
 
 No one can doubt the ability of workmen ancient as Vulcan and the 
 Cyclops to produce machinery of the kind. If one fact be more prominent 
 than another in the earliest records, sacred and profane, it is the perfec- 
 tion to which brass-founding had arrived, and the amazing extent to 
 
26 
 
 Primitive Brass- Founding . — Cerberus. 
 
 which metallic imagery was carried. This was a natural result of idol- 
 atry. Superstition was the nurse of these arts ; the keenest intellects and 
 finest workmen were engaged in them. The grand distinction between 
 the useful professions of past and present times, is not due to any differ- 
 ence in capacity or skill, but to the estimation in which the arts were and 
 are held. The ancients were ignorant of their destined influence on 
 human happiness and glory, and therefore only such branches were pa- 
 tronized as strengthened the hold of chief priests and rulers on the mul- 
 titude. 
 
 CERBERUS. 
 
 It is said of Hercules that he went about subduing the powerful, re- 
 lieving the oppressed, and exposing fraud ; but when occasions required 
 he obviously acted the juggler himself. The last and greatest of his 
 twelve labors — his Cerberean adventure-bears on every feature traces 
 of trick. He here employs the very device which Cacus, Geryon, ^etes 
 and others had found so successful. To play it off well would establish his 
 fame over all competitors. Having destroyed every earthly dragon he had 
 heard of, he undertakes to wind up his achievements in that line by prov- 
 ing his prowess upon the one which guarded the gates of hell. It was 
 therefore given out that he was about to bring up Cerberus to light and 
 exhibit him to mortal view. This would eclipse all other dragon transac- 
 tions, and this he accomplished ! Is it asked how % Why, by entering a 
 
 dark cavern'' on Mount Taenarus, and after a while dragging to its 
 mouth a three-headed dog — an Eolipilic automaton ! As the exhibition 
 was of course made in the night, the affrighted spectators, and all not in 
 the secret, could not doubt, at the distance they stood, the presence of the 
 canine guardian of T artarus ; its eyes glaring with living fire, smoke pour- 
 ing from its jaws, its movements and the noise it made,’ would more than 
 ensure conviction. The public part of the performance being over, the 
 exhibiter, agreeably to promise, instantly set about (no doubt to the grati- 
 fication of the audience and particularly of Eurystheus) to remove the 
 monster to its own domicile. There is no room to doubt this — he certainly 
 pulled it back to the place whence he drew it forth, and none were so bold 
 as to follow and see how he succeeded. Probably not one of thb beholders 
 but would rather his hands and feet had changed places than have ven- 
 tured within the cave on this occasion. 
 
 We can form a pretty accurate idea of the sonorous “roarings,” the 
 “ hissings,” and “variegated yells” of mythic monsters, by similar sounds 
 produced when steam is blown off, through various formed orifices, from 
 modern Eolipiles. 
 
 A distinction is observable in the characters and applications of fire- 
 vomiting images. Those which represented gods or waixiors partook 
 more or less of the human figure, while such as guarded enclosures for 
 cattle, habitations, and places where riches were kept, put on forms 
 compounded of dogs, serpents, lizards, bats, &c. i. e. were dragons — aii 
 idea derived from the employment of household mastiffs and shepherd 
 curs. (A beautiful illustration of the practice of protecting houses is 
 seen on entering the vestibule of “The house of the Tragic poet” at 
 Pompeii. On the mosaic pavemerft is lively represented a fierce and 
 full-sized dog, collared and chained, in the act of barking, and ready to 
 spring upon the intruder. At his feet is the caution, in legible letters, 
 rave canem, beware of the dog.) Griflins, or dragons, says Pliny, form- 
 €5rly guarded gold mines, and in old illustrated works some queer-look- 
 
27 
 
 Gold Mines guarded by Dragons . — Origin of Tartarus. 
 
 ing nondescripts are seen performing that duty. The sentiment was 
 once universally received ; it still has believers in benighted parts of 
 Europe, and over a great part of the East. It was encouraged by inte- 
 rested individuals to keep timid thieves at a distance. Ridiculous as it 
 appears, it accords with every other occupation of dragons. Why not 
 protect rich mines as well as a few pounds of metal % The story or the 
 fact gave rise to the fable of Cerberus; for Tartarus, its occupants and 
 their occupations were all derived from earthly, tangible types. 
 
 Pluto was an extensive mining proprietor, Tartarus his subten*aneati 
 domains ; its fires his furnaces. Demons were felons condemned “ to the 
 mines,” where, naked and in “ chains,” some toiled in darkness, and were 
 urged to unnatural exertions by the lashes of inexorable overseers ; 
 others, ghastly from inhaling the poisonous fumes, appeared still more so 
 in the glare of sulphurous fires, in which they roasted and smelted the 
 ores. Their punishment was endless, their sentence irrevocable ; they 
 had no hopes of pardon and no chance of escape. Cerberus freely per- 
 mitted all to enter the gate, but not one to pass out. There were no 
 periods of cessation from labor ; their fires never went out ; both night 
 and day the smoke of their torments ascended ; groans never ceased to 
 be heard, nor the rattling of chains and shrieks of despair. Acheron, 
 Cocytus and Styx were subterranean streams, each possessing some pe- 
 culiar feature or property, while near Phlegethon arose a stream of car- 
 buretted hydrogen, a phenomenon not uncommon on the earth’s surface, 
 but often occurring in mines. Such is the most probable exposition of 
 the origin of Tartarus. From w^hat else, indeed, could the heathen 
 have derived the idea at epochs, anterior to Scripture descriptions of 
 hell, and before prophets or apostles flourished 1 We know that the an- 
 cients sent their worst felons to the mines, and that these places pre- 
 sented the most vivid representations of severe and ceaseless punishment 
 which the earth affords. The greater part of the convicts ere they en- 
 tered these dreary regions took their last look of the sun. With shud- 
 dering horror, pale, and eyes aghast, they viewed their lamentable fate. 
 Milton’s description of hell was literally true of ancient mines and sub- 
 terranean smelting furnaces. 
 
 “ A dungeon horrible, on all sides around 
 As one great furnace flam’d, yet from those flames 
 No light, but rather darkness visible 
 Serv’d only to discover sights of wo ; 
 
 Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 
 And rest can never dwell, hope never comes 
 That comes to all ; but torture without end 
 Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed 
 With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed.” 
 
 Does the reader think the picture too highly colored for mortal per- 
 dition 1 Why, it lacks a modern trait, one more revolting than tlie 
 ancients ever imagined. Boys and girls from six to ten years and up- 
 wards, horn and bred in coal-pits, less knowing than brutes, and incom- 
 parably vrorse cared for, are, or were recently, wholly employed in drag- 
 ging and pushing on ail fours, and perfectly denuded, laden sledges 
 through dark, broken, wet and tortuous passages or sewers to the pit’s 
 mouth ! And this too in a Christian and enlightened land, where no 
 small part of the people’s earnings are consumed by an opulent hie- 
 rarchy ! Is it possible for hell itself so effectually to efface God’s 
 image, or to heap such accumulated woes on infant and unoffending vic- 
 tims ? Pluto and his myrmidons would have quaked with passion at tl.\© 
 
28 
 
 Sulphurous Fires in TartaruL 
 
 bare proposal of such a scheme ; yet it, and other evils scarcely less 
 sickening and vile, have their defenders among those who worship the 
 molochs of monarchy and mammon. Heaven help the oppressed of this 
 earth — the creators but not partakers of its wealth — who industriously 
 toil, and through excessive penury prematurely die — urged to produce 
 a maximum amount of work with a minimum of rest and food — who 
 with their offspring groan in hopeless misery here, and are threatened 
 with endless torments in another life if they remain not satisfied “ in 
 that station into which,” some reverend and blaspheming despots say 
 
 it hath pleased God to call them !” 
 
 The reason why sulphur figured so largely in descriptions of Tar- 
 tarus must be apparent to all conversant with mining and metallurgical 
 operations. It is the earth’s internal fuel, the most profuse of subterra- 
 nean inflammable substances. It pervades most mineral bodies ; and not 
 minerals alone, but in metalliferous ores it wonderfully abounds. All the 
 principal ores of commerce are sulphurets ; iron, . silver, copper, tin, 
 lead, zinc, &c. Of these some contain 15, and others 50 per cent, and 
 upwards of sulphur, to get rid of which constitutes the chief difficulty in 
 their reduction. In order to this they are “ roasted ” at a low red heat 
 for six, twelve, twenty, and some for thirty hours, that the sulphur may 
 be volatilized, and not till its blue flames cease is the signal realized to in- 
 crease the heat and fuse the metal. Thus, for every ton of the latter, half 
 a ton, and often a whole ton of the former has to be driven off in flames 
 and vapor ; so that it was with strict propriety said that Pluto’s fires' 
 were fed with it. Comparatively speaking, they consisted of little 
 else, and little else was felt or seen. It impregnated every object, while 
 from its offensive odor and suffocating fumes none could escape. Im- 
 mense quantities of common brimstone are obtained by collecting and 
 condensing the vapors that ascend from smelting furnaces ; and it may 
 have been this, or a native mass, which formed the throne or usual seat 
 of the lord of the lower regions. As long as the earth endures, volcanos 
 burn, and minerals are reduced, there will be, as in Pluto’s time, arti- 
 ficial as well as natural fires of ever-burning sulphur. 
 
 There are passages in Maundeville’s Travels corroborative of Carpini’s 
 images and Pliny’s Griffins. He speaks of artists in northern Asia as 
 wonderfully expert in automatical contrivances — “fulle of cauteles and 
 sotylle disceytesfi making “ bestes and bryddes, that songen full delecta- 
 bely, and meveden be craft, that it semsede thei weren quyke.” In his 
 28 Cap. he describes a valley rich in gold and silver, (in the “lordchippe 
 of Prester John,”) but it abounded with devils, and few men who ventured 
 there for treasure returnelir This was the story, and we need not say 
 how like a primitive artifice to scare people from intruding. “ And in 
 mydde place of that vale, imdir a roche, is an hed and the visage of a 
 devyl bodyliche, fulle horrible and dreadfulle to see, and it schewethe 
 not but the hed to the schuldres. But there is no man in the world so 
 hardy, Cristene man ne other, but that he wold ben a drad for to behold 
 it ; and that it wolde semen him to dye for drede, so hideouse is it for 
 to beholde. For he beholdethe every man so scharpley, with dredfulle 
 eyen that ben evere more movynge and sparklynge as fuyr, and chaung- 
 ethe and sterethe so often in dyverse manere, with so horrible counte- 
 nance, that no man dar not neighen [approach] towardes him. And fro 
 him comeihe smoke and stynk and fuyr, and so much abhomynacioun, that 
 unethe no man may there endure.” This was one of the tricks which 
 ^he traveller could not tell, whether it was done “ by craft or by negro- 
 
Dragons . — Chinese Festivals. 
 
 29 
 
 mancye.” From automata he saw in the country belonging to Prester 
 John’s father-in-law, [China] he was led to conclude that artists there 
 surpassed all men under heaven for deceptive inventions. 
 
 That devices like the one just described, or similar to the brazen 
 horses of Regnerus, were in vogue in the East, in Maundeville’s time, ap- 
 pears from Marco Paulo, who mentions magic contrivances for darken- 
 ing the air with clouds of smoke, &c. in use by the military, and under 
 cover of which many were slain. Marco himself was once in danger of 
 his life on such an occasion : he escaped, but several of his associates 
 were cut off. 
 
 DRAGONS. 
 
 Had not ideas of fire-spouting nondescripts been exceedingly ancient 
 they had never become so intimately and universally mixed up with 
 human affairs. Throughout the old world the dragon was the ne ghis 
 'ultra of impersonations of the horrible— the king of monsters. It is so 
 now, and a more appalling one, or one invested with more terrific quali- 
 ties cannot be devised. So deeply was its image impressed on ancient 
 minds that it pervaded history, song, and all religions. We meet with it 
 in the Scriptures as well as in the classics. The devil, from his reputed 
 connection with smoke and liquid fire, is named “the great dragon.” In 
 old religious processions, and in the “mysteries” or dramatic represen- 
 tations of the church, Satan was symbolized by an image of a dragon 
 spitting fire. The author of the apocalypse seems to allude to mythic 
 fire-breathing images in the following passage. “ If any man will hurt 
 them, fire proceedeth out of their mouths and devoureth their enemies.” “ 
 
 The universal custom of exhibiting figures of dragons in ecclesias- 
 tical and civic pomps was a mythic relic — a practice continued from 
 times when captured idols and warring Eolipiles were led in triumph. 
 Then, objects of superstitious dread, they now amused spectators : at 
 the coronation of Anne Bulleyn, a “ foyste ” or galley preceded the 
 lord mayor’s barge ; “ in which foyste was a great red dragon, continu- 
 ally moving and casting forth wild fire : and round about the said foyste 
 stood terrible, monstrous and wilde men, casting fire and making a hide- 
 ous noise.” If the truth could be known, there would be found little dif- 
 ference between this modern monster and some of its ancient namesakes. 
 
 No chimerical being was ever so celebrated as the dragon. To it 
 temples were dedicated, of which some remained in classical eras. The 
 practice is continued in China. Of an official dignitary it is said, ere he 
 entered on the duties of his office (at Canton,) he one morning paid his 
 devotions at eight temples, of which one was consecrated to the god of 
 fire, another to the god of wind, and a third to the dragon or dragon- 
 king. “The festival of the dragon-boats” is another relic of times when 
 these artificial monsters were in vogue. \Chinese Rep. iii. 95, 47.] The 
 legends of China and Japan teem with dragon allegories and apologues. 
 The figure is an imperial emblem, and as such is wrought on robes, 
 painted on porcelain, carved on dwellings, ships, furniture and other 
 
 ^ In Scandinavian and ancient British history, and throughout northern Asia and 
 Europe, the dragon was the universal minister of vengeance. It was eventually made 
 typical of all destructive agents — of water as well as fire. It became a symbol of the 
 deluge, on which account figures of it pouring water from the mouth were adopted in 
 ancient fountains. Some of these have been noticed in this volume. May not St. 
 John have had one in view when he wrote “ And the dragon cast out of his mouth 
 water as a flood.” [Rev. xii. 13-97.] 
 
30 Dragons with many Heads. — Dedicated to Minerva. 
 
 works of art. No people retain so many characteristics of times when 
 Eolipilic monsters flourished. They act on the same principle as old 
 warriors did, by trying to frighten their enemies with warlike scare- 
 crows, with pompous orders — assuming the language of gods and ad- 
 dressing other people as devils, dogs and reptiles. Their taste for the 
 horrible extends to civil life; things of the wildest forms which imagi- 
 nation can furnish or nature reveal are most highly prized. 
 
 As a guardian of temples, sacred groves and treasures, the celebrity 
 of the dragon has continued to present times. Enforcing a principle in 
 ancient ethics, it kept the ignorant honest by frightening them. But when 
 it lost this magic power, and enchanted chambers could no longer be 
 relied on, eastern monarchs sought out natural monsters to guard their 
 precious stones and living jewels. Deformed negroes; the most hideous 
 of nature’s abortions, are now the sentinels of eastern treasuries and 
 seraijlios. 
 
 Mythic dragons had commonly a multiplicity of heads. This was in 
 keeping with their design and with the taste of the times. Each addi- 
 tional member adding horror to their appearance and furnishing in the 
 mouth and eyes additional orifices for the issuing flames ; like fire-en- 
 gines that eject several streams. The device is very analagous to others 
 common in old war-engines. The idea was adopted by the author of the 
 most figurative book of the Scriptures. He speaks of “ a great red dra- 
 gon with seven heads and ten horns.” The figure No. 288 it will be 
 seen has one horn. Most of the idols of the Hindoos, and of the orientals 
 generally, have numerous heads, and some have horns. By dragons in 
 the Bible, crocodiles, or large serpents, are commonly intended, but 
 chimerical or mythic beings are obviously intended in such passages as 
 the one above quoted. 
 
 Another characteristic in dragon biography, attributed to rather mo- 
 dern individuals, was an undoubted trait in the patriarchs of the species. 
 When one was overcome without being demolished, it was generally led 
 in triumph, in the manner of Theseus showing off the Marathonian bull 
 in the streets of Athens — or of Saint Romain leading with his stole a 
 fierce dragon to the market-place at Rouen — the victor receiving the con- 
 gratulations of his countrymen on his prowess, and the prisoner behav- 
 ing the while, as well behaved prisoners should — i. e. silently submit- 
 ting to the will of the captors. Suppose the dragon figured at No. 289, 
 exhausted of its contents, (in battle it would often require fresh charging,) 
 its movements put a stop to, and in that condition captured ; what fol- 
 lows, but that the victors put one end of a rope round its neck and the 
 other in their hands ; and have we not then a perfect representation of a 
 fiery monster becoming harmless as a lamb and tamely submitting to be 
 led about, as ancient chronicles have it, “ like a meke beaste and de- 
 bonayre.” 
 
 But the dragon was dedicated to Minerva ; and to whom else could 
 it have been so appropriately devoted ? One might almost fancy she 
 mounted this popular form of the Eolipile on her cap as a compliment 
 to old artists. Certainly if the patroness of the useful arts had now to 
 select an expressive symbol of her best gift to mortals, she would adopt 
 the same thing in its modern shape — a miniature engine and boiler. 
 This she would consider, like Worcester, her “ crowning” device. But 
 it is perhaps said, the ornament on her crest was an emblem of war. 
 Well, was not that the chief use to which Eolipilic dragons were put? 
 Then was she not so familiar with artificial lightning and thunder as to 
 
Analogies between ancient and modern Eolipiles. 31 
 
 have rivalled her father in hurling them at will on her foes. She took 
 part in the wars of the giants, and destroyed not the least of the kindred 
 of Typhon herself. Another circumstance indicative of her acquaintance 
 with Eolipilic contrivances is the fact, (noticed on a previous page,) of 
 her image at Troy having the faculty of sending flames from its eyes. 
 
 It were easy thus to proceed and point out the artificial character of 
 most of the imaginary monsters of antiquity — to render in a high degree 
 probable, that, like acknowledged androidal and automatal productions 
 of Vulcan, Deedalus, Icarus, Perillus, and other artists named by Pliny in 
 his 34th Book, they were originally mechanical, pyrotechnical or eolipilic 
 images ; sometimes combining two or more and occasionally other ele- 
 ments in their functions and movements ; that the faculty of locomotion 
 attributed to some accorded not only with applications of modern me- 
 chanism, but with avowed artificial contrivances of ancient artists, and 
 that their material natures were, in after times, construed into the ideal, 
 either from ignorance or by the imagination of poets — but this is unne- 
 cessary. Enough has been said to induce the reader to pursue the sub- 
 ject, or to reject the hypothesis as untenable. The antiquity of Eolipiles 
 is unquestionable. Their origin is lost in remote time. We know they 
 were made in fantastic and frightful forms, were used as idols, designed 
 to spout fluids and eject fire— the very attributes ascribed to mythic 
 monsters. Is it unreasonable then to suppose the latter had no existence 
 except as Eolipiles I But if it be contended they were wholly figurative, 
 from what were the conceptions derived, if Eolipiles were not the things 
 they symbolized ; and how account for coincidences which nothing else 
 in nature or in art can produce ? One observation more, and we 
 conclude : — 
 
 Early applications of Eolipiles and their present employment as steam 
 boilers, suggest some interesting analogies. Emblems of half civilized 
 times and races, they connect the remote part with the present. Ordain- 
 ed as it were to move in advance of the arts and astonish mankind, they 
 have lost none of their virtue. If their ancient vagaries shook commu- 
 nities with alarm, their current deeds are eliciting the woi'ld’s admira- 
 tion. They furnished tradition with marvellous stories, and modern his- 
 tory is engaged in recording their wonders. They supplied matei'ials for 
 the earliest and worst chapters in the earth’s annals ; to them and their 
 effects will be devoted some of the latest and best. Formerly they feebly 
 personated Gods ; now, the sole animators of our grand motive engines, 
 they annihilate time and space by their movements and laugh at all phy- 
 sical resistance. Children watch their operations with ecstacy and old 
 men hardly believe what they see. Once an instrument of the worst 
 of tyrannies, the Eolipile is becoming the most effectual agent in the ex- 
 tinction of tyrants. Instead of acting, as of yore, on human fears ; debasing 
 the mind and furthering the views of oppressors, it captivates the judg- 
 ment of the wisest, elevates nations in morals, and confers on them 
 wealth and extended domain. The gem of old miracle-mongers, it is the 
 staple device of living magicians, for its present improvers and users are 
 the genuine representatives of Pharaonic Savans and mythologic Magi. 
 
 New-York, July, 1845. 
 
 THE EM). 
 
 D Fanshaw, Printer, 150 Nassau-sti’eet, Now-York,