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Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume II, Issue 62, 2 December 1863, Page 6

Greek Fire.—A correspondent asks us u What is Greek fire ?" the use of which in the siege of Charleston has been so universally condemned, and which has been for ages rejected by all civilised nations as an instrument of warfare. The exact composition of this combustible element is not generally known, in fact the secret of the real Greek fire has long been supposed to have been lost. Still the researches of modern chemical science have brought to light many substances and elements which can be employed to produce similar effects to the original Greek fire. As known to moderns, this terrible agent is a composition of inflammable substances, of which naptha, nitre, and sulphur, are supposed to be component parts. Greek fire is said to have been invented by Callinicus, an ingenious engineer of Heliopolis, in Syria, in the seventh century, in order to destroy the ships of the Saracens, which was effected by the general of the fleet of Constantino Pogonatus, and 30,000 men were killed. This fire burnt in water and diffused itself on all sides. It was blown out of long tubes of copper, and shot out of crossbows and other instruments. It is said nothing but a composition of oil, vinegar, urine, and sand could extinguish it. The invention was for a long time kept a secret by the Court of Costantinople, but was at last acquired by the Turks, and subsequently lost or preserved only among the arcana of the alchemists.— Daily Times. That inimitable Victorian Jehu," Cabbage-tree Ned," has made his debut at coaching on the New Zealand roads. For the last few days he has been engaged temporurily to pilot the Molyneux coach to Tokomairiro and back. Ned is perhaps the best known and most popular of the Victorian whips, and his dexterous handling of the ribbons would doubtless excite surprise amongst the older residents, while his familiar face will be quickly recognised by most Victorian travellers. * Cabbage-tree Ned" was the individual who drove the All England Eleven in the Loviathan coach with twelve greys to the Geelong cricket ground.— -Daily Times.