Excerpt from The Field Manual for the Use of the Officers on Ordnance DutyGunpowder became generally known in Europe about 1320, and about this time it was first used to project rounded stones from short conical guns, made in the shape of an apothecary's mortar.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.