024r - - - - - Grenades
Grenades should be made from the finest metal you can find, for there is fine metal and rough metal. Fine metal is that of big bells, because one puts in more copper to give them a bigger voice, and for small bells one puts more tin to give them a clearer sound. The metal of big bells is made with 3 quintals of rosette and twenty or xxv lb. of tin. Each grenade should weigh four to six lb. In order to throw them, they must be full of powder mixed with coarsely pounded glass. And in a quarter lb. of powder, one must put half an ounce of glass, so that on the face or places where the powder will have an effect, the wounds will be worse. The best harquebus powder is required. The hole needs to be as large as the thickness of a swan’s feather, and there is no need to make it into a screw, it is enough to make it even. Then you make a pipe of well soldered fer blanc, which can enter into the hole up to the middle of the grenade and which juts out the width of one finger. You will fill it with good powder, pounded in a mortar and lightly tempered with good spirits or strong vinegar. One does so in order to slow down the powder. And in order to know if it will be slow enough to allow time to throw the grenade without danger, try this powder thus tempered in another pipe. You can keep your loaded grenades in a very dry place, and on the contrary you should keep your pipes filled with that tempered powder tight together in a humid place. And nonetheless, you should have some already inserted into grenades, so that you are always equipped. And every 3 days you will change them if you notice they have become too dry. To throw your grenade, take it firmly in one hand and with the other hand light your pipe with a wick, and throw it swiftly amidst the troops. The grenade should have twice the thickness of a knife spine.