Carcass (projectile)
A carcass was an early form of incendiary bomb or shell, intended to set targets on fire. It comprised an external casing, usually of cast iron, filled with a highly flammable mixture, and having three to five holes through which the burning filling could blaze outward. Carcasses were shot from howitzers, mortars, and other cannons to set fire to buildings and defenses; on impact, the shell shattered, spreading its incendiary filling around the target. Congreve rockets were also sometimes fitted with carcass heads.
They were named carcass because the circles which pass from one ring, or plate, to the other, were thought to resemble the ribs of a human carcass.
Read more about Carcass (projectile): History, Composition
Famous quotes containing the word carcass:
“The character of the logger’s admiration is betrayed by his very mode of expressing it.... He admires the log, the carcass or corpse, more than the tree.... What right have you to celebrate the virtues of the man you murdered?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)