Paper, 'The new invention for extinguishing fires' by unknown author
Reference number: CLP/3ii/16
Date: 1722
Description
The author describes an experiment he witnessed in the Invalides in Paris [France] in which a wooden structure was set on fire to test a new invention for extinguishing fires. The author was unable to see the invention or how it was employed, but reports that a loud sound like a gunshot was heard, and the flames were suddenly extinguished. The same experiment was repeated in an underground cellar, with the same success.
Subject: Engineering
Read to the Royal Society on 10 January 1723
- Reference number
- CLP/3ii/16
- Earliest possible date
- 1722
- Physical description
- Ink on paper
- Page extent
- 2 pages
- Format
- Manuscript
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Citation
Paper, 'The new invention for extinguishing fires' by unknown author, 1722, CLP/3ii/16, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_16/paper-the-new-invention-for-extinguishing-fires-by-unknown-author, accessed on 05 March 2026
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https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_3ii_16/paper-the-new-invention-for-extinguishing-fires-by-unknown-author
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Classified Papers
The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.
Dates: 1592 - 1741
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