Experts studying illustrations from a circa-1530 warfare manual came across some incredible images of jet propelled cats and doves. The German text accompanying the pictures advises military commanders to use them to set fire to a castle or city they couldn't get at otherwise.
"And bind the sack to the back of the cat, ignite it, let it glow well and thereafter let the cat go, so it runs to the nearest castle or town, and out of fear it thinks to hide itself where it ends up in barn hay or straw it will be ignited."
The manuscript was written by artillery master Franz Helm of Cologne and digitized by the University of Pennsylvania. Don't worry, feline fanciers, there is no evidence that the plan was ever put into practice.
More at The Independent
During WWII we developed bat-bombs to start fires in Japan. The project was scrapped near the end of the war, but in testing they unintentionally burned down some Air Corps buildings in New Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when we try to make animals take part in our ugly wars.
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