Alan Dicey wrote:   
      
   > I'm afraid not.  What the pop-sci video-bite shows is a steam cannon:   
   > using the power of steam pressure contained in a closed vessel to drive   
   > a close-fitting plug out of a smooth straight pipe.  Archimedes is   
   > supposed to have designed one during the seige of Syracuse, and da Vinci   
   > also designed one, although there is no evidence it was ever built.  The   
   > WWII Holman Projector used the steam from a ship's boiler to launch   
   > anti-aircraft projectiles.   
   >   
   > What JMS wrote was apparantly the use of steam *temperature* to set off   
   > half-a-dozen handgun cartridges loosely fitted into pipe.  Not a lot of   
   > commonality.   
      
   Spoilsport...   
      
   --    
   Bruce   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
    * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:14/400)