War machines: charging armoured horses and cluster bombs
Explosive balls, bucklers packed with petards, and an adjustable compass
Leonardo assembles offensive devices: a pair of horses charging within a single armour, and a cluster of balls shown from outside and in section that he calls the most deadly machine there is, in which a central ball bursts and ignites the rest within the time of an Ave Maria. Two round bucklers are packed with little charges for a foot soldier, one built of fig wood and cotton and dried in a press. At the left he draws a compass whose point b is set precisely by turning a screw, and a column on a pilaster is sketched among the writing.
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Cluster bomb of igniting balls
A cluster of balls, drawn from outside and in section, is filled with pieces of sulphur to make men swoon. When it falls the central ball fires the rest and scatters them, so they all ignite within the time of an Ave Maria; the small paper charges are packed with moulding plaster and cloth shearings and lit by a fuse-tube. Leonardo calls it the most deadly machine there is.
Horses charging within a single armour
A pair of horses is shown running together within a single armour or cuirass. Leonardo notes that this too is of great utility.
Bucklers of fig wood and cotton
A round buckler is to be made a quarter of an arm thick, of fig wood inside and cotton outside, varnished and compacted with nails and dried in the press. A second buckler is packed full of little charges for a foot soldier.
Compass with adjusting screw
At the left a compass marked a, b, c is fixed at point a, so that point b can be set exactly by turning the screw c. It is drawn as an open pair of legs with a screw adjustment.
Column on a pilaster
Among the writing Leonardo sketches a column standing on a pilaster. It is an isolated architectural note within the military page.