A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Tonnerre, Grosse Caisse en
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TONNERRE, GROSSE CAISSE EN, i.e. bass drum as thunder. 
This direction occurs in Hérold's overture to 'Zampa,' and a few other works, and means a roll. But as the bass drum is played with one stick only, the roll is best executed with a two-headed stick (Tampon or Mailloche double), as made in Paris, by Tournier, Boulevard St. Martin. It is held in the middle, where it is 1316 inch in diameter, so that the roll is easily made by an alternate motion of the wrist. The stick, ending in a round knob at each end, is turned out of a piece of ash; the knobs are thickly covered with tow and a cap of chamois leather, and are both of the same size. When finished the heads are about 234 inches in diameter, and the same in length. The length of the whole stick is 1212 inches.
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This direction occurs in Hérold's overture to 'Zampa,' and a few other works, and means a roll. But as the bass drum is played with one stick only, the roll is best executed with a two-headed stick (Tampon or Mailloche double), as made in Paris, by Tournier, Boulevard St. Martin. It is held in the middle, where it is 1316 inch in diameter, so that the roll is easily made by an alternate motion of the wrist. The stick, ending in a round knob at each end, is turned out of a piece of ash; the knobs are thickly covered with tow and a cap of chamois leather, and are both of the same size. When finished the heads are about 234 inches in diameter, and the same in length. The length of the whole stick is 1212 inches. [ V. de P. ]