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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



adhere tightly to, the walls of the shell, so that it is quite impossible 

 for the charge to shift in the shell. In the event, however, of the shell 

 rotating upon the Maximite charge, the surface of the substance ex- 

 posed would simply melt, producing a fluid and perfectly frictionless 

 bearing. In the Transvaal War many Lyddite shells exploded pre- 

 maturely, either from shock in the gun or from the rotation of the 

 shell upon the eharge. Such prematures would be impossible with 

 Maximite. 



Fig. 6. 

 Three 3-inch shells, which were filled with Maximite and primed with 

 50 grains of fulminate of mercury. The points of the shells were blown off 

 with the fuse without exploding the Maximite. The confinement and the force 

 of the exploder wore not sufficient to detonate the Maximite. This is a good 

 illustration of the extreme insensitiveness of this material. (See small piles of 

 unexploded Maximite below the fragments of the shells.) 



When wet compressed guncotton is used as a shell charge, there is 

 always some danger of a premature from the rotation of the shell 

 upon the charge, especially when the percentage of water is not great. 



VALUE OF HIGH EXPLOSIVES IN ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS. 



Maximite is the first high explosive, satisfactory in other respects, 

 which could be tired through armor plate of such thickness as to 

 lender it available for armor-piercing shells. 



In a recent test it the Sandy Hook Proving Grounds, a 12-inch 

 armor-piercing forged steel shell, carrying a bursting charge of 70 

 pounds of Maximite. was fired through a 7-inch Harveyized nickel 

 steel plate. This is the maximum thickness of such a plate for which 



