VIII NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



am fully persuaded that the whole of our ships of war must be rebuilt 

 of iron, and defended with iron armor calculated to resist projectiles 

 of the heaviest description at high velocities. 



" In the early stages of iron ship-building, I believe I was the first to 

 show, by a long series of experiments, the superiority of wrought iron 

 over every other description of material in security and strength, when 

 judiciously applied in the construction of ships of every class. Other 

 considerations, however, affect the question of vessels of war ; and al- 

 though numerous experiments were made, yet none of the targets 

 were on a scale sufficient to resist more than a six-pounder shot. It 

 was reserved for our scientific neighbors, the French, to introduce 

 thick iron plates as a defensive armor for ships. The success which 

 has attended the adoption of this new system of defence affords the 

 prospect of invulnerable ships of war ; and hence the desire of the gov- 

 ernment to remodel the navy on an entirely new principle of construc- 

 tion, in order that we may retain its superiority as the great bulwark 

 of the nation. 



"It is asserted, probably with truth, that whatever thickness of 

 plates are adopted for casing ships, guns will be constructed capable 

 of destroying them. But their destruction will even then be a work 

 of time ; and I believe, from what I have seen in recent experiments, 

 that, with proper armor, it will require not only the most powerful ord- 

 nance, but also a great concentration of fire, before fracture will en- 

 sue. If this be the case, a well-constructed iron ship, covered with 

 sound plates, of the proper thickness, firmly attached to its sides, will, 

 for a considerable time, resist the heaviest guns which can be brought 

 to bear against it, and be practically shot-proof.. But our present 

 means are inadequate for the production of large masses of iron ; and 

 we may trust that, with new tools and machinery, and the skill, en- 

 ergy, and perseverence of our manufacturers, every difficulty will be 

 overcome, and armor-plates produced which will resist the heaviest 

 existing ordnance. 



" The rifling of heavy ordnance, the introduction of wrought iron, and 

 the new principle of construction with strained hoops, have given to 

 all countries the means of increasing enormously the destructive power 

 of their ordnance. One of the results of this introduction of wrought 



O 



iron and correct principles of manufacture is the reduction of the 

 weight of the new guns to about two-thirds the weight of the oldei 

 cast-iron ordnance. Hence follows the facility with which guns of 

 much greater power can be worked, whilst the range and precision 

 of fire are at the same time increased. 



" Iron Bridges. We have seen a new era in the history of the 



