MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 87 



The new British cruiser would be an armed raft under an iron tor- 

 toise-shell. 







MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON MILITARY MATTERS. 



On the Influence of Rifted Ordnance on Modern Warfare.- Com- 

 mander Scott, an authority on gunnery in the British Navy, in a re- 

 cent lecture, remarked that battles had generally been decided at 

 close quarters, and ever would be ; and although artillery had now 

 acquired longer ranges by rifling the guns and using elongated shot, 

 the change was merely one of degree, not of system. The modern 

 improvements in ordnance will not materially influence the distance 

 at which actions will be fought and decided. Sir William Armstrong 

 long ago stated, in a paper to be found in the " Transactions of Civil 

 Engineers," that " the real struggle would always be within a distance 

 of two thousand yards ; and the great object should be to make weap- 

 ons as destructive as possible within that limit." 



Com. Scott asserted that at short distances no elongated shell 

 had yet surpassed a 68-pounder ball, and as the round ball caused 

 incomparably less strain on the gun, and could be loaded more rap- 

 idly than an elongated shot, the latter should be abandoned for short 

 ranges. He asserted that the best and most economical course for 

 the British government to pursue in arming the navy, was to rifle all 

 the smooth-bore cast-iron and brass guns in the arsenals and dock- 

 vards, use elongated shell for long distances, and finish the action 



/ O 



with round shot at close quarters. 



Is the Armstrong Gun a Failure ? The London Mechanics' Mag- 

 azine maintains that the Armstrong gun has proved a signal failure ; 

 an opinion which, it states, has been fully confirmed by all the recent 

 experiments with it. Its defects are as follows : 



In the event of firing as rapidly as the necessities of warfare may 

 require, heat is rapidly transmitted to the mass of the gun, so that the 

 delicate screw arrangements and breech pieces no longer fit into each 

 other as before. So readily does this change take place that before 

 the thirtieth round has been fired the piece becomes useless ; even 

 an enormous escape of gas is noticed before firing the twentieth round. 

 The pressure of this gas on the vent-piece is such that it exceeds the 

 cohesive strength of any known material of which guns are made ; 

 and hence the vent-pieces are either broken into fragments or bent so 

 completely out of shape as to render the gun unserviceable. 



The Magazine further states that during one series of experiments 

 made recently by the admiralty committee, no fewer than nine 

 pieces were thus destroyed on a single gun, which was thus rendered 

 useless until it could be repaired. In another case fifty rounds de- 

 stroyed four of those pieces, requiring eight hours to replace them 

 and make the necessary repairs. At this rate of going, the gun could 

 in effect fire only one shot in sixteen minutes ! 



Still another objection to the use of this invention arises from the 

 composition of the shot and shell, which consists of iron coated with 

 lead. Each forms, consequently, when exposed to moisture, a regular 

 voltaic pile. Hence it is found that in a short time the lead exfoliates 

 from the ball, owing to atmospheric influences alone. The transpor- 



