70 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



equipments for cavalry horses, 211,670 sets; artillery harnesses, 

 (double) 1 7,485. And yet, notwithstanding this immense consump- 

 tion, to which should also be added an immense stock on hand await- 

 ing requisition and use, the Secretary states, " That the resources of 

 the country for the production of arms and munitions of war have 

 only commenced their development. At the beginning of the war," 

 he continues, " we were compelled to rely upon foreign countries for 

 the supply of nearly all our arms and munitions. Now, all these 

 things are manufactured at home, and we are independent of foreign 

 countries, not only for the manufacture, but also for the materials of 

 which they are composed. The excellency of the arms and munitions 

 of war of American manufacture, which have been supplied by the 

 Ordnance Department to the army, has been so obvious that our sol- 

 diers are no longer willing to use those which have been imported from 

 other countries. ^ The efforts made during the war to extend and improve 

 the manufacture of arms* and munitions have resulted in discoveries of 

 great importance to the country, in peace as well as war. Among the 

 arts thus improved is the manufacture of wrought-iron, now rivalling the 

 qualities of iron of Sweden, Norway, and England. This country, 

 until the present year, has relied upon those countries for material to 

 make gun-barrels, bridle-bits, car-wheel tires and other articles requir- 

 ing iron of fine quality. Iron of our own production is now superior 

 to that obtained abroad." 



One interesting feature of the military operations of the present 

 civil war, is the extent to which telegraphic communication has been 

 resorted to as a means of facilitating and directing operations. It ap- 

 pears that since the commencement of the war there has been con- 

 .structed, and is now in operation, 5,326 miles of land and submarine 

 military telegraph ; a length sufficient to girdle more than one-fifth 

 of the circumference of the globe. Over these lines there were sent 

 during the year, ending June 30th, 1863, at least 1,200,000 telegrams, 

 varying in length from ten to one thousand words. 



IRON-CLAD SHIPS AND BATTERIES. 



Number and Strength of the American Iron- Clad Fleet. From the 

 report of the Secretary of the Navy, communicated to Congress, De- 

 cember 1863, it would appear that the U. S. Government is now in 

 possession of a larger number of iron-clad steamers than any other na- 

 val power. The whole number afloat, or approaching completion, is 

 seventy-five; of which forty-six, carrying 150 guns, and having an ag- 

 gregate tonnage of 62,513, are intended for coast service ; and twenty- 

 nine, carrying 152 guns and a tonnage of 20,784, are for inland service. 

 Of the iron-clads launched during the past year, or now in the pro- 

 cess of construction, the following are especially worthy of nottce : 



The Onondaga is an iron-turreted steamer, though not of the Erics- 

 son (monitor) model, but was built after a design furnished by her 

 constructor, Mr. George Quintard, of New York. She is constructed 

 wholly of iron. The hull is 226 feet in length and forty-eight feet in 

 width. The frames are of angle-iron five inches by three, riveted to 

 a central plate at the bottom. There is no keel, properly speaking, 

 but a ribbed or arched plating in the place of it, to which all the 



