MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 61 



tnre, except in the spot on which the shot itself had struck. Had the 

 object struck been a ship's side, the damage would have caused a most 

 serious leakage. It is hardly possible, however, to institute compar- 

 isons between any armor-dads yet known and this target, as. no sea-go- 

 ing vessel could possibly carry the masses of iron that were here fired 

 at, although a floating battery might. This last steel shot rebounded 

 from the target, and, when examined, showed little signs of damage. All 

 competing artillerists at Shoeburyness seem to agree that the range 

 for testing the powers of rilled guns should not be less than 1,000 yards, 

 at which distance the force of smooth-bore projectiles would be re- 

 duced one-half, while the rifled shot would be flying at nearly their 

 greatest impetus. 



The next shot was from Sir William's 300-pounder, loaded with a 

 cast-iron shell weighing 286 Ibs., and charged with 1 1 Ibs. of powder. 

 This was fired with the usual 45 Ibs. charge, and struck full in the 

 centre of the 5 i-inch backed plate with a velocity of 1,330 feet per 

 second. It shattered its way completely through it, leaving a rough 

 hole about 10 inches in diameter, and then burst in the inside, blow- 

 ing the teak to minute fragments, setting it on fire, breaking off many 

 of the rivet heads, and tearing the inner skins of iron, 2^ inches thick, 

 into rough shredded gaps, as if they had been so much cardboard. 

 When water had been procured and the fire in the wood extinguished, 

 it was seen at a glance that the question of the resistance which the 

 strongest British iron frigates would be able to offer to such ordnance 

 was settled in the most unpleasant manner. By the side of the target 

 was a powerful partition of wooden beams, and an examination of 

 this, after the shell had exploded, gave terrible proofs of its destruc- 

 tive powers. There was scarcely a square inch of its whole surface 

 that was not deeply penetrated with fragments of the shell of all 

 shapes and sizes, from one pound weight to ragged particles as minute 

 as small shot. 



Mr. Whitworth's 150-pounder was next tried, loaded with a steel flat- 

 headed shell of 156 Ibs. weight, with a bursting charge of 6 Ibs. of pow- 

 der, and fired from the gun with 25 Ibs. of powder. This shell struck 

 within about five inches of the spot where Sir William's had struck, 

 burst and destroyed the teak backing. The Whitworth shell passed 

 quite through the plate and burst among the debris of splinters behind. 

 The hole in the plate was of the small, clean-cut, punched kind. It 

 was claimed that the result was equal to what had been accomplished 

 by Armstrong's gun, with a 286 Ib. shell and 45 Ibs. of powder. Ow- 

 insr to the flaw in its breech no further trials were made with this 



gun. 



Thomas's gun was the next competitor. Unfortunately the gun was 

 not well pointed, and its first 330 Ib. shot missed the target altogether. 

 The next shot, weighing 307 Ibs., and fired with a 50 Ib. charge of 

 powder, struck the hollow part of the target, where it was 7 T V inches 

 thick, and bent the plate. The third shot was more successful. It 

 was a steel projectile of 330 Ibs. weight, fired with the same charge. 

 It struck on the edge of the 7^-inch plate, and made a broken ind^n- 

 tation to the depth of 10^ inches, sufficient to establish the most alarm- 

 ing leak in the side of any vessel. The terminal velocities of both 

 these last shots were lower than any fired, which was attributed to 

 6 



