48 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



of 8000 or 10,000 yards, a distance that has never .yet been gained by any 

 gun with a projectile of such weight. 



WHITWORTH'S AND ARMSTRONG'S GUNS COMPARED. 



The following interesting comparison of the two new guns, Whitworth's 

 and Armstrong's, and reflections on the effect of their general introduction 

 on modern warfare, are derived from the London Army and Navy Gazette: 



If artillery be still in its infancy, it is difficult to determine who are to be 

 its nurses, or under what system of education the tremendous giant is to be 

 brought up. It is obvious, from the recent experiments with Armstrong's 

 and Whitworth's guns, that the attempt made to establish a superiority of 

 range and accuiacy on the side of infantry provided with arms of precision 

 over field-artillery, has been unsuccessful; and that the cannon relying on 

 weight of metal can overpower, as before, its ancient enemy, and bids fair to 

 withstand the deadly foes, which hitherto Avere irresistible against unaided 

 artillery, namely, cavalry charge and dash of infantry. But these advan- 

 tages are accompanied by certain conditions which almost amount to defects. 

 There is great increase of expense; there is the necessity of special ammuni- 

 tion, being carried in a special way; there is the loss of accuracy in ricochet 

 fire; there is the diminution of power in discharging grape, shrapnel, and 

 common case with effect; and there is the nicety of mechanism, in addition 

 to the requirement, on the part of the gunners, of a certain skill over and 

 above that necessary to handle ordinary field artillery or guns of posi- 

 tion. As between Mr. Whitworth and Sir William Armstrong, the case 

 stands thus, so far as we know: Mr. Whitworth has invented a gun which 

 throws its shot further than any engine of war has ever yet been able to force 

 projectiles. Sir W. Armstrong has invented, or adapted, a gun which throws 

 shells and shot with greater precision, and at the same time to a greater 

 range, than any other cannon in the world. "We believe, at least, there is no 

 tube, whether it be that of the French rifled gun, or the United States cannon, 

 which combines long range and extraordinary accuracy in the discharge of 

 shell and shot, to such an extent. It will be observed, then, that Mr. Whit- 

 worth excels in range and shot, and Sir William Armstrong is unrivalled in 

 the pi-opulsion of shot and shell, the latter being the more terrible weapon 

 of the two. Mr. "Whitworth, however, is content to do one thing at a time. 

 With a three-pounder of thirty-five degrees elevation, and eight ounces of 

 powder, he throws a bolt, which defies gravity and resistance, for five and 

 a half miles, and falls deep into the earth at the end of its flight. That is a 

 great result; and it is evident, if the number of those small pieces were very 

 great, and the object sought to be hit were a stationary mass, they would 

 produce destructive effects. But, as against stone-works, or even earth- 

 works, these small bolts would make little more impression than arrows fired 

 into an archery butt. It is the heavy concussion of large shot fired at low 

 elevations, and with comparatively small charges of powder, which generally 

 produces the most destructive effects on masonry; whilst on riveted earthen 

 ramparts and gabionades no missile is so efficacious as shells bursting continu- 

 ously in the face of the rivetments. If Mr. Whitworth appeals to his great 

 range alone, we must meet him frankly, and, with the fullest recognition of 

 his great merits and of his very extraordinary achievements, we tell him 

 that, in our opinion, great range of light shot at hiirh elevation is not so 

 formidable by any means as sure practice of heavier shot and shell at much 



