652 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



, percussion cap is fixed in the centre of this 

 iron plate. The cartridge will hold Z\ 

 ounces of powder, with space for a thick 

 felt wad between the latter and the projectile. 

 The charge of powder employed at Satory 

 was only 2 ounces, the unoccupied space 

 being filled with two disks of brown paper, 

 laid over the powder and covered with wad- 

 ding. The shell, which has a total length 

 of 2^ calibres, has a jacket of latten cover- 

 ing a portion of its length, with grooves 

 answering to the riflings of the gun. Its 

 weight is 17 ounces, and it contains a 

 charge of If ounce of powder. The whole 

 cartridge, charged and primed, weighs 28 

 ounces. 



The shell does not appear to be held 

 tightly enough in the cartridge-case ; it can 

 be detached by the hand with but little 

 trouble, and there is reason to fear lest, 

 when charged cartridges are transported in 

 boxes, the shells may be separated from 

 their sockets. 



To obviate all accidents, the revolver- 

 cannon was set en batterie at about 100 me- 

 tres, or 328 feet, from the butte, the shells be- 

 ftig charged and provided with thin percus- 

 sion fuses. At first the exploded cartridges, 

 when withdrawn from the cannon, were not 

 at once dropped by the extractor ; but this 

 slight defect was in a few minutes remedied, 

 and, during the remainder of the experi- 

 ments, there was no further difficulty in 

 working the piece. The cartridges were 

 greased before being used. 



They suffered no injury from the dis- 

 charge, and could be recharged and used 

 over and over again. One had opened 

 along the soldering, but had not been rent, 

 nor had any gas escaped. It could be used 

 again, on being soldered anew. Only one 

 cartridge missed fire, and even this went off 

 at the third trial. Only one of the shells 

 also failed to explode. Nearly all of them 

 went through the target, and only exploded 

 in the butte. One, however, burst on strik- 

 ing the target, and one exploded within the 

 gun-barrel; but this latter mishap is not 

 necessarily to be attributed to any irregular 

 action of its fuse, for the shells appear to 

 have been badly cast, and one of the walls, 

 oftentimes, by reason of the eccentricity of 

 the central void, is extremely thin. 



Six shots were fired in succession in 12 



seconds, the cartridges being set in place 

 one by one; then 15 cartridges in 15 sec- 

 onds, with the use of boxes previously sup- 

 plied with a certain number of cartridges. 

 The fire might be kept up for some time at 

 the rate of 60 shots per minute equal to 

 66 pounds of cast-iron shot off in that 

 space of time. The firing is very regular, 

 and the sighting does not appear to undergo 

 any notable variation. 



Each shell breaks up into 12 or 15 frag- 

 ments, large enough to produce mortal 

 wounds at a certain distance from the point 

 where they explode. Most commonly its 

 bottom-piece {culot) separates from the rest 

 without breaking, though lines of cleavage 

 may have been made in it beforehand. 



A notable drawback is the rapid fouling 

 of the gun by the shells, which is manifest 

 after the first few shots, and quickly grows 

 worse. Doubtless this is attributable to 

 the bad quality of the latten forming the 

 jacket of the projectile. 



We should say that the mechanism of 

 Hotchkiss's revolving cannon works with 

 certainty and regularity, and that its ammu- 

 nition would do good service, were the shell 

 better fastened in the cartridge. This shell 

 is an article of difficult and delicate manu- 

 facture, and of a rather high price. The 

 cannon would doubtless produce formidable 

 effects at ranges approaching those of field- 

 artillery, and the explosive properties of its 

 projectiles give it a great advantage over 

 all other mitrailleuses, since the aim can be 

 regulated by observing the points where the 

 shells fall. 



Fertilization of Flowers. Mr. Meehan 

 last year exhibited, at the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, a pear having 

 fibrous instead of granular flesh, and a 

 tough rind like that of the apple. He ac- 

 counted for these phenomena by the theory 

 that apple-pollen had impregnated a pear- 

 pistil. At the meeting of the Academy held 

 January 21st he exhibited an ear of Indian- 

 corn which serves to confirm his hypothesis. 

 As soon as the "silk," that is, the pistils, 

 appeared, the pollen in the " tassel " of a 

 quite different variety of corn was set in a 

 bottle near it, the plant's own tassel having 

 been cut away some time previously. Soon 

 this tassel was taken away, and replaced by 



