JOURNAL 



OF THE 



WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



Vol. VIII MAY 19, 1918 No. 10 



ORDNANCE. — Developments in artillery during the war} John 

 Head LAM, Major-General, in charge of the British Artillery 

 Mission. (Communicated by L. J. Briggs.) 



It is a trying ordeal for a soldier with no pretension to scien- 

 tific knowledge to address such an audience as this, particularly 

 when he has to commence with an apology for ignorance on that 

 part of his subject which is of most interest at the moment. I 

 must confess to you, gentlemen, that I have not even a theory to 

 advance regarding the Paris gun, and I can only throw myself on 

 the mercy of the court! But I take courage from your well- 

 known kindness so constantly extended to British officers. And 

 if I can not claim to be one of those artillerymen who have in- 

 vaded the domains of science, I have learned, as an artillery 

 commander in the field, how much we owe to the scientists who 

 have devoted their talents to the solution of the problems which 

 confront us. I think therefore that I may be able to tell you 

 something of the development of artillery during this war, from 

 the user's point of view, which may be of interest. The subject 

 is so vast that it would be quite impossible even to touch on, 

 much less to deal adequately with, all the directions in which 

 these developments have taken place, even if I were to devote 

 myself entirely to the science of artillerj^ 



But this is not everything. To engage the right target from 

 the right place, with the right guns, this is the artillerj-man's 



1 A lecture given before the Washington Academy of Sciences on April 3, 1918. 



301 



