112 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



a most severe test of eiKlurance. This was a 32-pouncler, weigh- 

 ii)<^ only .58 cwt. Acconliiis; to the "Tunes," the test was as 

 lollows : Two rounds, with uhaigrs of 16 lbs. of powder and loO 

 lb. cylinders ; 10 rounds, with charges of 20 lbs. of powder and 

 100 lb. cylinders; and, llnally, 10 rounds, with 16 lbs. of powder 

 and 6-1 lb. shells. The shells were loaded with their fuse-holes 

 toward the jiowdcr, an<l, as (he fuses had been taken out, the 

 flash of till' discharge set lire to the pinvdcr in tlu; shells anil burst 

 them in the gun. It was generally expected that this test would 

 have burst tiie gun, or, at all events, that it would have Ijlown 

 oil the muzzle, or otherwise have rendered it unserviceable; but 

 l)eyond tlie one fact uf the bore 1)eing scratciied by tiie splinter of 

 the shells, no injury was jjerce])tible, and the gun was loaded with 

 the same facility and lired as before. It ai)peared from a subse- 

 quent examination tliat some of the shells had burst before they 

 had moved, and that others had burst close to tlu; muzzle of the 

 gun. A number of 61-lb. shot were then fired with 16-lb. charges, 

 but, instead of the shot being rammed home, they were only 

 jjushed down to certain i)ositions in the gun, so as to leave vacant 

 spaces of o inches, 10 inches, 15 inches, 20 inches, and 25 inches 

 between the powder and the shot. To the astonishment of 

 every one present, the guu had not sustained the slightest injury. 

 It was therefore clecided l)y the Ordnance Select Committee to 

 put the gun through a supplementary trial to ascertain its maxi- 

 mum or highest power of endurance, when it will have to tire 

 20-lb. to 25-lb. and 30-lb. charges, with cylinders of 150 11)S. 

 weight. INlajor Palliser has expressed great confidence in the 

 Strength of the gun, and states that he has no fear of the result 

 of any reasonable amount of proof, even beyond what is abso- 

 lutely necessary. The trial, it is admitted, has already borne out 

 the anticipations of the inventor and mamifacturers, and has fully 

 justified the recommendation of the (Jrdnance Select Committee, 

 and their introduction of these guns for the consideration of the 

 "War Deijartmcnt to use up the heavy stock of guns on hand. On 

 account of their weight, their service charges will be only 6 lbs. 

 or 8 lbs. of powder. Sufficient evidence, it is stated, has ali'eady 

 been obtained to prove that we have thus a most efficient and 

 reliable addition to our stock of rifled ordnance ; a fact which, in 

 the present difficulties with which the government is embarrassed 

 for want of serviceable guns, will l)e hailed with much satisfac- 

 tion, more es^jecially as the two new guns now pronounced suc- 

 cessful, — those of Major Palliser and Mr. Frazer, — will be 

 produced at a cost far below that of the present guns, in which 

 the country have long since ceased to have any confidence. 

 — Mechanics' Magazine. 



CHILLED SHOT. 



Mr. Fairbairn, in his treatise on iron ship-building, which 

 appeared so recently as the close of last year, records his opinion 

 that cast and wrought iron were not materials calculated to make 

 a serious impression upon armor-plates, and that nothing had been 

 found to answer the purpose better than hardened steel. The 



