58 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOYEKY. 



views respecting the armaments best adapted to meet the wants of 

 iron-clad vessels, as follows : " This question would be reduced to 

 very narrow limits, were it possible to decide intelligently upon the 

 claims of smooth and rifled cannon. But the obviously imperfected con- 

 dition of the latter interposes an obstacle to a fair consideration of its 

 merits, which the ingenuity of very clever men has long been exerted 

 upon without complete success. 1. The rifled shot when moving cor- 

 rectly is the more accurate to first graze, though not materially so, at 

 moderate distances, say thirteen hundred to fifteen hundred yards. 

 Beyond a mile, its advantage in this respect is very marked. 2. But 

 after encountering any object, its deflections are of the most erratic 

 description, and it generally tumbles over so as to nullify its force, and 

 render its subsequent direction beyond conjecture. Wherefore, the 

 rifled shot has no capacity for ricochet, which is one of the most cer- 

 ' tain modes of operating with the round projectiles in naval service, 

 and is of the utmost importance because so many shot fall short and 

 strike the water first. 3. The rifle shot has greater penetration 

 than the round, but much less concussive power. At the present 

 time, considerable improvements are required to give regularity and 

 certainty to the distinctive qualities of the rifled shot ; and there is 

 no little trouble experienced also with the stripping of soft metal 

 from them, and the imperfect operation of their fuses. These, being 

 defects rather of detail, will no doubt be ultimately got rid of. Mean- 

 while, the rifle gun is gradually making its way into the service, and 

 becoming better understood by soldiers and sailors. 



" A glance at the forms which this arm has assumed in different 

 countries shows the great variety of solutions that the problem is 

 capable of, and may possibly indicate some difficulty in uniting all the 

 qualities desired in one piece. The greatest diversity will be noticed, 

 for instance, between the device of Armstrong and of Whitworth, 

 and the Canon Raye of the French. 4 They differ totally in ,the 

 material and construction of the cannon, projectile, and fuse. And 

 while no one service is entirely satisfied with its own arm, it seems to 

 find nothing better in that of another. 



" If, in battering an iron-clad, penetration only shall be the para- 

 mount consideration, and other effects merely incidental, the rifle 

 cannon must be selected. But if the concussion and shattering of 

 the plate and its backing be preferred, with such penetration as 

 might be consequent thereon, then the heavy, swift, round projectile 

 will supply the blow best adapted to such work. So long as the 

 present mode of plating continues, there can be little doubt that it 

 will be most effectively attacked by cracking and bending the iron, 

 starting the bolts, stripping off the armor, and breaking away large 

 portions of the wooden structure within. And to this mode of action 

 I feel more inclined, after witnessing its effects upon a number of 

 targets plated with solid iron, or with thin plates bolted into one, the 

 direction of the fire being perpendicular or oblique. 



" The number of guns being very much reduced, of necessity, in 

 iron-clads, particularly in the turrets, which will only accommodate 

 a pair of them, it would naturally be supposed that the weight of 

 broadside would also be limited. But the very large calibres that are 

 likely to be adopted will so far compensate for the loss in number, 



