MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 113 



baiTel. This gave the sportsman sufficient control over the recoil, 

 and enabled him to use the gun with greater quickness and as 

 much dexterity as could be obtained in the case of a shoulder- 

 gun. Lately he had met with a breech-loading apparatus, which 

 he found was applicable to his gun. 



In the ordinary stick gun the support is given by merely resting 

 the barrel on the left hand. Now, this additional support is, in 

 the present invention, considerably augmented by giving the other 

 hand something to grasp in the shape of a perpendicularly attached 

 stock. This brings the gun within the grasp of both hands, and 

 thereby renders the recoil controllable, which is the real advantage 

 of the gun itself. It is, moreover, probable that an accident with 

 any of these rifles, in the case of exploding, for instance, would not 

 have the same disastrous effects as with the ordinary weapon, the 

 seat of the explosion being somewhat more distant. 



ON THE PROPER FORMS OF PROJECTILES FOR PENETRATION 



THROUGH WATER. 



At the last meeting of the British Association, a paper was read 

 showing the result of experiments that had been made by Mr. 

 Whitworth with three descriptions of projectiles. The iron plate 

 used was 50 inches long, 13 wide, 1.2 inch thick, and was im- 

 mersed in water 39 inches deep. The gun used was the one- 

 pounder, from which all the former experiments were made 

 previous to the first penetration of 4-inch armor-plate from a 70- 

 pounder rifled gun in October, 1858. The angle of depression of 

 the gun was T^ T ; the distance which the projectile passed 

 through the water from the point of entering to the bull's eye 80 

 inches. No. 1 projectile was Whitworth steel, and of the form 

 always advocated by the author for use at sea. It was not de- 

 flected by passing through water. No. 2 shot, with hemispherical 

 form of head, was deflected, and struck 9^ inches above the bull's 

 eye. No. 3 projectile, of white cast iron, commonly called the 

 Palliser, or chilled shot, struck 19 inches above the bull's eye, its 

 conical form of head causing it to rise quickly out of the water. 

 The advantages of No. 1 projectile are, first, its power of pene- 

 tration, when tired, even at extreme angles, against armor-plates ; 

 secondly, its large internal capacity as a shell ; thirdly, the capa- 

 bility of passing through water, and of penetrating armor below 

 the water line. The No. 3 projectile is advocated by Major Pal- 

 liser, on account of the cheapness and its power of penetration, 

 which latter quality, however, depends upon its being fired at a 

 near approach to right angles against armor-plates. 



The objections to this projectile are, first, that when it is fired 

 at any considerable angle against an armor-plate, its form induces 

 it to glance ofi", and the brittleness of the metal causes it to break 

 up ; and it is to be observed that in naval actions oblique fire is the 

 rule, and direct fire is the rare exception ; second, that the brit- 

 tleness, and consequent weakness of the metal, necessitates a 

 greater thickness of the sides, and reduces its internal capacity 

 10* 



