162 DANA— NOTES ON CANNON. [April 20. 



rise freely; certainly too much cannot be said in praise of the 

 founders who could cast such a gun as the serpentine of Charles 

 the Bold (say 1476), in the arsenal at Neuveville, near Bern; a cast- 

 iron field gun some fifty-two inches long, and 2-inch bore. 



Machinery for boring cannon is said to have been invented by 

 Lew, in Switzerland. It was introduced into France 1740/44, by 

 Jean Maritz, born in Bern (1711-1790), who, after accepting office 

 under the French was naturalized. IMaritz seems to have been the 

 first who thought of placing the gun horizontal and making it, not 

 the drill, revolve. 



The Great Bombard, the characteristic gun of the latter half of 

 the fourteenth century and the greater part of the fifteenth, was 

 often, in its early days but a huge tube — '" tuyeau de tonnerre." It 

 is possible that after the frequent burstings, the occasional sur- 

 vivor noticed that these annoying accidents usually had their origin 

 just in front of the chamber, about where the great stone ball was 

 placed. The gun-maker would naturally strengthen this portion 

 with much thicker bands, and doubtless he would soon deduce the 

 fact that the strain decreased from the bursting point to the muzzle, 

 then he would shape his gun to suit. The early gunners suffered 

 terribly from the bursting of their guns. James II., King of Scot- 

 land, was killed at the siege of Roxborough Castle, 1460, in this 

 manner; 1470, a bombard near Paris burst, killing 14 men and 

 wounding as many more. 



It was long before the early gunner discovered (the figures are 

 for a 4.25 inch caliber) that the proportional pressure on the bore 

 increased alarmingly with the weight of the ball; 3.6 per square inch 

 for stone; 10 for iron ; 10.9 for bronze ; 14.5 for lead. For the same 

 caliber; the cost for one round; 4-inch ball, charge 1-9 wt. of ball : — 

 In money of to-day: with a stone ball, $1.25; iron, ?4.75 ; lead, 

 $6.25 ; bronze, $9.00. 



Stone balls had two bad defects — they were apt to shatter to 

 pieces when used for breaching purposes against heavy masonry ; 

 and their rough surface greatly damaged the interior of the bom- 

 bard ; it was sought to correct these defects ; the first by bands of 

 iron about the ball ; the second by enclosing the ball in an envelop of 

 soft lead. 



