242 Mr. F. J. Bramwell [June 13, 



the bevel should be the opposite of that of the abrasion on splinter 1 ; 

 and that which should be, is, for splinter 13 is thus abraded, as shown 

 at C, and the abrasion has been made by a cylindrical body moving 

 with enormous raj^idity ; that is to say, by the projectile which had 

 previously abraded the left-hand end of splinter 1. 



These indications, in the judgment of the Committee, and I trust 

 in your judgment, prove to demonstration that at the time of the 

 explosion, the centre of effort of which was at the point A, a 23rojectile 

 was to the rear not only of A, but as regards some part of it at least 

 to the rear of the left hand of splinter No. 1. But if that projectile 

 were the common shell that had just been loaded into the gun, its 

 85 lbs. of powder must have been in its rear, and therefore 6 to 7 feet 

 away from the seat of the explosion. If this had been so, what force 

 was it that produced explosion in a part of the gun in advance of the 

 projectile, and where, according to the suggestion, there was nothing 

 but atmospheric air ? 



I leave it to those who say there was but the single charge in the 

 gun, to give a satisfactory answer to this question, and in the mean- 

 time I will offer to your consideration the hypothesis of the duuhle- 

 loading — an hypothesis which fulfils every necessary condition. 

 Probably the best way of showing to you how exactly it does fulfil these 

 conditions will be to make use once more of our diagram model, No. 13. 

 This model has already been loaded with the battering charge of 

 110 lbs., and the Palliser shell with its gas check and wad ; and I will 

 take it that at the electric broadside there was, as regards the gun this 

 model is intended to represent, a misfire ; that this circumstance not 

 being known, the gun was depressed to the loading position, and that 

 the order was given (by the tell-tale) from those within the turret to 

 those without to sponge and load, whereupon they sponge out, they 

 put in the 85-lb. charge, the common shell in front of it with its gas 

 check and wad, and then send in the signal, " Gun loaded." Look at 

 it when thus double-loaded, and observe where the 85 lbs. of powder 

 are in reference to the seat of the centre of the explosion, a little to 

 the rear, but not more than would be rectified by the very first move- 

 ment forward of the Palliser shell (see A', Fig. 17). Now imagine 

 the 110-lb. charge ignited, the flash from it passing along the rifle 

 grooves outside the gas check to the 85 lbs. in front, and igniting this 

 85 lbs. placed between a common shell weighing 590 lbs. in front, and 

 the Palliser shell of 700 lbs. in the rear, and being urged forward at 

 that time by the commencement of the exj)losion of the 110 lbs. of 

 powder, and thereby compressing the 85-lb. charge into the smallest 

 possible space, and it may be, as suggested by Professor Osborne 

 Eeynolds, generating as much heat as would have ignited that powder, 

 even in the absence of the flash along the rifle grooves. 



You will remember how, in an early j^art of this lecture, I pointed 

 out to you that the diminution of the space occupied by the powder 

 added to the intensity of the explosion, and also how, if you could 

 imagine powder heated throughout to nearly the exploding point, 



