involved in the Construction of Artillery. 335 



Chronology of the Use of Wrought-h'on for Artilknj. 



The following chronological notices, collated from " Meyer's Historical Manual " and 

 other sources, puts tlie more remarkable facts relating to the history and progress ofxvroughi- 

 iron cannon in one view, from the period already referred to, when the early wrought-iron 

 bombards and serpentines had gradually got out of use, or rather, shortly after, when the 

 use of wrought-iron, in other forms was revived, up to a recent date. 



In 1494, Charles VIII. suppressed wholly wrought-iron bombards, and had no other 

 artillery than that of bronze. With the exception of the occasional use of an old bombard 

 (as in the defence of St. Dizier, in 1544), little notice is to be found of wrought-iron guns 

 in any form for nearly a century, when they again begin to excite attention, revived in 

 various forms. 



There is in the Museum at Paris a wrought-iron piece, of 1555, very long, but of 

 small caliber, with a movable breech. 



There were at Strasbourg, in 1833, several wrought-iron cannon, bearing the date of 

 1602, some of which were made to load at the breech. 



1621. The cannon called ahraga are found in use, loaded by means of separate cham- 

 bers. These pieces were usually of wrought-iron, and of calibers as high as 100 lbs. Sarti 

 saw some at Gand and at Amsterdam, one of which weighed 33,000 lbs., where they were 

 used principally on board of vessels. Venice had many pieces (50-pounders) of this kind 

 on board of her galleys, where they were mounted on carriages. The chambers were of 

 wrought-iron or bronze, three for each piece. They were fixed in behind by means of 

 wooden wedges; at the moment of firing, those serving the gun stood on the sides. Those 

 of the Mary Rose were of this class. 



In 1660, there was cast in India a large bronze cannon, with a wrought-iron lining to 

 the bore of six inches diameter, weighing 7726 lbs. 



There is at Berlin a wrought-iron piece, of the year 1661, for a 2-oz. ball, and rifled 

 with thirteen grooves, with a screw breech, and a sight turning on a hinge. 



There was at Woolwich (in 1830) a wrought-iron piece, made at Nuremberg, in 1694, 

 and at Zurich, of the same date, an old wrought-iron cannon, composed of many gieces, 

 easily separated from each other. 



In 1697, there were made some wrought-iron pieces, composed of bars wrapped round 

 a core. An 18-pounder of this kind burst at the first fire. 



In the " Recueil des Machines approve par I'Academie des Sciences," t. iii. p. 79, an 

 ingenious arrangement is figured and described, of M. Villous, for forging wrought-iron 

 guns solidly, with the bore ready formed. They were made of annular discs, separately 

 and successively welded together by "jumping," upon a maundrell. The plan has some 



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