40 British Artillery Matériel. [January, 
It would be well, perhaps, to make distinction between the 
kind of cirrus here alluded to and the whiter and denser 
variety, which approaches in character to cirro-cumulus. 
This variety is evidently a different composition, from the 
fact of chromatic phenomena being absent. The surface is 
whiter and less marked, and the outline more distinét than 
in the halo-producing variety. 
3. Club” cirrus. I thus denominate the long narrow 
line of cloud which proceeds from a kind of tuft partaking 
of the nature of cirrus and cirro-cumulus. 
These are the commonest forms of cloud that produce halo. 
We now take plain skies. I have observed the phenomenon 
under the following conditions :— 
1. A light greyish blue. This is very unusual. 
2. A deep opaque blue. On this occasion the halo was 
entirely red, as when the parhelia appeared. 
3. High thin mist (probably floating crystals). This is 
not uncommon in frosty weather. There is a general law 
with regard to these phenomena which may be stated here, 
viz-, that, “‘the clearer the sky the more perfect is the 
colouring.” This I have verified by many cases. It may 
also be added that the more defined the clouds of the upper 
stratum, the less likely are halos to be seen. 
IV. RECENT CHANGES IN BRITISH ARTILLERY 
MATERIEL. 
By S. P. OLIVER, Capt. R.A. 
(Ce, 
I. ap sth this year experiments have been carried out 
24 both at Shoeburyness and on board H.M.S. Excellent 
with some modified 24-pounder Hale’s rockets to 
test their range, accuracy, and incendiary power in com- 
parison with the ordinary service rockets, Mark III. 
The modified rockets have the internal form of the cone 
in the composition altered and a modified tail piece. These 
alterations were expected to have the effect of greatly in- 
creasing the velocity, duration, and rapidity of rotation, 
ensuring greater range, greater accuracy, and less tendency 
to puff. The modified rockets were found to be (with one 
exception) all steady in flight, whilst all the service rockets 
puffed more or less. ‘Those fired from the Excellent’s cutter 
with Fisher’s rocket apparatus gave good results, with the 
