364 Notices of Books. (July, 
The work commences with a brief historical sketch of our 
rifled ordnance, from Lancaster’s gun in the Crimea, and 
Colonel de Beaulieu’s field pieces at Solferino, down to the 
present Prussian system of Krainer, and our own Fraser cheap 
construction Woolwich guns; then follows the consideration of 
the various rival systems of rifling up to the latest date; and our 
authors, in conclusion of Chapter I. remark, ‘‘ that the tests and 
trials bearing on this question (that of construction), while 
exemplifying the pains taken to obtain the best war materiel, 
cannot fail to satisfy the most sceptical, that the present con- 
struction of our guns is sound and durable, and also that 
we have made marked progress of late years in heavy ordnance. 
In Chapter II. we have Hart’s, Armstrong’s, Whitworth’s, 
Palliser’s, Rodman’s, and Fraser’s systems of construction dis- 
cussed, and our British ordnance is compared with foreign 
to the manifest advantage of the former. ‘‘ For supposing the 
American cast-iron guns are as durable and as little liable to 
burst as our sinewy guns of wrought-iron, and that their 
apocryphal charges are actually used, our guns possess the great 
advantage of being able to pierce armour-plates with shot, 
nay even with shell, which the American guns could only 
crush or ‘vack’ with solid shot. Various examples of Prussian 
guns bursting explosively are also given as a proof that the 
uncertain character of steel renders it a dangerous material, and 
that we must not trust it until greater improvements take place 
in its manufacture. In Chapter III. the materials for ordnance, 
such as bronze, cast-iron, steel, and wrought-iron are compared, 
and their physical properties described. Its deficiency in hard- 
ness, however tough and tenacious the metal, points out bronze 
to be unsuitable, except under restricted circumstances, for 
ordnance. However valuable the hardness of cast-iron, yet its 
brittleness renders it unsafe, and only useful for converted guns 
with a wrought-iron lining. The defects of steel, also, may 
be stated to be brittleness, uncertainty, and deficiency in exten- 
sibility, when strained beyond its elastic limits, which render it 
unsuitable for the exterior portions of a gun; at the same time, 
from its hardness, high tensile strength, and freedom from flaws 
and defects, it is well suited for the inner barrel. Lastly, 
wrought-iron is valuable as a gun material, on account of its 
comparatively high tenacity, combined with its malleability and 
ductility. The next chapter is taken up with an account of the 
principal operations in the manufacture of wrought-iron 
ordnance, the machinery employed, the methods of forging, 
welding, and coiling on a large scale, the lathes, rifling, and 
other machines. Further on we have the manufacture of the 
breech-loading Armstrong guns, of which, although suspended 
latterly, a knowledge is required by officers who have to deal 
with this class of guns in the service. We will now proceed to 
watch the progress of a 7-inch Fraser cheap-construction gun 
