$4^ Means for famng the Crews of V'JfcU . 



force of the explofion and the velocity of the motion, I 

 •thought it proper to confult profeflioual men. I wrote to 

 feme officers of the artillery in garrifon at La Fere, and they 

 aJmoft all replied that the rope would infallibly break. 



Not fatisfied with this anfv.-G^ I happily conceived the ideg, 

 of making the experiments on a fjiiall feale. I caufed a piece 

 of the barrel of a mufket to be filed into the form of a fmalj 

 mortar of i8 lines in length internally; and having tied a 

 packthread to a common ball of lead, I made an experiment^ 

 which peife^tly fucceeded, as did a great many others which 

 I repeated afterwards even with the ftrongeft charges of 

 powder. I communicated tliis fuccefs to thefe officers of 

 artillery, who replied, that there was a great difierence be* 

 tween a quarter of an ounce of powder and four or five 

 pounds employed for a bomb ; and, in Ihort, that the rope 

 jvould break. 



Being defirous to afcertain wliat truth there might be it^ 

 this aflertion, I repaired to a largo iron furnace, where I re-, 

 mained ten days, and where I caufed a mould to be formed 

 for a four-inch rnortar and a bullet of the fame calibr.e: I 

 had them both caft, and niadc an experiment with a rope 

 thre;e or four lines in diameter and eighteen ounces of pow- 

 der, wiii>„h fucceeded. I then came to Paris, where, after 

 ftaying eight monlhs, I obtained an order from government 

 to make my experiments on a grand fcale even at La Fere, 

 where I had .to expe6l men prejudiced againit the fuccefs of 

 ^y attempts. When I went thither they perfifted that they 

 would not fucceed. I knew, how ever, what I had to de- 

 pend upon, as I bad already made experiments. In fliort I 

 repeated them, and they completely fucceeded. The firll 

 .day, nothing being done in a proper manner, fome of the 

 .experiments failed ; but things being arrange4 better next 

 piorning, wc repeated them feyen times without once fail- 

 ^nf, viz. four times with a mortar of eight iufhes, and three 

 .^'ith one of twelve, augmenting each tiujc the charge of 



the. 



