On Shot Cartridges. 289 
explosion of the powder, and, pressing hard against the sides of 
the barrel, carries before it a considerable portion of the deposit 
of the last discharge, without allowing the shot to come in con- 
tact: thus lessening, instead of increasing, the fouluess of the gun, 
while it renders the leading of the barrel impossible. Giving 
shot a gloss with black lead is said to be useful as well as orna. 
mental, as it renders it lubricous, and less friction is the conse- 
quence: this however holds good only to a limited extent, as 
the foulness of the barrel by the deposit of the lead soon counter- 
acts the effects of lubricity. In order to discover whether an 
real advantage was obtained by glazing the shot, I fired fifty 
charges 24 oz. each of No. 4 shot, at a circle three inches dia- 
meter, on the balistic pendulum, at fifty yards distanee; the gun 
was cleaned every five discharges: fifty charges 2! oz. each of 
the old patent shot not glazed, were fired at the same pendulum, 
at the same distance, and with the same gun cleaned after every 
~ tenth discharge. The number of shots put in the circle, were with 
the glazed shot 153; with the old patent 161. Fifty charges of 
each were then fired in cartridges; the gun cleansed only once in 
each operation, viz. after the 25th discharge. The numbers were, 
new patent glazed 159; old patent not glazed 169: the old 
patent had the advantage in projectile force iu both cases, as was 
obvious by its action on the pendulum. The facility of loading 
is undoubtedly a material advantage in shooting certain species 
of wild fowl, as almost all those of the pelican tribe hover over 
the first bird that is shot; and I have known two persons get 
four shots each before the flock has dispersed: whereas not more 
than two each at the utmost, could have been fired in the ordi- 
nary way. As to the shot getting into the touch-hole, it so 
rarely occurs (unless to careless loaders) that it is of no import- 
ance, 
Your Correspondent recommends thin paper. ‘The follow- 
ing experiments will, I apprehend, prove it to be objectionable: 
Some of the first cartridges I tried were made of whity-brown 
paper, and others of printing demy, as I had conceived it to be 
possible that shot confined in thicker paper might go in a lump, 
and not spread at all, I accordingly made ten cartridges of each 
of the following sorts of paper, viz. thin whity brown, printing 
demy, thin post, foolscap, thin blue cartridge, thick ditto, white 
cartridge, very stout ditto, and very stout brown paper; all of 
which were well pasted and rolled very close, each filled with 24 
oz. No, 4 shot: the whole were discharged from the same gun, 
and not one of them went in a lump: on the contrary, the shot 
from the thick as well as the thin cartridges spread very similarly, 
I had then a quantity made by a knife- aud razor-sheath maker, 
of the usual thickness of razor-sheaths; twenty-were also wade 
Vol, 58, No, 282. Oct. 182). Ovo Of 
