228 ARTILLERY 



water found in tho upper bods of tho chalk beneath London, their yield may amount 

 to 8,000,000 or 10,000,000), then, I submit, that there is a reasonable probability, 

 after allowing for tho present over-drainage, of tho tertiaries of the upper greensand, 

 with an effective area and a thickness 3 times greater than those of the lower ter- 

 tiaries, yielding daily, and without diminution, from 6,000,000 to 10,000,000, and of the 

 lower greensands, which exceeds by 10 times the lower tortiaries in both respects, of 

 their yielding daily and without diminution from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 gallons of 

 water in the twenty-four hours, taken at about surface level. 



' Since the beds of the lower greensand are 200 feet thick, and they occupy an area 

 above and below ground of 4,600 square miles, and since a mass of one mile square 

 and one foot thick will hold more than 60,000,000 of gallons of water, it is evident that 

 a year's consumption of water by tho population of London would not occasion a fall 

 of one foot in the water-level over the entire area ; that is, supposing no rain had 

 fallen during the year. Such wells, too, would have the advantage of adding to tho 

 adornment of the metropolis, as if the water of the lower greensand was liberated by 

 means of Artesian wells, fountains would be at once formed, projecting their water 

 from 100 to 150 feet above the level of Trinity high-water mark.' ' E. B. 



ARTESIAN 1 WEXiXiS, Negative. Borings into the earth which are intended to 

 carry off the waters from the surface. They have been proposed for the purpose of 

 draining large tracts of swampy country. Especial information on this subject will 

 be found in the ' Society of Arts' Journal' for 1856, and Ansted's ' Geology.' 



ARTICHOKE. (Cynara Scolymus). A thistle-like plant, a native of the South of 

 Europe, cultivated for the sake of the fleshy sweet receptacle of its flowers. JERU- 

 SALEM ARTICHOKES are the tubers of the Helianthus Tuberosus, and derive their name 

 by a corruption, from the Italian girasole, sunflower. 



ARTICUXiITE. A name proposed by Dr. Wetherill for flexible sandstone, in 

 allusion to tho articulated structure of the stone, seen on microscopic examination. 



ARTIFICIAL STONE. See STONE, ARTIFICIAL. 



ARTIIiIiERY. The earliest European artillery of large size consisted of ' ser- 

 pentines ' and ' bombards,' both being formed of longitudinal bars of wrought- iron, 

 arranged like the staves of a cask, and hooped all over, or nearly so, with wrought- 

 iron rings, shrunk-on hot upon the bars. The serpentine was of small calibre, but of 

 enormous length. A gun of this character, taken by the Swiss from Charles le 

 Te'me'raire, at the battle of Granson, in 1476, is described and figured in the Emperor 

 Napoleon's work, 'Passe" et 1'Avenir d'Artillerie.' This example is preserved in 

 the collection of the Arsenal of Neuville, Canton of Berne ; it is only about two 

 inches calibre, but about ten feet in length of chase, formed with wrought-iron, with 

 rings shrunk-on at some inches apart. It is embedded to its horizontal diameter, and 

 for its whole length, in a timber bed. 



The bombard was usually a much shorter piece, often of immense calibre. The 

 great gun of Ghent, known as Dulle Griette, or tho Raging Meg, is of this character. 

 Voisin thus describes it : ' This enormous cannon, or ancient bombard, is one of the 

 most curious pieces of artillery known, both in dimensions and construction, which is 

 a chef-d'oeuvre of the art of forging. It is 18 feet in length, by 10 feet 6 inches in 

 circumference ; the mouth is 2| feet in circumference ; it is forged from bars of iron, 

 and weighs 33,606 Ibs., and throws a stone ball of 600 Ibs. weight. Its construction 

 appears to date from the early years of the invention of artillery ; in all probability 

 it was forged while Philip Van Artevelde, Riswaert of Flanders, was besieging Oude- 

 narde, in 1382. It is certain that the people of Ghent, at war with their Duke, 

 Philippe, used it in 1411, and at tho attack of Oudenardo, in 1452.' 



In the arsenal of St. Petersburg is a bombard which is 21 feet long ; but it only 

 weighs 17,435 Ibs., and its calibre is only 68 Ibs. 



The Mons Meg of Scotland, which now quietly reposes on the King's Bastion, 

 Edinburgh, is formed of longitudinal stave bars, in one ply only, and of superimposed 

 rings, driven and shrunk-on upon tho taper. This will be understood from the accom- 

 panying figures (89, 90). This gun was made by one M'Kin, to whom the people of 

 Kirkcudbright contributed the bars of iron. Mons Meg was used at the siege of 

 Dumbarton, in 1489 ; at Norham, in 1497 ; it was used to fire a salute in 1548 ; and 

 in 1682, when firing a salute in honour of the Duke of York, the iron rings, which are 

 now partly wanting near the breech, were blown away without much disturbing the 

 longitudinal bars. The gun actually discharged balls of Galloway granite against 



1 Consult Prestwlch, 'Water-bearing Strata of the Country round London ; ' ' Mylne's Sections of 

 tho London Strata ; ' M. Gander's ' Traite sur les Puits Art6siens ; ' Swindell, ' Eudimentary Treatise 

 on Well Digging and Boring ; ' Buckland's ' Bridgewater Treatise on Geology and Mineralogy ; ' 

 t)e la Beche's ' Geological Observer ; ' H6ricart de Thury's ' Considerations sur la Cause du Jallisse- 

 ment des Eaux des Puits Forces ; ' Degousse and Laurent, ' Guide du Soudeur ; ' Whitaker, ' Geological 

 Survey Memoirs,' vol. lv., 1872 etc. etc, 



