1862.] 19 



by placing the shot with its centre of gravity to either side of the 

 geometrical centre, to which side the deviation then occurred, and 

 longitudinally, by placing the centre of gravity above or below ; in 

 the former position the range was increased, and when " below," the 

 range was diminished relatively to the range of a concentric sphere 

 of like dimensions, and of a weight approximately equal, but not 

 necessarily exactly so. In these latter positions (. e. in a vertical 

 plane) there was found by General Paixhans to be also a relatively 

 reduced amount of lateral deviation in comparison with that of com- 

 mon spherical projectiles ; in shot the difference was as 8 compared to 

 13, and in shells as 2 to 16*. In the English experiments, however, 

 of 1850, 1851, and 1852 it does not appear, from the published 

 results, that lateral deviation was thus reduced, excepting at some or 

 the longest ranges f. Of these the greatest was with a 68-pounder of 

 95 cwt., charge 12 Ibs., elevation 24, the shot being hollow and 

 eccentric (but its weight and mode of eccentricity not mentioned) ; 

 this shot ranged to 6500 yards , while the greatest range at the 

 Deal experiments of A.D. 1839 with a 56-pounder gun and solid 

 shot, 16 Ibs. charge instead of 12 Ibs., and 32 elevation instead of 

 24 only, was 5720 yards . 



The conclusions arrived at in England, France, and America from 

 the results of experiment with eccentric spherical projectiles appear 

 to be very similar, as regards the general inutility of the eccentric 

 principle for any but certain exceptional occasions in warfare, such 

 as the bombardment of a distant but very extended area. It has, 

 however, been used in spherical projectiles in the Prussian field 

 artillery |] ; and Dahlgren states that when the centre of gravity, of a 

 shell that has no more eccentricity than about j\ of its weight 

 added about the interior of the fuse-hole, is placed in the axis of the 

 bore ^[, or rather parallel thereto as regards the geometrical centre, 

 the lateral deviations are nearly annulled**, and the longitudinal 



* Naval Gunnery, ed. 4. p. 152. f Ib. p. 166. J Ib. p. 168. 



These two ranges are the greatest of any recorded in the ' Naval Gunnery,' 

 with respectively eccentric and concentric spheres. 



|| Vide Taubert on the ' Use of Field Artillery,' translated from the German by 

 Lieutenant Maxwell. London, J. Weale. 



^[ Dahlgren says that such use of the eccentric principle is made in the U.S. 

 Navy for shells. 



** Dahlgren, p. 94. 



c 2 



