BALLISTIC PARADOXES 



THE fact that a tallow candle can be 

 shot through a barn door has been so long familiar 

 that it is now seldom referred to even in the smoking 

 room after a day's shootmg ; but we wonder how many 

 of those who have outlived their intere^ in it could give 

 a rational account of the ancient paradox. As a matter 

 of fad, the original wonder itself has in more modem 

 times been greatly surpassed. A No. 4 shot has been 

 driven through l^ oi tough iron, and a *303 bullet 

 through l " of mild steel. If we simply pressed the candle 

 againit the deal plank, and the No. 4 shot against iron, 

 or a *303 bullet against a plate of steel, we should pro- 

 duce no effed worth mentioning on the wood or the iron 

 or the steel whatever pressure we applied ; yet if we 

 drive the tallow or the lead with a sufficient velocity we 

 punch a clean hole. What is the reason of this ? 



Before attempting to answer this que^ion we may ask 

 one or two more. Why does a stone, or a cannon ball, 

 rebound from the surface of water, and make ducks and 

 drakes ? Why does water when struck with the flat of 

 an oar, or the chest of a man who has made a mistake 

 in his dive, give the sensation of a solid ? Why does a 

 shot from a shot-gun make a small round hole in a pane 

 of glass, when the same shot, if pressed against the pane, 

 would break the entire sheet into large pieces, and not, 

 stridly speaking, make a hole at all ? Why can a visiting 



76 



