566 
History. shot fell. The guns were fired with their axes always 
horizontal. The smallest charges were at first used, 
Experi- and increased ually till the ranges began to dimi- 
Tainin nish. The following Table shows the results of the 
1746. experiments : 
Length " Weight of ‘ 
3 ya of ae Weight, Powder. Range. | Recoil. 
Calibres. |Cwt. qr. Ib.| Ib. oz Yards, | Inches. 
, 1 4 478 43 
4 27 9 1 921.10 489 62 
2.1 | 472 | 72 
eee 512 45 
8 27 18 210 3 5 532 64 
; 4 2 532 82 
3 5 505 42 
16 238 |81 $8 26 F 6 526 55 
415 522 78 
6 9 485 54 
32 20 |57 217 ' 12 492 71 
9 13 489 82 
From these results it follows, that the charge of: pow- 
der which gives the longest range is equal to half the 
weight of the shot in four and eight pounders, and to ° 
one-third of its weight in 16 and 32 pounders, The 
recoil always increases in proportion to the augmenta- 
tion of the charge. The length of the range increases 
to a certain point, and afterwards decreases in a much | 
less ratio than the recoil increases. The charge which 
gives the longest range in pieces of small calibre, is 
proportionally longer than in pieces of large calibre. 
Experi- In the spring of 1750, the Chevalier Ferrero di Pon- 
ments at —_siglione made a series of experiments with pieces of the 
hg im same. calibre and —— at Turin, for the purpose | 
of ascertaining the ge that gives the longest range 
when-the piece is fired at the greatest elevation its car- 
riage will admit of. The ranges were measured on a 
flat piece of ground, nearly on the same level with the 
battery. The shot being rather larger, the windage 
was less than in the experiments of 1746. 
Nature of Guns. Misighe.of ar ge Recoil. 
Pounders. | Elevation, Ib. oz. | Yards. | Inches, 
2 1) 2375 52 
2 8] 2219 60 
4 14° 214) 2422 70 
3 5 | 2526 76 
3.5] 2391 46 
4.2) 2463 65 
415] 2486 85 
8 1° |f 512) 2375 | 102 
6 9] 2675 | 119 
512] 2659 71 
6 9] 2860 76 
7 3] 2663 10 
16 12° 8 3] 2810 oy 
9 O| 2764 108 
9 13 | 2892 | 113 
He 8 | 3172 | 117 
3 2) 3032 120 
$2 113° 14 6| 2995 124 
16 6 | 3220 | 146 
18 0} 3084 168 
GUNNERY. 
chine consists of a horizontal circle, supported by its cc! 
° 
From these experiments it follows, that the charges 
that give the longest ree when cannon are fired from * 
the greatest elevations their by will permit, are 
greater than those which produce the same effect when _ 
they are fired horizontally. Several experiments which — 
were some time afterwards made in France, shewed, 
that in cannon of a large calibre, the charge should be 
about three-eighths of the weight of a s In the Ma 
month of August 1747, Signior Marandone made a se- de 
ries of experiments for the same , by orders of Pe 
the Keaanis of Mie Fecal thes he babs that 
the charge that ought to produce the lenges Fa 
must ps chien eighitid of the weight of Pa i 
Signior Mattei, mathematical instrument maker to Matte 
the King of Sardinia, invented a machine for finding machi 
the initial velocity of balls measured near the mouth 
of the gun; and a number of valuable experiments {.,). 
were made with it by Antoni, of which we eee 
wards give a more particular account. Mattels tees 
centre on the aaget end of a vertical axis, and servin 
as a base to a hollow 
to revolve by means 
passing over a pulley ; and ee pees 
uable motion initial 
at some dis." 
dex against the wheel, upon which it describes an arch, 
till it is checked by the aera of the shot against a 
moveable butt placed at the distance of a few feet: to 
this effect, one ene of a rod is fastened to the butt, 
and the other to the plate; thus the index is drawn 
back by the rod which follows the movement of the 
butt, and ceases to describe the arch on the circumfe« 
rence of the wheel. The motion of the wheel, the dis- 
tance from the muzzle of the gun to the butt, and the 
arch described by the index being known, it is easy to 
ascertain the space that the shot passes through in one 
second of time with an uniform velocity ; or, in other 
words, its initial velocity. To diminish the friction as 
much as possible, a small groove is made in the part of 
the Whbel that receives the index, and filled with grease, 
which presents a very slight resistance. By means of this 
instrument, the time of the shot’s passage along the bore 
of the gun, the initial velocity of shells, and the resist« 
ance of the air to their motion, may be determined ; if 
allowance be made for the modificationsthat must ensue,” i 
In the year 1779, the learned Dr Hutton of Wool- gruty 
wich, in conjunction with several officers of artillery, experi: 
undertook a series of experiments on the motion of Wall 
cannon balls, They used ballistic pendulums from 300 5” 79, 
to nearly 600 pounds weight, and they employed cannon ~~ 
shot of 1, 2, and 3 ee weight, and they varied the 
charge of powder from 2 to 8 ounces. From these ex- 
periments, of which a full account was published in the 5 
Philosophical Transactions for 1778, Dr Hutton dedue 
ced the following inferences... , : 
