THE CHATEAUVILLIER NEEDLE GUN. 



283 



THE CHATEAUVILLIER NEEDLE GUN. 



A needle gun somewhat on the same 

 plan as that of Mr. Lancaster has been 

 invented for some years, and patented in 

 the name of the Comte de Chateauvillier. 

 I have been kindly favoured by its 

 owner with the loan of one of these, 

 made by Martigny of Brussels, and from 

 it the following illustrations are drawn. 

 It is necessarily a heavy gun, the speci- 

 men forwarded to me weighing above 

 eight pounds ; and from the quantity of 

 strong iron-work which is introduced, 

 in order to insure a safe closure of the 

 breech, I do not see how this can be 

 prevented to any great extent. But 

 though the invention has this, in com- 

 mon with several other manifest disad- 

 vantages, yet I have thought it desirable 

 to insert a description of it here, because, 

 in my judgment, its principle un- 

 doubtedly contains the germ of several 

 plans lately introduced to the notice of 

 the public namely, those of Bastin's 

 shot-gun, already described, and of the 

 rifles of Restell and Westley Richards, 

 to be found in the next book, among 

 the breech-loaders of the day. Thus, 

 the lever is almost identical with that 

 of Bastin's gun, which is, indeed, com- 

 prehended under the same patent, while 

 the plugs closing the breech are very 

 similar to those adopted in the two 

 rifles alluded to above. 



The general <////v/v///ce of this mo- 

 dern invention is indicated by fig. 58, 

 which shows the whole gun when ready 

 for use. 



