NUTHALL AND BOUCHER'S RIFLES. 319 



for he does not claim it as his own but as the first to lay it 

 before the public. Great promises have been held out by 

 the advocates of this mode of rifling; but in practice I have 

 seen so many balls go whistling away in some unforeseen 

 direction, that though at other times I have known good 

 practice made, I could never place any confidence in the 

 principle. It is also applied to the breech-loader, and will 

 again be alluded to under that head. 



GENERAL JACOB'S FOUR-GROOVED RIFLE. 



Fifthly, we have General Jacob's ball, which resembles 

 Purdey's in its wings, but has four instead of two of them. 

 The twist is four-fifths of a turn in twenty-four inches, or 

 more than double that of Purdey; so that, though an 

 increased range is obtained with it, the charge of powder 

 must be greater in proportion, and the recoil is by no means 

 pleasant. The gauge is 32. This rifle does not seem to have 

 any advantage at sporting ranges ; but for military purposes 

 it has been strongly recommended, especially in reference to 

 the explosive shells which are used with it. In 1856, a 

 report upon General Jacob's rifle .was made to the Indian 

 Government, which states, "that at ranges from 300 to 

 1 200 yards the flight of the shell (used with this rifle) was 

 always point foremost, and the elevation at the extreme 

 range inconsiderable. The shells which struck the butt 

 invariably burst with full effect ; and practice was made by 

 the many officers who attended, at distances which could not 

 have been attained with any other missile." The shells 

 alluded to in the report require a short stout barrel, and 

 cannot be used with a long thin one, like the Enfield. For 

 killing large animals, like the elephant or rhinoceros, they 

 are peculiarly qualified; and I should strongly recommend 

 elephant hunters to examine into the merits of this rifle, as 

 made by Mr. Daw, of Threadneedle-street, London, who 

 received his instructions from the late General Jacob. 



MAJOR NUTHALL'S AND MR. BOUCHER'S. 



Under the sixth division may be mentioned two rifles very 

 similar in their principle, but one having four sides, with 



