RIF 



RIG 



f.S. The number of these grooves differ 

 according- to the size of the barrel, and 

 fancy of the workman ; and their depth 

 and width are not regulated by any inva- 

 riable rule. The method of loading 1 them 

 is as follows : when the proper quantity 

 of powder (one drachm avoirdupois) is 

 put down at the muzzle, and a piece of 

 calico or linen is gently rammed down 

 over it as a wad, a circular piece of strong 

 calico is greased on one side, and laid on 

 the mouth of the piece, with the greased 

 side downwards; and a bullet of the sume 

 size as the bore of the piece before the 

 grooves were cut, being placed upon it, 

 is then forced gently down the barrel 

 \vith it; by which means, the calico in- 

 closes the lower half of the bullet ; and, 

 by its interposition between the bullet 

 and the grooves, prevents the lead from 

 being cut by them, and, by means of the 

 grease, slides down, without its being ne- 

 cessurr to use any violent efforts, which 

 would destroy the circular shape of the 

 bullet. In order to understand the cause 

 of the superiority of a rifle-barrel gun 

 over one with a smooth barrel, it will be 

 necessary to refer to Mr. Robin's disco- 

 very of the cause of the irregularities 

 which occur in the flight of projectiles 

 from smooth barrels, which we shall give 

 in his own words, "Tracts on Gunnery," 

 p. 196, &c. "Almost every projectile, 

 besides the forces we have hitherto con- 

 sidered, namely, its gravitation, and that 

 resistance of the air which directly oppos- 

 es its motion, is affected by a third force 

 which acts obliquely to its motion, and in 

 a variable direction; and which, conse- 

 quently, deflects the projectile from its 

 regular track, and from the vertical plane 

 in w r hich it began to move ; impelling it 

 sometimes to one side, and sometimes to 

 the other, occasioning thereby very great 

 inequalities in the repeated ranges of the 

 same piece, though each time loaded and 

 pointed in the same manner ; and this 

 force, operating thus irregularly, I con- 

 ceive to be the principal source of all that 

 uncertainty and confusion in the art of 

 gunnery, which hath hitherto been usual- 

 ly ascribed to the difference of powder. 

 The reality of this force, and the cause 

 which produces it, will, 1 hope, appear 

 from the following considerations : It 

 will easily be granted, I suppose, that no 

 bullet can be discharged from the pieces 

 generally in use, without rubbing against 

 their sides, and thereby acquiring a whirl- 

 ing motion, as well as a progressive one ; 

 and as this whirl will, in one part of its re- 

 yplution, conspire in some degree with 



the progressive motion, and in another 

 part be equally opposed to it, the resist- 

 ance of the air on the fore-part of the bul- 

 let will be hereby affected, and will be in- 

 creasedin that part where the whirling mo- 

 tion conspires with the progressive, and 

 diminished where it is opposed to it. And, 

 by this means the whole effort of the re- 

 sistance, instead of being in a direction 

 opposite to the direction of the body, will 

 become oblique thereto, and will pro- 

 duce those effects already mentioned. If 

 it were possible to predict the position of 

 the axis, round which the bullet should 

 whirl, and if that axis were unchangeable 

 during the whole flight of the bullet, then 

 the aberration of the bullet, by this ob- 

 lique force, would be in a given direction, 

 and the incurvation produced thereby, 

 would regularly extend the same way, 

 from one end of its track to the other. 

 For instance, if the axis of the whirl were 

 perpendicular to the horizon, then the 

 deflection would be to the right or left; 

 if that axis were horizontal, and perpen- 

 dicular to the direction of the bullet, then 

 the deflection would be upwards or down- 

 wards. But as the first position of this 

 axis is uncertain, and as it may perpetu- 

 ally shift in the course of the bullet's 

 flight, the deviation of the bullet is not ne- 

 cessarily in one certain direction. < r 

 tending to the same side in one part of its 

 track that it does in another; but it more 

 usually is continually changing the ten- 

 dency of its deflection, as the axis round 

 which it whirls must frequently shift its 

 position to the progressive motion by ma- 

 nv inevitable accidents." 



"RIGGING of a ship, is all her cordage 

 and ropes, belonging to her masts. VM-ds, 

 &c. A ship is said to be well rigged, when, 

 all her ropes are of a fit size and propor- 

 tion : and she is said to be over-rigged, 

 when her ropes are too large, which is of 

 great prejudice to her sailing, and is apt 

 to make her heel. 



RIGHT, in geometry, signifies the same 

 with straight : thus, a straight line is call- 

 ed a right one. 



RIGHT, in general signification, includes 

 not only a right, for which a writ of right 

 lies, but also any claim or title, either by 

 virtue of a condition, mortgage, or the 

 like, for which no action is given by law, 

 but only an entry. A writ of right is the 

 most ancient remedy in the law, for the 

 recovery of lands, and is not barred till 

 sixty years have elapsed since the claim- 

 ant or his ancestor was disseized, or ousted 

 of possession. 



RING, in astronomy ami navigation, an 



