THE SHOOTERS 



times happens in leaping a ditch, with the muzzle of 

 the piece pointed forwards ; and if, in such cases, the 

 barrel does not burst, it is because those foreign bodies 

 stopped it up but very loosely. For the same reason, 

 the barrel will burst if fired when the muzzle is thrust 

 into water, but a very little depth below the surface; 

 the resistance given to the passage of the inflamed 

 powder through the mouth of the piece, being, in this 

 case, much greater than that afforded by the sides of 

 the barrel. Independent of these, a barrel may burst 

 from a defect in the work; and that either the barrel 

 has been imperfectly welded, or that a deep flaw has 

 taken place in some part of it; or, lastly, for want of 

 care in boring or filing, it has been left of unequal 

 thickness in the sides. The last defect is the most 

 common, especially in low-priced barrels. The elastic 

 fluid, which is let loose by the inflammation of the 

 powder, ami which endeavours to expand itself equal- 

 ly -in evei-y direction, being repelled by the stronger 

 parts, acts with additional force against the weaker 

 ones, and frequently bursts its way through them ; 

 which would not have been the case had the sides 

 been of an equal strength, and afforded an equal re- 

 percussion. The weakness of any part of the barrel, 

 occasioned by the inequality of the calibre, will still 

 more certainly be the cause of bursting, than that pro- 

 duced by the filing; because the inflamed fluid being 

 suddenly expanded at the wider parts, must suffer a 

 compression before it can pass onward, and the whole 

 force is then exerted against the weak place; for 



