MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 397 



fore leave it for the investigation of others, venturing, howeverj 

 the followino; remarks: — 



If, for experiment, the dimensions of the guns (as Commodore 

 Stoclcton's all were) be of the same size Ihroiighout^ and of a caliber 

 sufficiently strong to withstand the shock of the powder used in 

 the experiment, except at the very spot where the internal pres- 

 sure was greatest, that is, at the hreech encl^ and the metal no 

 stronger there than at any other point along the barrel, it is 

 evident to every one of the least thousfht that a certain charge 

 of powder would have a very different effect upon a gun of this 

 kind than one constructed upon the principle of an ordinary 

 fowling-piece, which has the metal of the breech proportionally 

 thick to the length and size of the weapon. 



The experiments cannot, therefore, hold true in the one case 

 as in the other — because, when the powder is exploded in the 

 large gun (such as used by Commodore Stockton), the greatest 

 pressure, as before stated, in this, as well as all other fire-arms, 

 is at the point of ignition, the breeches. Well, now, the breeches^ 

 or that portion of the barrel surrounding the chambers in the 

 experimental giois, were exactly of the same size as the other 

 parts of the barrel, and, consequently, if the gun contained at 

 any time sufficient powder to burst it, it would necessarily be 

 bursted at the point where the greatest ^^ressure icas exerted^ and 

 that of course would be at the breech, as already admitted. Well, 

 again, when the ball is rammed home and the powder exploded, 

 the force of the explosion would of course be more confined 

 to the breech than if the ball was far up the barrels; and, more- 

 over, this force would be greater than if the ball was not directly 

 on the charge, for the ample reason that in the latter case there 

 would be less positive pressure for the powder to overcome, and 

 the power of the explosion would also be somewhat expended, 

 or rather extended, along the space intervening between the 

 ball and the charge, and where the propelling fluid encountered 

 the ball up the barrel, which we grant would give a sudden 

 check to its further progress — this check, however, would not 

 produce, possibly, a shock equal to that generated at the first 

 impulse of the burning powder, and, therefore, could not burst 

 the barrel at this point, if it did not do it at the point of igni- 

 tion, where the metal in the experimental guns was no stronger, 

 and the force applied we assume to be much greater. 



