678 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITimEr. 



The shot consists of several layers joined by a pin,, so that ^\hen 

 it ttrikes it may separate intok several parts, 



Mr, C. claimed an advantage in having the shot cylindrical, in 

 keeping the exact center o-f gravity in the center of the body of 

 the shot. In casting ro-und shot,, the denser portion of the metal 

 sank to the bottom^ thus removing the center of gravity from the 

 center of the body. One object sought for in this invention waS' 

 to dispense with the rifle bore. 



The invention had been submitted to Mr. Toucy, late Secretary 

 of War, who referred it to two army officers, 



C. W. Smith submitted a drawing of an explosive projectile. 

 It is formed subst'antially like the Hotchkiss shot, and contains 

 similar lead packing,, but it is cast hollow, and the hollow is 

 intended to be filled with hexagonal bullets. A small chamber 

 contains gunpowder, which is to be ignited by a fuse,, so as to 

 scatter the bullets just before reaching the enemy. 



Mr. Stetson thought it was important to expend our energies' 

 in the direction of the inventions of Hotchkiss and James, The 

 Scrapnell shot is a shell filled with bullets } percussion caps had 

 been attached to the bullets. The matter of exploding by strik- 

 ing was yet in its infancy. For some purposes it was not useful. 

 Practically, a shell was found to sink about its depth before it 

 separated. 



Mr. Garvey remarked, that in reference to Mr. Clark's cylin- 

 drical shot, that the inventor had attempted something that 

 never could be done, viz ; determining the center of gravity by 

 gravitation. It was determined by the cooling mass, so that it 

 made no difference in what position the shot was cast, 



Mr. Clark insisted that by casting the shot in a cylindrical 

 shape, upright, the shrinkage is comparatively uniform. 



A gentleman inquired if there was any way of preventing the 

 lead packing from coating the inside of the gun. 



Mr. Stetson stated that just forward of the lead ring in Hotch- 

 kiss' ball, there is placed some grease, and held there by some 

 loosely sperm wicking. This greases the gun just forward of the 

 lead, and it is found that there is no coating of the inside of the 

 gun, even after forty or fifty trials. 



H. L. Siuart stated that Messrs. Lee & Larned were engaged 

 in constructing flying artillery gun, embracing the idea of the 

 Lyman accelerating gun, by which they hoped to be able to throw 

 balls one and three-quarter inches long, by five-eights of an inch 



