MR. J. NASMYTH ON WAR ROCKETS. 207 



(notwithstanding their wildness or uncertainty of flight) 

 caused them to be employed in warfare, in many instances 

 with most efi"ective and important results. 



It is with the object of giving to such rockets all the 

 advantages of rifle action, and so securing precision in their 

 flight, that I desire to suggest means for eff'ecting that 

 important object by an agency that appears to me to be at 

 once simple and effective. 



Before proceeding to describe the means whereby I pro- 

 pose to effect the object in question, I would premise that 

 what constitutes the true rifle principle in a projectile is 

 not only the condition of axial rotation in the line of flight, 

 but, above all, the condition that the projectile possesses 

 the highest degree of axial rotation /ro??i the first instant of 

 its forward course. 



Unless this latter condition be present, no subsequent 

 axial rotation, be it ever so great, can correct a bias or 

 unprecise flight after the flight has commenced. 



The grand desideratum to be sought for is, that at the 

 instant the rocket commences its flight it shall possess the 

 highest degree of axial rotation. With such conditions 

 present, we shall confer on our rocket all the properties 

 (as regards precision of flight) of the most perfect rifle pro- 

 jectile. 



It is difi&cult by words alone to convey a perfectly clear 

 idea of the mechanical arrangement by which I propose to 

 effect this desirable object. I have therefore accompanied 

 these remarks with an illustrative diagram of the mecha- 

 nism by means of which I propose to confer on the rocket 

 the requisite degree of high axial rotation, so that, like a 

 true rifle projectile, it shall possess that indispensable con- 

 dition of precision of flight from and at the very instant it 

 sets out on its course. 



Before proceeding to describe the distinctive featui'es of 

 my contrivance for effecting the object in question, it may 



