Testing the Value of Gtms oy Firing tender Water. 169 



grains of powder and 384 of bullet for the Spanish model. The 

 question naturally arose, what would be the relation if car- 

 tridges for each rifle were composed of the same proportions 

 of powder and bullet. This I considered a very important 

 problem, and I therefore submitted the proposition to pre- 

 pare 25 cartridges for each rifle, to contain exactly 70 grains of 

 powder and 450 grains of bullet each, to the Messrs. Reming- 

 ton's Sons, and they willingly volunteered to prepare them for 

 me. It will be noticed from the above tables that a quarter 

 of an inch determined in every case whether the bullet was 

 to penetrate the board, or was to be imbedded. This may 

 seem a very short distance, but when we consider that water is 

 770 times denser than the air, at 4 C C, Bar. 29.922 in. (Pres. 

 =760 mm. of Hg.), one-quarter of an inch under water is 

 equivalent to over 16 feet through the air. If a cartridge con- 

 tains sufficient force to propel a bullet from a rifle through 

 the air so that it will penetrate a board exactly 2400 feet away, 

 if the board were placed 2416 feet, it would not be difficult to 

 conceive, instead of the bullet passing through the board, of its 

 being imbedded. Precisely the same thing happens under 

 water ; the force imparted to the bullet is quite sufficient to 

 penetrate a board 3 feet 11 inches distant, when the U. S. Model 

 Rifle is employed, but the force expended in travelling one- 

 quarter of an inch farther deprives the bullet of the necessary 

 amount of force to penetrate the board. 



The preparing of the cartridges for further experiments, as I 

 have already stated, was done for me by the Messrs. Remington. 

 In making the cartridge for the U. S. Army Rifle, the shell, 

 being made for 90 grains of powder, was too large for 60 

 grains, and consequently there would be an air-chamber 

 between the bullet and the powder if wadding were not placed 

 between. The first cartridges made for me contained this air 

 chamber, but as I was of the opinion that the same amount of 

 force would not be communicated to the bullet so effectually if 

 the powder was in a loose state, as it would be if it were 

 packed, the Messrs. Remington made me other cartridges with 



