1 84 Mr. F. A. Abel on the Composition of 



The specimen taken from the breech consisted of- 



Copper 60-52 



Zinc 36-72 



Lead 1*38 



Tin 0-25 



Iron 1-01 



Arsenic trace 



On either side of this large gun, in front of the Royal Artillery 

 Barracks, are two very highly ornamented and perfect bronze 

 cannon, of considerable size, though small as compared with the 

 Bhurtpoor gun. 



These four cannon were cast in Florence about the year 1750, 

 by the sons of Andreas Morenus, for Francis, Duke of Lorraine 

 (who, by marriage with Maria Therese, became Emperor of 

 Austria). The guns are all exactly alike as regards size and 

 ornamentation, the only mark of distinction being the name, 

 which is engraven on the chase of each gun. These names are, 

 Violentum, Testudo (the name of an ancient military engine), 

 Destructor, and Negans. 



Specimens were detached for analysis from one of these guns 

 (the Negans) at three places, the muzzle, trunnions, and breech. 

 The following are the per-centage results obtained : — 



Metal taken from the 





Muzzle. 



Trunnion. 



Breech. 



Copper . , 



. 89-13 



89-00 



89-21 



Tin . . . 



. 10-23 



10-20 



9-75 



Lead . . , 



. 0-57 



0-52 



0-79 



Arsenic . 



, . 0-10 



0-15 



0-09 



Antimony 



. . trace 



trace 



trace 



The above results show that the proportions of copper and tin 

 employed in the preparation of the casting were almost identical 

 with those adopted in France at the present day (100 of copper 

 to 11 of tin). The composition of the metal is remarkably uni- 

 form at different parts of the gun, — the results of analysis of the 

 specimens taken from the muzzle and trunnions being almost 

 identical, while those furnished by the metal from the breech do 

 not differ from the others so greatly as I have found to be fre- 

 quently the case in the examination of a very large number of 

 bronze guns of recent manufacture. The small proportion of 

 lead present in the alloy is in all probability an accidental im- 

 purity. 



A considerable number of large Chinese guns, believed to con- 



