i8;i.] (43) 



IV. WAR SCIENCE. 



By H. Baden Pritchard. 



HE solicitude exhibited just now in all directions 

 on the subject of our army and national defences 

 arises, as we all know, from one of those panics 

 induced from time to time by the occurrence of certain 

 stirring events. Periodical alarms of this kind, — causing us 

 with fear and misgivings to pass in review our preparations, 

 and to take stock, as it were, of the wares in which we 

 have been liberally investing our money, — are thus fraught 

 with a great deal of good ; we are led thereby to examine 

 minutely into our own system and organisation, and do we 

 but fulfil this task honestly, we learn to profit by the mis- 

 fortunes of others and to accumulate knowledge which 

 otherwise is to be gained only as the result of dearly bought 

 experience. Thus, a wise merchant seeing his neighbour's 

 business go to ruin, through defective management, will 

 turn a more watchful eye to his own concerns, to assure 

 himself from the occurrence of a similar danger. 



The subjects of manning our army, of mobilising our 

 reserves, and of devising a simple and trustworthy method 

 of organising our entire forces, have of late much occupied 

 public attention, and been freely discussed in the columns 

 of the press, and so in like manner, perhaps, we may be 

 allowed to turn to that portion of the question in which we 

 are more nearly interested and consider the extent to 

 which science has been taken advantage of by the military 

 authorities of this country ; glancing briefly over those 

 branches of the service where its applications have been the 

 most important, so as to afford the reader some idea of the 

 marked progress effected by its aid in many directions. 



There prevails a wide-spread impression in this country, 

 and more especially, we believe, among scientific men them- 

 selves, that sufficient attention is not paid by the soldier to 

 the many important improvements and discoveries that are 

 every day made around us whose application to warlike 

 purposes would often be practicable and useful. This idea 

 results, however, simply from entire ignorance of our military 

 system; for, truth to say, there is scarcely any government to 

 be mentioned that pays such strict attention to the advance- 

 ment of military science, whether it be in one department 

 or another, and certainly none other by which investigations 

 in connection with novel warlike materials and methods of 

 warfare are so carefully and completely conducted. As an 



