366 British Service Ordnance. [July? 



wrought-iron guns consist of a 40-pounder, a 25-pounder, a 

 16-pounder, and two 9-pounders ; the three first of which 

 are not, indeed, yet officially introduced into the service, 

 but are practically so. The steel 7-pounder gun completes 

 the tale of the rifled ordnance at present in our service. 



A short summary of the well known old smooth bore 

 ordnance still in use will complete our brief survey of our 

 modern British cannon. 



Of bronze we have the following natures, viz., 12-pounder, 

 9-pounder, 6-pounder, and two 3 -pounder guns; together 

 with 32-pounder, 24-pounder, 12-pounder, and 4*4 inch 

 howitzers ; also two bronze mortars, the Royal and Ccehorn. 



The after-mentioned pieces are all cast-iron. Of these 

 there are still four carronades not yet obsolete, the' 68- 

 pounder, 32-pounder, 24-pounder, and 12-pounder. Of 

 guns, we have two 68-pounders, of 112 and 95 cwt. respec- 

 tively, one 10-inch Dundas shell gun, and three 8-inch (two 

 of Millar's and one of Dundas's construction) ; the 56- 

 pounder and the two patterns of 42-pounders are only 

 retained in the service until replaced by rifled guns. 



Next in order come the 32-pounder guns, of which there 

 are more varied patterns than of any other gun in the 

 service, there being no fewer than eleven descriptions, 

 varying in weight from 63 cwt. to 25 cwt. ; comprising one 

 Millar, two Dundas, three Blomefield's (two of which are 

 bored-up 24-pounders), three of Monk's (A, B, and C), 

 one Dickson, and one Congreve ; certainly a very mis- 

 cellaneous but useful array of weapons : their diversity 

 of size and pattern originally arose from the varied classes 

 of vessels in the navy for which they were introduced or 

 adapted from time to time. 



Three 24-pounders, and four 18-pounders, two 12-pounders, 

 and three 9-pounders, finish the list of cast-iron guns. The 

 three howitzers of 10-inch, 8-inch, and 55-inch, need no 

 comment beyond noticing that the last will be replaced by a 

 rifled gun. There now remain only the mortars to be dis- 

 posed of ; and here we may remark that Mr. Mallet is confi- 

 dent of producing a 36-inch mortar weighing 35 tons, which 

 will meet the requirements and tests which his last mortars, 

 built under the auspices of Lord Palmerston, failed to stand. 

 Of our present mortars the 13-inch sea service is by far the 

 most formidable ; it is a grand weapon. Besides it we have 

 two other 13-inch mortars. Those who wish to see what a 

 heavy mortar battery is like should visit the fine battery at 

 Puckpool, not far from Ryde, in the Isle of Wight. This 

 apparently (from the sea) innocuous looking earthwork, hides 



