II I F 
It I M 
its effects must have bean extremely sen- 
sible upon this light body ; and consequently 
in some of the trials 1 made, the surface, 
which came foremost from the piece, must 
have been turned round into another situa- 
tion. 
But again, I took the same piece, and 
loading it now with a leaden ball, 1 set it 
nearly perpendicular, sloping it only three 
or four degrees hour the perpendicular, in 
the direction of the wind ; and tiring it in 
this situation, the bullet generally continued 
about half a minute in tiie air, it rising by 
computation to near three quarters of a mile 
perpendicular height. 
“ In these trials I found, that the bullet 
commonly came to the ground to the lee- 
ward of the piece, and at such a distance 
from it, as nearly corresponded to its angle 
of inclination, and to the effort of the wind ; 
it usually falling not nearer to the piece than 
a hundred, nor farther from it than a hundred 
and fifty yards. And this is a strong- confir- 
mation of the almost steady flight of this 
bullet for about a mile and a half. For were 
the same trial made with a common piece, 
I doubt not that the deviation would often 
amount to half a mile, and perhaps consider- 
ably more; though this experiment would 
be a very difficult one to examine, on ac- 
count of the little chance there would be of 
discovering where the ball fell.” 
It now remains to speak of the sights, 
which, although they do not constitute the 
essential part of a rifle, as they may be used 
with a plain bored barrel ; yet as that is 
seldom done, and as they are always used 
with a rifle, it will not be proper to onnt 
mentioning them. 
It may be strictly said, that no part of the 
path of the bullet when tired from a rifle or 
musket is in a right line, as gravity acts 
upon the bullet the instant it quits the mouth 
oi the piece ; and although at a short dis- 
tance the effect is not very perceptible, yet ; 
it is considerably so at 100 yards; and at I 
gOO yards, the ball would probably strike j 
the ground before it could reach the object j 
aimed at. To remedy this inconvenience, j 
it is found necessary to aim exactly at such j 
a height above the object, as the ball would I 
have been depressed to, by the power of 1 
gravity, had it been aimed at it point-blank ; I 
so that if we suppose this depression to be a i 
foot in a hundred yards, we must aim a foot 
above tiie object. " But here another incon- 
venience arises ; for if we aim above tiie 
object by raising tiie muzzle of tiie piece, j 
The object is excluded from our view by. tiie | 
intervention of the barrel ; so that we are j 
prevented from measuring the distance with i 
the eye, and instead of one, are liable to j 
■aim two or three feet above it. 
This second difficulty is removed by de- i 
pressing the breech ot the gun, instead of i 
elevating the muzzle ; and the quantity of 
the depression is measured with great nicety, 
by what are called the sights. 
On tiie upper surface of the barrel, at right 
angles with its axis, is fixed a piece ot flat 
thin iron (see Plate fig. 3), about six inches 
from the breech, and on the centre ot its top, 
a small square notch is filed. This is called tne 
back sight. The front sight is notnuig more 
than the small knob of iron or brass, winch 
is fixed on all fowling-pieces, about halt an 
inch from the muzzle. When aim is taken, ' 
the eye is raised over the back sight, til! tiie 
front sight appears through the notch, which 
is then brought upon the object, and forms 
the right line A BCD, Plate fig. 2. 
But he: e it is evident, that the breech oi 
the barrel is depressed in the proportion of 
the Iff ghf of the back sight B ; that th • axis 
ot the barrel forms an inclined plane with the 
right line ABC ; that tiie course of the 
ball, if not acted upon by gravity, would be 
in the line ECF; and that the ball would 
strike at G, considerably above the object 
D. But being depressed in its course by 
the law of gravity, it will make the curve Id 
and descend to I). 
By looking at tiie figure it is immediately 
seen, that if the object aimed at had been at 
J, or any point nearer than D, tiie ball 
would have passed over it ; and if it had been 
at K, or farther than D, it would have passed 
under it. The height of the back sight must 
i be regulated by experiment. The govern- 
! ment rifles have only one fixed sight, which 
| are intended for 200 yards ; but if an enemy 
| is seen at 100 yards, aim must betaken at 
I the knee ; if at lo0, below the middle. At 
| 250 yards, the head must be aimed at; and 
j at 300, the sight becomes useless, as it would 
i be necessary to aim over his head, anti then 
j the inconvenience before mentioned recurs; 
I to prevent which, tiie folding or additional 
sights are used as in figure 3, where the sight 
A is calculated for 150, B for 200, and C for 
300 yards ; beyond which distance it be- 
: comes almost useless to lire at any object oi 
the size of a man. 
Mr. Robins, who has done more on this sub- 
ject than any other person, concludes an excel- 
lent paper with predicting, that whatever state 
shall thoroughly comprehend the nature and 
advantages of rifled-barrel pieces; and hav- 
ing facilitated and completed their con- 
struction, shall introduce into their armies 
their general use, with a dexterity in the 
management of them ; will by this means 
acquire a superiority, which will almost etpial 
any thing that has been done at any time 
by' the particular excellence of any one kind 
of arms; and will perhaps tali but little short 
of the wonderful effects, which history re- 
lates to have been formerly produced, by tiie 
first inventors'of fire-arms. 
RIGGING of a ship, is all her cordage 
and ropes, belonging to her masts, yards, &c. 
See Ship-building. 
RIGHT, in geometry, signifies the same 
with straight: thus a straight line is called a 
right one. 
Right, in law, not only denotes pro- 
perty, for which a writ of right lies, but also 
any title or claim, either by virtue of a con- 
dition, mortgage, &c. for winch no action 
is given by law, but an entry only. 
By stat. 1 Wili. and Mar. cap. ii. the fol- 
lowing particulars relating to the ill conduct 
of king James II. were declared to be illegal, 
and contrary to the antient rights and liber- 
ties of the people, viz. his exercising a power 
of dispensing with, and suspending of, laws ; 
his levying money without consent of parlia- 
ment ; violating the freedom of elections ; 
causing partial and corrupt jurors to be re- 
turned on trials, excessive bail to be taken, 
and excessive fines to be imposed, as well as 
cruel punishments to be inflicted, &c. 
RIM, in a ‘watch, or clock, the edge or 
It I O ‘591 
i border of the circumference or circular part 
oi a wheel. 
RiNG, in navigation and astronomy, a 
brass instrument, made in tne torm oi a l ing, 
and serv.n to take altitudes of tiie sun. See 
Plate Miscel. lig. 209. 
At C is a small hole, in the direction CD, 
which is perpendicular to CE; this hole is 
precisely 43° imm A, and C E is parallel to 
the vertical diameter AB. From C, as a 
centre, they describe a quadrant of a circle 
CED ; which being nicely divided into 90°, 
they mark upon the internal surface of the 
ring the places where rays, drawn from C to 
these degrees, cut the said surface. 
To use this ring, they hold it up by the 
swivel, and turn tiie side with the hole C 
towards the sun ; and then the sun-beams 
passing through the hole, make a luminous 
spot among the degrees, whereby the alti- 
tude is found. Some prefer (lie ring to the 
astrolabe, by reason its divisions are forger ; 
however, it is tar from being exact enough, 
to be much depended on in astronomical 
observations, which are better made by qua- 
drants, See Astrolabe, and Quadrant. 
RIOT, in law. When three persons or 
more shall assemble themselves together, 
with ail intent mutually to assist one another, 
against any who shall oppose them in the 
execution of some enterprise of a private 
nature, with force or violence, against the 
peace, or to the manifest terror of the people, 
whether the act intended was of itself lawful 
or unlawful; if they only meet for such a 
purpose or intent, though they shall after 
depart of their own accord without doing any 
tiling, this is an unlawful assembly. 1 Haw, 
1 55. 
If after their first meeting, they shall move 
forwards towards the execution of any such 
act, whether they put their intended pur- 
pose into execution or not; this according to 
the genera! opinion is a riot. Id. 
By 34 Ed. Ire. c. 1, it is enacted, 1 hat if 
a justice find persons riotously assembled, 
he alone has not only power to arrest the 
offenders, and bind them to their good be- 
haviour, or imprison them if they do not 
offer good bail : but he may also authorize 
others to arrest them, by a bare verbal com- 
mand, without other warrant ; and by force 
thereof, the persons so commanded, may pur- 
sue and arrest the offenders in his absence as 
well as presence. It is also said, that after 
any riot is Over, any one justice may send 
his warrant to arrest any person who was 
concerned in it, and that lie may send him to- 
gaol till he shall find sureties for his good be- 
haviour. 1 Haw. 160. 
The punishment of unlawful assemblies, if 
to -the number of twelve, may be capital, ac- 
cording to the circumstances which attend 
them: but from the number of three to 
eleven, is by fine and imprisonment only. 
The same is the case by riots and routs by 
the common law, to which the pillory in ver’v 
enormous cases has been sometimes super- 
added. 4 Black, c. 1 1 . 
By stat. 1 Geo. I. cap. 5, if any persons 
lo the number of twelve or more, unlawfully 
and riotously assembled, continue together 
for an hour, after being required, by a justice 
of the peace, or other magistrate, to disperse,, 
they shall be deemed guilty of felony without 
benefit of clergy. However, prosecutions 
