Nature and Art, August 1, 1866.] 
PINE AETS. 
93 
shooting of the Snider rifle at from 20 to 25 percent, above 
that of the Enfield ; it would now seem to be as high, taking 
an average of all ranges up to 1,000 yards, as 30 per cent. 
The relative rapidity of fire of the two arms is, in round 
numbers, about as five to one ; and in freedom from fouling, 
in non-liability to deterioration by bad weather, and in 
facility of manipulation, the Snider rifle has proved itself 
remarkably superior to the unconverted arm. The am- 
munition, too, has exhibited extraordinary powers of resist- 
ance to damp ; it seems to be capable of standing almost 
any amount of rough usage, and to enjoy a perfect immunity 
from miss-fires.” 
Iii a late number of the Army and Navy Gazette , 
we find — 
“ The ammunition appears to be all that can be desired. 
It will resist damp to an extent far beyond the requirements 
of actual service ; it is remarkably safe against premature 
or accidental explosion on the one hand, and against miss- 
fires on the other ; its cost will not greatly exceed that of 
the service Enfield ammunition ; and possibly when the 
manufacture is established on a large scale, and when all 
contingent charges are taken into consideration, it may 
prove not more expensive. The principal originality in the 
ammunition is the construction of the cartridge-case, which 
is made of thin sheet brass, rolled into a hollow cylinder, 
one end of which receives the bullet, the other end fitting 
into the metallic cap which contains the percussion or 
ignition arrangement, this arrangement differing in no im- 
portant respects from that commonly adopted in ‘ central 
fire ’ sporting cartridges. The brass case, which is covered 
with thin paper, uncoils on discharge, and contracts to a 
slight extent when relieved from the internal pressure of 
the gas, thus guarding against splitting and escape of gas 
in the first instance, and facilitating withdrawal in the 
second. The bullet is an original combination of several 
constructions. In general appearance it resembles the 
service Enfield bullet ; but it is slightly lighter, and is 
provided with some grooves or cannelures round the back 
end, which contain the lubrication of pure bees-wax, while 
the position of the centre of gravity is adjusted by means 
of a wooden plug in the head.’"’ (See fig. 5.) 
We have been favoured with a view of a new 
conversion of the Enfield which has lately been 
invented by Mr. Needham, of Piccadilly ; and 
have been greatly pleased by the simplicity of the 
contrivance. We strongly recommend it to the 
notice of all who take an interest in these matters ; 
and we venture to prognosticate that, in the com- 
petition shortly to be called for, Mr. Needham 
need not fear being behindhand in the race for 
the prize. 
Before concluding these remarks, we would 
briefly allude to a question, which was raised by 
Lord Lifford in the House of Lords in April last, 
respecting the alleged discontent of the leading gun- 
makers at the assistance afforded by Colonel Boxer 
in the improvements of Mr. Snider’s cartridge, 
whereby his system was rendered so good as to 
be finally selected from among all the others by 
the committee. We cannot help expressing a 
strong opinion on this point. If a Government 
officer is enabled from his great experience to offer 
assistance to any competitor in the improvement 
of arms selected for the public service, surely the 
question of it being unfair towards another com- 
petitor cannot, for one moment, be taken into 
consideration. The same experience and assistance 
would beyond all question have been brought to 
bear upon the weapon most approved, by whom- 
soever it had been submitted. To require that an 
accomplished public officer should on a grave oc- 
casion keep to himself his special knowledge in his 
own particular department, and watch the com- 
petition of interested traders with his hands in his 
pockets, amounts to asking that he should be 
wanting not only in love of art, science, and his 
profession, but also, to our thinking, in common 
honesty to the nation which employs him. It is the 
adoption of the most perfect arm possible that the 
country cares for, not the ruffled feelings of in- 
dividuals who may think themselves aggrieved by 
another’s system being approved in preference to 
their own. We trust we may hear no more of such 
petty and unworthy complainings. Our future 
greatness as a nation may materially depend upon 
the arm with which our soldiers are provided. 
Nmnerically we are a feeble nation, and we owe to 
our public security, and yet more to the compara- 
tively tiny armies we can array, that, if art can effect 
it, each man shall be found, in the day of trial, a host 
in himself. The paramount superiority of Britain in 
manufacture needs only to be evoked, and it were a 
supreme public crime to neglect the warnings that 
have reached us. The consciousness of this, of 
course, prompted alike the praiseworthy steps taken 
by the late and the present administration to 
provide an immediate and important supply of 
breech-loaders. It behoves us to exert every 
energy collectively and individually to attain the 
desired end, and dropping all petty jealousy and 
miserable trade etiquette, to strive, each in his 
own way, for his country’s good : the practical 
gunmaker by yet newer inventions and still more 
perfect manufacture ; the general public by encou- 
raging and, if need be, pressing the authorities to 
prompt and decisive action on this momentous 
question. 
FINE ARTS. 
THE SOCIETY OE BBITISH AETISTS, SUFFOLK STEEET. 
T HE cynic might perhaps remark that to affect to report 
upon a Fine Art Exhibition about to close in a few 
days were stale, flat, and unprofitable. The exhibitors 
might, on the other hand, observe that the ex post facto 
approval of verdicts already given by the critical, and en- 
dorsed by the purchasing public, were too late to be genuine. 
On this occasion, however, wo neither propose to catalogue 
the works successfully exhibited by the Eepublican institu- 
tion which has so long and so bravely held up its head 
against the pressure of Academic disfavour, nor to slay 
again the slain. It is true that there are, among the free 
and independent of Suffolk Street, men at whose capable 
hands we would gladly have welcomed better things. But 
the “Kismet,” or fate, of the Oriental (which includes a 
