2 The Needle Gun. 
their old friends to aid them. If each will obtain for us 
an additional subscriber, our future will be secured. Large 
promises are sometimes misconstrued. We need only add, 
therefore, that we wish not only to sustain, but increase 
the value of our Journal, and the greater our success the 
more constant will be our endeavours to deserve it. 
THE NEEDLE-GUN. 
(Ziindnadelgewehr.) 
HE war which has so recently deluged Europe with 
blood has brought one topic into strong relief. The 
terrible power of slaughter possessed by. the Prussians in 
their boasted Ziindnadelgewehr, has. made the needle-gun 
a subject of interest in every circle. What then, is the 
instrument of death which has enabled the Prussians to 
carry every thing before them? First of all, it is a breech- 
loader, and those who examined the question when it was 
so popular, sixteen years ago, will not be surprised to learn 
that it enables the soldier to fire much more rapidly than 
he could with any muzzle-loader. But the needle-gun is 
more than this—its charge is all in one, so that it avoids 
‘the loss of time caused by capping. Besides these two 
qualities, it possesses the important one of consuming its 
charge backwards. The advantage of this is that the 
whole of it is consumed in the barrel, and its force spent 
upon the ball. The name is derived from the means of 
ignition—a stout wire (the needle), which starts forward 
when the trigger is pulled, passes through the hinder part 
of the cartridge, and strikes a fulminating substance in the 
seat of the papier-maché base of the rifle ball. Much as 
dispensing with the percussion-cap accelerates the speed of 
firing, it is probably due to this fact that the needle-gun has 
been rejected by many competent judges ; for such a rifle 
must be considered more liable to accidents. Gunpowder 
by itself is safe enough, and we can scarcely be surprised 
that the idea of combining all the explosive elements in 
one charge was considered a dangerous innovation by 
-our Board of: Ordnance, as well'as by other authorities. 
4 + ; 
x 
