THE EOYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
17 
Boxers “ Treatise on Artillery," and Sir Howard Douglas has also alluded to 
it in his valuable work on “ Naval Gunnery.” 
The original instrument is preserved in the Royal Artillery Institution. 
12. In July, 1814, the Ordnance Select Committee recommended the 
construction of a large ballistic pendulum capable of sustaining the shock of 
a 24 lbs. ball fired with a charge of 8 lbs. This pendulum was primarily 
intended for the purpose of comparing the effects of guns constructed on 
Sir William Congreve's principle, which consisted in an alteration and 
re-distribution of the metal on the exterior of the gun. Sir William 
Congreve erroneously supposed this would have the effect of increasing the 
initial velocity, and consequently the range. 
The experiments were carried on in Woolwich Arsenal, under the superin¬ 
tendence of the Ordnance Select Committee, assisted by Dr Gregory, the 
Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military Academy. 
The pendulum weighed about 7400 lbs., and was supported by means of 
parallel walls 7 ft. apart. No gun pendulum was used in the experiments. 
Pig. 6. 
Fig. 6. 
Ballistic Pendulum of 1814, from a model made to a scale of f th. Full weight about 7440 lbs. 
Centre of gravity below centre of suspension 10*97 feet. Centre of oscillation below centre of 
suspension 11*88 feet. 
The first series was for the purpose of comparing the velocities of three 
6-pr. guns of the same calibre, viz.,— 
Length of bore, 
ft. in. 
Sir Thomas Bloomfield’s . 4 4J 
Sir William Congreve’s. 4 5 
Long gun... 5 7| 
