96 
MINUTES OF PEOCEEDINGS OF 
and considering its application to the existing stock of their bronze and 
cast-iron (when hooped) guns, generally more expedient; the Italians and 
Swedes who at first tried breech-loaders followed their example, as did also 
the Spaniards and Dutch, whilst the Bussians, Prussians, and Belgians 
adopted breech-loaders of cast-steel manufactured by Herr Krupp of Essen. 
Eor a detailed list however of the ordnance of Foreign powers, giving the 
material dimensions and systems of the several guns employed, the reader 
is referred to General Lefroy's “ Hand-book for Field Service, 1866,” 
pp. 329-36. 
“ It is to be remarked generally that no account is taken in this Table of 
those powerful rifled guns manufactured in this country (principally by Sir 
Wm Armstrong & Co., Els wick, Newcastle), which are known to have 
been purchased by the Governments of Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Denmark, the 
South American Republics, and even Japan.” 
The Armstrong principles of construction. 
Meanwhile our own authorities carried on careful and extensive experi¬ 
ments with wrought-iron rifled breech-loading guns, constructed by Mr (now 
Sir W.) Armstrong, whose main principles of gun architecture consist 
essentially:— 
First, In arranging the fibre of the iron in the several parts so as best to 
resist the strain to which they are respectively exposed; thus the walls or 
sides of the gun are composed of coils with the fibre running round the gun, 
so as to enable the gun to bear the transverse strain of the discharge 
without bursting, whilst the breech end is fortified against the longitudinal 
strain, or tendency to blow the breech out, by a solid forged breech piece 
with the fibre running along the gun. 
Secondly, In shrinking on the successive parts together with tensions so 
regulated that each part shall do its due proportion of work on the discharge 
of the piece, thus the outer coils contribute their fair share to the strength 
of the gun, whereas in an ordinary homogeneous gun the inner portions 
receive the brunt of the explosion whilst the exterior ones are hardly 
affected by it at all. 
By a combination of these two principles (which are applicable alike to 
breech-loaders and muzzle-loaders), a gun is obtained which may be calcu¬ 
lated to be twice as strong as a gun of the same weight and shape made 
out of a solid forging. 
The first Armstrong experiments . 
Sir Wm Armstrong, whose system included a breech-loading arrange¬ 
ment and lead-coated projectiles, brought his guns to official notice in 
December, 1854, and received an order for a few r for trial. 
“The first of these, a 3-pr., was delivered in July, 1855, and reported on 
