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MINUTES OE PEOCEEDINGS OE 
much less taken into account. The proposed gun is no more than a 
musket on a large scale, like Marshal Saxe’s “ Amusetteand the effect of 
its projectiles cannot be compared, when firing at troops in the open, with 
those of a 9-pr., firing shrapnel at a range of 1200 yards at four targets, 
20 yards apart, 54 feet wide and 9 feet high, and making 76 hits per 
round.* 
At the same time a fairly flat trajectory is of the greatest advantage, as 
the errors in estimation of the distances are of less importance, and as the 
destructive matter of the burst projectile flies further forward, since a flat 
trajectory is the result of a high velocity. 
The fact is a compromise must be come to between the advantages 
obtainable by a flat trajectory and those by capacity of shell. 
Considering the number of rounds which a battery, it is generally sup¬ 
posed, must carry, and the total consequent weight to be drawn by the 
teams, I think the calibre should not be under 3 inches, nor the projectile 
weigh less than 9 lbs. 
To the above I can add the following information with respect to the 
above-described experimental artillery:— 
Calibre of the gun . 2*559 inches. 
Length of bore. 66*89 n 
Weight of shell... 4*63 pounds ) A 
„ i, gun charge. 1*54 « $ 3 * 
n n bronze gun. 6*3 cwt. 
n n steel a .. 3*93 n 
Initial velocity. 1706 feet per second. 
Preponderance. nil. 
Up to the middle of May, 1869, no decision had been come to, but 
there was a probability of increasing the calibre to 2 //, 75. 
H. H. M. 
llth June, 1869. 
* Vide e< Standard ” newspaper, 19th May, 1869. 
