‘196 MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS. OF 
important section to it in his Treatise on Artillery ,* * * § and it is fully discussed 
in other works on the Science of Gunnery .+ 
2. In 1852, Colonel Palliser, R.A., brought this subject to the notice 
of the Ordnance Select Committee, forwarding a translation of a paper 
by Colonel Erederix, Belgian Artillery, on Gargousse allongee, and pro¬ 
posing that experiments be made in this country. Accordingly we find 
that in 1853 a series of experiments were made at Shoeburyness, by firing 
two 24-prs. side by side at different elevations; one gun using the service 
cartridge of 5 # 6 inch diameter; the other elongated cartridges of various 
diameters, ranging from 5*42 to 4*5 inches. 
Erom these experiments it appeared that the minimum diameter of 
cartridge that could be used without loss of range was 5 inches. 
These results corroborated those previously noticed by Major MordecaiJ 
in his experiments on the initial velocity of projectiles fired from a 
24-pr. gun, using cartridges of different diameter. 
3. No special report appears to have been made of the Shoeburyness 
experiments of 1853, and the subject dropped until 1862, when it was 
revived by the late Captain Lyons, R.A., at that time Inspector of Artillery. 
This officer, in a Memoir on the Cause of Failure of cast-iron rifled 
guns , remarked on the necessity of making some experiments with 
elongated cartridges fired from the 68-pr. gun of 95 cwt., and urged 
its importance to the Ordnance Select Committee, who recommended a 
series of experiments being carried out;§ it was not however until the 
beginning of 1864 that all arrangements were completed, and a programme 
of experiments decided on. 
4. Advantage was taken of a comprehensive series of experiments on the 
endurance of cast-iron guns, to fire a number of rounds from a 68-pr. 
with cartridges of different diameters and lengths, in comparison with an 
equal number of rounds with the service cartridge. 
The diameters of the cartridges were taken before they were placed in the 
gun, and the length deduced by observing, with a graduated rammer, the 
distance from the muzzle to the front part of the shot. When the gun had 
been loaded, this distance, plus the diameter of the shot, being subtracted 
from the total length of bore, gave the actual length of bore occupied by 
the cartridge at each round. 
It will be observed that there is a slight discrepancy between the lengths 
and diameters of the cartridges. This was probably owing to some cartridges 
being rammed up harder than others, and to the difficulty of manufacturing 
cartridges varying by such small amounts. 
The velocity and range of each round was observed, and the following 
tables give the results. 
* Boxer’s Treatise on Artillery, p. 79, sec. 187. 
f Piobert Traite d’Artillerie, 1859, p. 449. 
X Mordeeai, Experiments on Gunpowder, p. 288. 
§ Report 2334. 
