THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
235 
made by the Special Committee on Iron in 1862-3, inclined the committee 
to prefer a conical endcd"^" or round-ended shot to one with a flat head, alike 
for range, accuracy and penetration ;t with a reservation as to the possible 
superiority of flat heads for oblique firing. 
Some time in 1862, Major Palliser had arrived, by means of a series of 
independent experiments, at a conclusion from which he has never since 
swerved, viz. : that the only form of head which would convert the shock 
of impact into a gradually increasing pressure sufficient to neutralize the 
brittleness of the material was an elongated pointed head. Such a form of 
head admits obviously of many modifications, of which the more important 
are included in Major PallisePs specification. J A conical head, for example, 
is “ an elongated pointed head/* (Pig. 1) ) so is a conoidal or pointed 
ogival head, (see Pigs. 2 and 3); and so is a combination of the ogival 
and the cone, (Pig. 4). The latter form is embodied in the so-called 
Pig. 1. Fig. 2 » 
* The conical ended shot referred to, were of a form proposed by Mr 
Makin, viz.: a cylinder, from the centre of the end of which projected 
a conical or conoidal end.—“ Proceedings,” Royal Artillery Institution, 
Vol. IY. p. 214. 
The shoulders being found to be an impediment, were subsequently 
removed. 
f “Proceedings,” Royal Artillery Institution, Vol. IV., pp. 214-15. 
X Specification, No. 1334. 
