MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
238 
The following letter from Major Palliser bears upon an objection which 
has been urged against the merits of his invention, that as white iron cast in 
sand is nearly if not quite as effective as chilled projectiles,* the employ¬ 
ment of the chilling process has nothing remarkable in it after all, and is in 
reality of little or no value. 
Major Palliser explains that he was the first to point out that brittleness 
might be disregarded in a shot if allied to intense hardness and a long 
pointed head. This is the broad principle which lies at the foundation of 
his discovery and to the general application of this principle Major Palliser 
lays claim ; shewing, moreover that the proposition was diametrically opposed 
to received theories at the time he brought it forward. Secondly, he advocated 
the chilling method of production merely as a cheap and convenient means 
to an end :—the conversion of grey or mottled iron into white iron by this 
process being, as he imagines, cheaper and otherwise, for manufacturing 
reasons, simpler and more advantageous than the casting white iron, pur et 
simple , in sand moulds, or than the application of a refining process, or than 
the employment of hard brittle steel. 
But, lastly, he imposed no restriction upon himself as to the means by 
which projectiles of the required hardness should be produced; the question 
of the adoption of any particular method of giving effect to his principle, 
being, in fact, merely a question of expense, and inclining probably, as has 
been pointed out, to the chilling process. 
Nov. 28, 1866. 
My dear Majendie, 
Having understood that you are preparing a paper for the Boyal Artillery 
Institution, upon the “ Chilled projectiles 55 which are being manufactured in your 
Department, I am anxious to inform you that some eighteen months ago Mr Abel, 
Chemist to the War Department, analyzed some specimens of chilled shot and 
ascertained that their properties were similar to those of ordinary white iron. 
In a private letter I addressed to General Lefroy,f a copy of which he has been 
kind enough to send me, on the 3rd of June, 1865, I said: “I understand from 
Mr Abel that chiding iron is simply turning grey iron into white iron. 55 
In another part of the same letter I said: ct Whether the shot be made 
of chilled iron, or of white iron cast in sand or even of excessively hard brittle 
steel, they will if combined with a long conical head be merely different ways of 
applying a common principle which I consider I have proved. That my theory 
was at variance with the general belief at that time is best shewn by the great 
nicety with which it was thought necessary to temper steel shot; and that the 
object sought was to make these shot onlv so hard as to be tough without becoming 
brittle 55 
* Four white iron shot, cast in sand, were fired on 3rd December, 1866, against the Warrior 
target, and gave very good results ; but the experiment was not pushed far enough to establish 
any real comparison of efficiency between white iron shot produced in this way, and white ironshot 
produced by chilling, 
f President Ordnance Select Committee. 
