7 C ITALIAN FIELD GUN. 
393 
The elevating arrangement consists, 1st, of an elevating screw, d, 
moveable in its rotatory nut by means of a handwheel; 2nd, of a second 
screw, h , working in a female screw in the elevating screw, d ; and 3rd, 
of an elevating plate and frame Join, hinged at Jc and i. The breech of 
the gun rests on the part n. 
The wheel-locking gear or break—which is generally used in tra¬ 
velling, but is available for checking recoil—is composed, 1st, of a block 
of wood, l , of a length equal to the track of the wheels, suspended to 
the cheeks of the carriage, and garnished with friction plates, p, to 
bear against the tires of the wheels; 2nd, of a lever, MM, connected 
with the block, l, by a rod, m, and an excentric, q. If the lever be 
worked upwards the excentric, q, acting on the rod, m, brings the 
friction plates, p, in contact with the wheel tires. The lever is then 
fastened by clutching into one of the teeth of a circular rack ,jj. 
The limber hook (Fig. 2) is composed, 1st, of two fixed plates, ee', 
which encompass the axle at 8 ; 2nd, of an intermediate plate, n, which 
is capable of a partial revolution round the pintail. If the revolving 
plate be placed in the position shown at A, its shoulder, n, comes 
immediately under the metal of the limber eye, while its rounded end 
bears against the right-angled bearing surface at c (Fig. 1) below the 
eye. Under such circumstances, the limber and the carriage to which 
it is attached are rigidly connected. If, on the other hand, the inter¬ 
mediate plate be revolved into the position B, there is no longer contact 
at c (Fig. 1), and the limber and the carriage attached to it are merely 
linked together—a connection suitable to rough ground, but the 
weight of the pole necessarily bears down on the wheelers. The* 
revolving plate, n, is fixed in either of its two positions by the drop- 
bolt, h ; it is further furnished with a handle, m, wherewith to revolve 
it. A drawing of the revolving plate separately is given at Fig. 3. 
The pintail passes through the hole, o. The plate may be revolved 
into either of its positions with the gun limbered-up, while the carriage 
is in motion on even ground. To render the connection rigid on rough 
ground the carriage must halt, and, generally speaking’, the pole must 
be raised a little. This plan is doubtless an excellent one, but is more 
particularly advantageous in pole draft. In designing the gun-carriage 
a good many of the innovations proposed by Colonels Mattei and Rossi 
for the system of artillery described in “ Proceedings, R.A. Institution,” 
Yol. YI. p. 325, have been adopted. The, track (53 ins.) and diameter 
of wheels (49*5 ins.) were those of the Mattei-Rossi system of carriages; 
and it would seem that these were the starting points from which such 
surprising lightness combined with adequate strength and large store 
of ammunition were obtained. 
i 
Package of Ammunition. 
Limber, Gun or Wagon. 
There are 48 cells for projectiles in the single limber-box, only 46 of 
which are occupied; that is to say, 32 common and 12 shrapnel shells 
(the latter having time fuzes permanently fixed), and 2 case shot; 
