THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
Colonel Phillpotts. —And also in the days of Mr. Schalch and Mr. 
King’. 
Major-General Leeroy said it seemed remarkable, considering’ the 
tenor of the lecture they had heard, that in the present war nearly all 
the field g’uns in use, both by the French and the Prussians, were of 
bronze, and also that the Admiralty are constantly making’ very large 
bronze castings for ships* screws, without failure. When he was at 
Spandau, in 1869, the Prussians were re-casting their old smooth-bore 
bronze guns into new rifled guns, being dissatisfied with steel. He 
should not like to have it said that other nations could make bronze 
guns, and that we could not. 
Captain Strange, R.A., said, with regard to the Prussian use of bronze, 
their guns being breech-loaders, they got oyer the difficulty as to the 
rush of the gas over the shot, by covering the projectile with a lead 
coating which fitted the grooves and allowed no space for the escape 
of gas. He had noticed, however, in the section of the horse artillery 
gun, that the guttering was not so much in the grooves as in the lands, 
and it surprised one to hear that in other cases the failure had been in 
the grooves, because the stud resting in the grooves prevents a rush of 
gas between them and the surface of the groove. Then as to equipment. 
In the short campaign which the lecturer had quoted on the subject of 
proportions of ammunition, the artillery arm of the service had been 
terribly abused, but the fact was that it had not been brought suffi¬ 
ciently into action. So the Prussian “ Retrospect** stated; and this 
ought to be taken into consideration before the experience gained in 
that war was taken as a datum to show the number of rounds it was 
necessary to take into action. And while on the subject of equipment, 
he submitted for consideration whether we do not now carry with our 
field guns a good deal of useless rubbish on the gun and its limber 
which ought to be left behind with the wagons—(laughter)—soldiers* 
valises, knapsacks, camp-kettles, and twenty-four carbines—he need 
not go on. (Laughter and applause.) Bell tents might be exchanged 
for “ tente d’abri.” He might answer the question of Colonel Miller as 
to the packing of the limber boxes, by saying that the 12-pr. shell 
for the 9-pr. gun occupied no more space on the bottom of the box, 
being longer, but of the same diameter as the 9-pr. projectile. They 
only formed a higher wall round their cartouch-box. (Applause.) 
Captain Strange also asked the lecturer whether it had ever been 
thought desirable to line bronze guns with steel or wrought-iron, on the 
Palliser principle ? 
Captain C. Orde Browne, R.A., wished to remind the lecturer that the 
number of rounds each gun might be expected to have available for 
firmg in action bore only a certain proportion to the number of shot or 
shell it was necessary to carry; because while it was desirable to be 
prepared for every emergency with case shot, common shell, and 
shrapnel, the particular circumstances in which the gun is placed 
probably render one description only suitable. Thus it is not to be 
expected (unless under exceptional circumstances) that a gun would be 
called upon to expend the whole of its ammunition of all kinds. For 
instance, case shot cannot be used at long ranges, and even before the 
