THE EOYAL AETILLEEY INSTITUTION. 
409 
range and power by closing the rear of a rocket tube. This seems 
reasonable but decidedly dangerous ; but it might I think be interesting 
to try how the 9-pr. Hale rocket propels itself out of a gun—the 
12-pr. B.L. at a high angle might be very suitable. The rocket 
should have some quick match fagoted in its vent, and then might be 
entered in the gun and the latter fired by a friction tube in the vent- 
piece in the usual way (no cartridge of course being used). It must 
however be clearly borne in mind that this can never be more than a 
possible expedient, for if rockets were habitually discharged from guns 
instead of light tubes, &c., the chief advantage that led to their 
introduction would be sacrificed, to say nothing of the injury that might 
be caused to the rifling of the gun. 
Life-Saving Rockets.. 
The science of communicating with ships in distress is a very 
interesting one, and there must be something very satisfactory in having 
to employ science to save life, but I am only calling your attention to¬ 
day to the curious conditions of flight of the rocket. The stick is placed 
on one side, hence the centre of gravity and centre of resistance are not 
opposite to each other, and we have Maievsky's question of spiral flight 
again, the arrow-like action of the stick being the steadying power 
corresponding to the rotation of the projectile, and tending to keep the 
point to the front; but the flight would be very bad and unsteady 
were it not for the pull of the line which the rocket carries; indeed it 
would fly so badly as to be nearly worthless. I believe more use might 
be made of the pull of the line, and possibly the rocket might carry 
without either stick or rotation by its means, and so it might be fired 
in a more advantageous way than at present. 
One thing should be specially noticed—viz. the great importance of 
taking advantage of any momentary lull to get the rocket off in a true 
direction, for the pull of the line soon acquires great force and tends to 
draw the axis of the rocket into the line of flight it has up to that time 
taken; thus it causes the rocket's gas to propel it into the prolongation 
of the same line; hence the importance of its commencing on the true 
direction. 
I have now touched on a great many points, and have certainly done 
justice to none. It might have been more satisfactory to myself to have 
spent the time on one subject, but I think that it must be more 
generally useful to notice the features of our equipment as a whole than 
to deal more fully with one or two questions, although the latter 
proceeding might be the more interesting one. 
At the conclusion of the reading, which was much applauded— 
Colonel Smythe invited discussion, saying that Captain Browne would be 
happy to answer any questions which might be put to him. 
Colonel Phillpotts, B.II.A., asked how long the serge bags for holding the 
bursting charges in shells had been introduced? 
