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BURSTING OF HEAVY GUNS. 
as shown by the tearing open of the inner tube; and longitudinally, 
the breech portion going to the rear, the muzzle overboard, and the 
trunnion hoop and centre portion opening apparently at every joint. 
Perfection from one point of view would be for a gun to be so con¬ 
structed as to have every part proportioned to the strain falling on it, 
so that it has no weak places, and if overstrained yields by shivering 
into dust. In England it has been thought preferable to have such 
lines of least resistance that the gun opens and yields without dan¬ 
gerous results. 
5. The Armstrong 100-ton Gun Accident. 
The facts of the bursting of the 100-ton gun, as far as they have 
reached us, are as follows :—The gun, which has already fired many 
rounds—thirteen and twenty-five have both been said to be the 
number—and which was undergoing trial in its turret on board the 
“ Duilio,” has burst in such a way as to break the steel inner tube and 
cause the gun to come asunder behind the trunnions, which, with the 
