MEPPEN EXPERIMENTS. 
288 
At the conclusion of the paper the President invited discussion. 
Lieut.-General Sir John Adye, K.C.B., Governor Royal Military Academy, and 
late Director of Artillery, said :—I am desirous of offering a few remarks on the 
important and interesting subject so well brought before us by Capt. Orde Browne, 
although time will not allow me to treat the subject adequately, or to do more than 
touch one or two salient points. We are much indebted to Captain Browne for 
bringing the subject forward at an Institution where it can be so appropriately 
discussed and with so much advantage to the service. Captain Browne has given 
us an account of the recent carefully conducted experiments in Germany of a 
70-ton Krupp and other breech-loading guns, and has, as he says, called attention 
to their best results, and comparing them with those obtained from the 80-ton 
English and other guns, he infers that the superiority in velocity and power rests 
rather with the Germans, which he attributes mainly to their having better pro¬ 
portioned guns. Now, there is no doubt that within the last few years we, as well 
as others, have advanced considerably in scientific knowledge as regards rifled 
ordnance, and have ascertained that long guns with enlarged chambers and im¬ 
proved powder will give results considerably better than those achieved with guns 
designed even a very few years ago. Consequently, by taking a gun (say the 
80-ton gun) which was designed six years ago, and then comparing it with 
ordnance of a more recent date, it almost naturally follows that the latter may 
show somewhat superior results; and we need not go to Meppen for experience of 
this kind. In a rapidly progressing science it is chiefly a matter of date of design. 
Captain Orde Browne himself is quite aware of this; for, having in one part of his 
lecture assumed that we are somewhat behind-liand, in another he cuts the ground 
away from his own argument by pointing out that as long as two years ago we 
had made experiments with muzzle-loading rifled guns which yielded better results 
than even those now recorded for the German ones of similar calibre. It is evident 
that whilst the science of artillery is and has been making such rapid progress, and 
whilst each series of experiments seems to produce more powerful and more 
accurate results, the only just way of measuring the qualities of guns made on 
different systems is to compare those designed and constructed at about the same 
time. Did time permit, I could give numerous proofs of this. Capt. Orde Browne, 
throughout his lecture, is evidently in favour of a breech-loading in preference to a 
muzzle-loading system of rifled ordnance, and is fully entitled to his opinion; and 
before touching upon this part of the subject I would first of all point out that a 
great deal of the mystery and of the heat which used to attach to this question has 
disappeared by the light of recent knowledge. Captain Andrew Noble (a scien¬ 
tific, clever officer, formerly in the Artillery and now a member of Sir W. Armstrong’s 
firm—one who has had great experience, not only in using but in manufacturing 
guns) some time since made some remarks to me on this point which 1 believe 
correctly represent the case, and which are important. He says that, given certain 
data as to range, accuracy, velocity, and power, there is no difficulty in making 
guns, whether muzzle or breech-loading, which, being of the same calibre, shall 
produce practically identical results. As a manufacturer of ordnance, Capt. Noble’s 
opinion carries great weight, and Messrs. Armstrong & Co. have demonstrated 
by practical manufacture that his statement i3 a correct onej and, indeed. 
Captain Orde Browne amply confirms it by showing that two years ago a muzzle¬ 
loading gun made by Sir W. Armstrong was tried at Shoeburyness and gave 
results rather exceeding those of breech-loading guns of similar calibre recently 
tried in Germany. Now, if we accept the above as a maxim, then the comparison 
