408 
LAYING GUNS BY TELE SCOPE. 
the cross-hairs o£ the second telescope was still found to be projected 
on the same point. Now this second telescope, being rigidly connected 
with the gun, I may fairly conclude that the instrument which I use 
for laying gives the same results as if it were invariably fixed on the 
piece, that its axis is not deranged, and that I can replace it after 
firing in the same position as before. 
This was the important point, for it was necessary to remove the 
instrument before firing the gun, otherwise it would have been broken, 
or at least deranged by the shock of discharge. 
Independent The eye-piece of the telescope can be easily moved so as to suit good 
Se V e“ tof or eye-sight, and this operation does not affect either the laying 
piece. or the regulation of the apparatus. 
If a man has very bad sight, by retaining his eye-glass or spectacles, 
he will be able to use the telescope when it has been adapted for 
average eye-sight. Out of 112 men in a battery I only found five who 
could not see distinctly with a telescope arranged to suit the eye-sight 
of an ordinary marksman. 
It is quite possible to use a single apparatus for several siege pieces 
of the same nature. Having regulated the instrument for No. 1 gun, 
it is placed on each of the others in succession, without moving the cross¬ 
hairs. The elevation and deflection should be corrected so as to bring 
the “ optical 33 line of sight parallel to that obtained by the marksman, 
or, in other words, bring the intersection of the cross-hairs on the 
object on which the gun is laid. 
I think, however, that it would be preferable to have a separate 
apparatus for ea ch piece, as in the case of field guns. 
ACCURACY COMBINED WITH RAPIDITY. 
Competition 
In “laying” 
only. 
Competition 
practice for 
precision. 
More accu¬ 
rate travers¬ 
ing gear 
required. 
Corrections 
to be made 
by No. I. 
In the course of four competitions for rapid firing, I either laid 
myself, or caused to be laid, 400 rounds on objects invisible to the 
naked eye, at ranges of 4000 to 6000 metres, against a marksman 
laying with the naked eye, on a white target, at a range of 200 metres, 
and my results were very superior to his, notwithstanding the 
unfavourable conditions. 
In practice for precision, I had one gun laid with the telescope at a 
range of 2,500 metres, against three others firing at 200 metres range, 
and laid on white targets with the naked eye, and the rectangle which 
I obtained was four times smaller than theirs. 
In fact, no error in the laying of a gun is possible as far as the tele¬ 
scope is concerned, though some difficulty may arise in obtaining 
sufficient nicety in traversing with the handspike. The only instruc¬ 
tion which a marksman would require is the correction of elevation 
and deflection, and it is now generally admitted that this operation 
would always be n^ade by the No, 1 of the subdivision. 
