8 
at. When firing* with percussion fuzes a limit of 100 metres will be first deter¬ 
mined. The lower elevation thus found will then be taken, and the tangent 
scale gradually raised until the shots fall both long and short. 
When using time fuzes the range should also be rapidly determined. A limit 
of 200 metres only should be found with percussion fuzes, and time fuzes should 
then be resorted to, beginning with the lower elevation of the above limit. Tor 
carrying out this time-fuze firing, the manual indicates that a new sighting ar¬ 
rangement, called the “ Yisirklappe,” will be brought into use, but, as it is not 
yet in the service, it cannot be accurately described. 
A protest against this rapid method of opening fire has, however, been made by 
Colonel Holme, of the German Artillery, who considers that accuracy is being 
sacrificed; but, despite his high authority, his ideas do not appear to be favoured 
by the German authorities. 
Tire with the “ obus-torpille ” receives a longer notice. This projectile is 
specially intended for firing against objects placed immediately behind a covering- 
mass. It is, properly speaking, a shrapnel with a very wide cone of dispersion, 
and a relatively feeble bursting charge. In introducing this projectile into the 
service, the Germans have evidently wished to obtain the advantages of curved 
fire without being obliged to adopt a special piece for the purpose. The partisans 
of curved fire are very numerous in Germany, the best known among them being 
the Bavarian General, von Sauer, whose ideas have already been noticed in the 
“Proceedings.” The German Artillery seem so far to agree with the General 
that they recognise the necessity of being able to strike troops behind shelter, but 
they have tried to obtain the high angles of incidence, which are required, through 
the medium of the projectile itself, and not through that of a special piece of ord¬ 
nance. But it is easy to show that a shrapnel, with a wide cone of dispersion, 
can only imperfectly replace a piece specially constructed for curved fire, because 
the effect produced upon troops behind cover will depend, not only upon the ac¬ 
curacy with which the gun is laid, but also upon the regularity of the combustion 
of the fuze. If the latter is irregular there will, with a low trajectory, be little 
chance of striking the object aimed at, even if the piece is laid correctly. On the 
other hand, if a shrapnel with a narrow cone of dispersion be fired from a gun in¬ 
tended for curved fire, any irregularity in the burning of the fuze will have much 
less effect because, from the steepness of the trajectory, there will be a wide 
margin within which the shell may burst without failing to strike the required 
tai get. 
Colonel Holme has written a pamphlet in which he criticises the method of 
regulating the fire of the “ obus-torpille,” and has published tables to show that 
the effect on the target would not be satisfactory. He proposes another method 
of his own, which seems to have attracted some attention. 
With regard to indirect fire the new manual does not enter into the circum¬ 
stances under which it would be used, because that question belongs to the 
domain of tactics. But in default of official documents, the military press indi¬ 
cates the ideas of the German Artillery on the subject. A recent article in the 
Militcir Wochenblatt sets forth all the advantages which the German Artillery 
expect to gain over their enemy in the next campaign, by the judicious use of in¬ 
direct fire :—“ ‘The Artillery Regulations 5 (1892) lay down that the employment 
of indirect fire should be restricted to cases where the nature of the combat and 
the formation of the ground prohibit the employment of direct fire. But what 
are these cases P Here the Regulations are silent, and all sorts of opinions may 
prevail. The partisans of indirect fire look upon it as a new means of action, 
which ought to be thoroughly studied; its opponents regard it as a sort of game 
of ‘ hide-and-seek,’ which should be rejected entirely.” 
“The opponents, for example, maintain that the artillery, by defilading itself 
