173 
SHRAPNEL EIRE. 
BY 
MAJOR S. J. NICHOLSON, R.II.A. 
On tlie subject of tlie employment of shrapnel—which is in our 
service undoubtedly the principal projectile of the field artillery—a 
great divergence of opinion obtains, even amongst those who have 
given much thought and attention to the subject. 
The number of questions on which there is this divergence is 
endless. Such, for instance, as under what circumstances time or 
percussion fuzes should be used; the best distance of burst for the 
former, or graze for the latter; at what ranges either are effective, 
and even at what objects; are only a few out of many. And yet these 
points are dependent on simple matters of fact which, if carefully 
worked out by experiment, clearly stated, and thoroughly considered, 
ought to lead, if not to an unanimous, at least to a more general 
consent than is now the case. 
The present paper has no other pretension than to contain the 
opinions of a single individual, who would with all possible diffidence 
state them; not with any view of attempting the settlement of so 
large and important a question by doing so, but simply in the hope of 
inviting discussion, or—what is better—further experiment, and thus 
eliciting deductions more reliable and worthy of general acceptance. 
Much of the diversity of opinion which exists is due, no doubt, to 
the somewhat rapid transition from the old spherical shrapnel to the 
segment, and so on to the present shell. The essential differences in 
action of the three have not perhaps been sufficiently remarked. With 
the first, the position of the bursting charge, relatively to the bullets, 
at the moment of the sheiks opening was wholly uncertain, and the 
rotation of the shell equally so : there was comparatively a very large 
loss of velocity due to increased ranges, and the angle of descent was 
high j the ricochet was, however, very much more certain in direction. 
In the case of the second, the bursting charge was in the very centre 
of the segments, and gave a wide spread, and the form of these latter 
was very much against their retaining the velocity imparted to them 
by the shell. Though in principle the three may have a near alliance, 
in detail of action there is a wide difference between them. 
This difference would sooner have been remarked had it not been for 
the unpractical manner in which, from circumstances nearly unavoid¬ 
able, the annual practice of batteries has, for the most part, been 
carried on. The ranges have generally been over water, flat sands, 
or ground specially selected as offering as few obstacles as possible 
to efficient fire. A small barrel or a 6-ft. x 6-ft. target has been fired 
[vol. x.] 22 
