SHRAPNEL EIRE. 
187 
The effect upon the first row of targets only will be considered; since 
on the others many strikes and lodges might be due to bullets which, 
haying already passed through targets, were unduly retarded. As 
unfortunately there were no hits on the front target at the 3450 yds. 
range at Okehampton, it cannot be taken into account. 
As there were only two effective shell at the 3970 yds. range, the 
results are not very reliable; still they serve to show that a considerable 
loss of power does undoubtedly take place. 
The following table gives the proportion of strikes and lodges to 
throughs:— 
Eange. 
Strikes and lodges. 
Throughs. 
800 .... 
. 1 . 
... 2*7 
1500 
.. 1 . 
... 1*9 
2000 .... 
. 1 . 
... 0*46 
3970 ..., 
. 1 . 
... 0*03 
The contrast here presented is sufficiently striking. Another, how¬ 
ever, may be afforded by showing the number of dummies disabled per 
shell. As the heights above plane are not given in the case of the last 
two ranges, only one-half of the shells bursting in front will be taken 
as effective. Even with this allowance, the result will be— 
Eange. Dummies disabled, 
yds. per shell. 
800 . 18*2 
1500 . 16T 
2000 . 5-4 
3970 . 1*0 
(2) It is comparatively easy to show the loss of power due to shells 
being burst on graze, or immediately after it. 
In the Okehampton Report, p. 68, two half-batteries Were practising 
at similar targets under precisely similar circumstances, one using 
percussion and the other time fuzes. In the former case all the shells 
must have been burst on graze, or immediately after it; in the latter, 
all were burst in the air. The following are the proportions of strikes 
and lodges to throughs per shell:— 
Strikes. Lodges. Throughs. 
After graze . 0-93 . 5*5 .. 1*4 
Before » . TO . 1*7 . 4-0 
or, taking strikes and lodges together, the proportion they bear to the 
throughs is j— 
After graze . 4'6 to 1 
Before „ . 0*675 to 1 
In a word the bullets have, if this is taken as a measure of their 
power, about seven times as much in the latter as in the former case. 
(3) The loss of power due to the distance at Which the shells are 
burst from the object may be seen by contrasting those in the Shoe s 
buryness experiments. Taking the 800 yds. range, the following are 
