SHRAPNEL EIRE. 
209 
of percussion shrapnel ready for emergencies or surprises, to which they 
are far more liable than the defence. They must, however, remember 
that two considerations render its use, as a rule, unadvisable. In the 
first place, the attack must nearly always be made from low against 
high-lying positions, and the effect of rising ground in destroying the 
power of percussion shrapnel has already been shown; when percussion 
shrapnel is used against troops on the actual crest of a hill higher in 
level than the position from which it is fired, the chance of obtaining 
good results on the line itself is very small, and the shells can cover 
no ground in rear. In the second place, the defence have always more 
chance of shelter, against which percussion shrapnel is powerless. 
When speaking of cover it must, of course, be acceded at once that 
when it is very complete and strong compared with the power of the 
bullets—as in the case of houses, loopholed walls, pallisades, &c. 
—shrapnel fire is out of the question. 
An exceptional use of shrapnel is to attempt, by removing’ the plug 
and loading it point foremost, to attain the effect of case. The result, 
even at 100 yds., is comparatively very small, and decreases quickly 
with the range ; so much so, that only the direst necessity should tempt 
an officer to waste so valuable a projectile in such a manner. 
Another exceptional use is in destroying abbatis or pallisades, 
when, after shattering them with common shell, it is desired still further 
to break them up. In this case, of course, it is desired to get the 
bullets close together, and percussion fuzes will give the best results. 
Ranges may be roughly divided as follows :— 
yds. 
1. 
Distant. 
3500 
2. 
Long . 
2500 to 3500 
3. 
Ordinary. 
1200 to 2500 
4. 
Short . 
800 to 1200 
5. 
Close . 
800 
1. When speaking of length of range, it must be remembered that 
it is limited not so much by the distance to which a gun may be able 
to project a shell as, in the first place, by that at which the shell still 
retains sufficient power to be formidable ; and in the second, that at 
which the eye is still able to appreciate the accuracy of the practice 
and the results obtained. 
This possibility of correct observation is such an absolute necessity 
for obtaining an effective fire, and its limit is reached, as a rule, so 
much before that of the mere power of the gun, that, though the 
latter may be fairly taken as the ultimate, the former must always be 
the practical limit. 
Accuracy is the first essential of fire, especially as the range increases 
and the ground covered by the shell decreases; and although we can 
by the use of range-finders eliminate the most fertile source of error 
there are still so many others remaining that range tables can after all 
only approximate to the truth, and it is by observation alone that they 
.can be corrected. Range tables are constructed from data obtained 
