The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-02 00:00:00

TITLE RIFLED MUSKET.
TO THE EDITOR. OF TFIE TIMES.
Q.
"Irl—My attention has been drawn to a letter
from Sir Charles 8:law, in the Times of the 28th
of August,
f llowin which contain:_;, emong others., tit
g remarks. He is criticising an article
the Quarterly Review, of which I am the writer :
) o
"tip it is evident that the reviewer is nut only an
officer who has minutely studied his profession, but
has also seen much service itsthe field, one of his
assertions must not be passed over, 't!-tt the Mir.i
rifle has no blank-pc,int range
wh "
tever: This
old and experienced officer makes the fol-
lowing alarming remark:—` Consider what the comp-
a
quences will be when a regiment armed with the Minie
rifle is pressed upon by a lino of infantry wedding
roved plain-bore muskets; the former giving their fire
im-
pagerly, perhaps accurately, will be astonished to find
that the nearer the enemy approach the less fatal their
volleys become, while the latter, encouraged by the im-
inanity from danger whlch tb,y ,-xpertei,c, will first
g tl
thhite the riflemen with a t!lifii,cba.rge,'tben level
their bayonets, and sweep ;row ibe field: and so
it will is,' wtteli e,.vtdry Lit up:in ;-eir.re, of wition the
though very c:,,,traitiv,, uci yards, is even
unexitain tNithin these :tulips than beyond th*m;
sue i q izrsi e ill al certainly Co broken as they use
atiaclteu."
Your correspondent evidently does not understand
the casLi with which he is dealing; otherwise he
would not have impunged the accuracy of a state-
ment which carried conviction to the minds of the
hiand led to a careful
sighted, and rectification of that and other detects iu
revision.6Liest militaryoftbe principleauth°Ti je
oft l which the rifle was
its construction.
Perhaps, however, others of your readers will be
better able to appreciate the importance of my sug-
gestion after they shall have perused the paper herein
enclosed. It is from the pen of one of (he most ac-
complished and scientific officers in the army, and was
drawn up so long as March last ; I did not, there-
fore, speak in April out of book :
" The aim taken over the fixed and lowest sight of the
Minii musket gives a range of 200 yards; and this is
believed by many of the
unlearned, end by others who
should know bettor, to be the point-blank range. This is
not so. The lines of sight taken over the upper surface,
through the notch on that fixture, gives to the axis of
the musket an elevation of 58 min. 37 sec. iu round
numbers 1 deg. This produces a range of 200 yards
to the point at which the trajectory intersects a
second time the line of sight, and consequently the
iu different degrees, higher than that
out all the space comprehended between
trajectory
seecthttors-roiyougiphs' points. Thus, while elaborate pains are
taken to sight' the rifle-musket from 200 to 900 yards,
there is no sight by which to regulate the firing within
that distance—no point-blank ki;ght, nor anything ap-
proximating to direct aiming and direct horizontal
firing.
" Having laid down accurately, with the requisite ele-
ments, the trajectory of the shot at that lowest sight, I
made some important experiments, three days ago, in a
private shooting ground, to try the accuracy of my cal-
firmed.
°illations and conclusions, and found them tally con-
distant" Mirtiti musket was carefully laid upon a steady
shooting-stand, by aim taken over the fixed and lowest
sight,
shot hit correctly
inthe
same
horizontal
a
average of many rounds,inches over the point
aimed at, 2 feet 4 s t
oplilnaen,e,bulot,oo,n'aradna

Thus, infantry armed • h these muskets, firing
upon as enemy advancing Withinwlt 200 yards—a ush of
lowest line of aim, tire far"lntrY—w°uld'
cavalry, or a charge of ine
the chest of a •
tchoemapirmi s
ewdh
be
ent
wt the
a trajectorytn e
first isa
nh
too high. A shot aimed at
min at 100 yards'
highest
deviation from
considerably over his head. The distance fiwrionugldbypathsse
verges more or less from the aim' is Sifeet, and di-.
selgend in tersetion of
not removed, would
bythttshe
dterafejeeztortye. throughout the space
only corrective
remedyothrelineo
f aim
mor
be the individual intelligence, skill, tact, and 'cool PS
of soldiets so armed to be aware of this coolness
de-
fect of their weapons, and so allowing for it by aiming
lower and lower, as the enemy comes on withal 200
yards up to a certain point, and then reverse the pro-
cess. At 150 yards it would be necessary to aim at the
knee to hit the chest, and at 100 yards to aim at A
little above the ancle ! This will never do. The fire
sight should be reduced to give 100 yards range (a
dispart sight placed on the muzzle of a musket is ex-
tremely objectionable), and the elevation then carried on
to the folding sight. Thus, commencing at 100 yards,
the range would be so near the point-blank power of the
musket as to serve with considerable and sufficient pre-
cision for all the petite distances,' so that the shot will
hit nearly the point aimed at, unless, by the mal-adrasse
of the tireur, it miss. But, with the present Minis rifle,
the tiregr, firing adroitly. according to the fixed sight,
will be sure to miss at 100 yards a man at whose chest
he has accurately aimed!
" The most important faculty of a musket, for the ser-
vice of the infantry of the line id particular, is for direct
horizontal firing in close action, but by this defect the
Minif rifle musket is rather adapted to distant firing
than to close action, and the fire of infantry thus armed
would, at that most critical moment which requires
direct horizontal firing to be poured in with well-regu-
lated precision, and upon which the issue of the battle
will depend at that important and decisive moment when
the rush cr charge is making, the error is greatest, its
existence unknown, its aniouut uncertain, and the
rationale of it incomprehensible to any but well-trained,
intelligent, and well•icstruoted men; and the serious
consequences of this defect rosy therefore be greatly ap-
prehended."

Permit me to add, that the question as to the best
method of arming our infantry is still unsettled. We
have, as yet, neither a good rifle nor a good musket ;
nor can we ever hope to combine in one implement
qualities so essentially incongruous as those that ap-
pertain to each. The Miniti firelock will certainly
not keep its ground in the end. It is bad both as a
musket and as a rifle; but we are in the right direc-
tion, and with so energetic a Muter-General as Lord
Hardinge to go before us, I have no doubt that we
shall, in due time, reach something like the point at
which we are aiming.
Your most obedient servant,
A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE " QUARTERLY REVIEW."

---
IMPROVEMENT in GAS MANUFACTURE.
We have occasionally pointed attention to the hydro-
carbons and their singular combinations and changes as
a hopeful source of those improvements and that cheapen-
ing of gas manufacture which we have long anticipated.
The vegetable and animal creation teem with hydrocar-
bonaceous products, which we yet hope to see turned to
public profit in this way without either waste or nuisance,
and with increased convenience as well as economy.
One of the most recent attempts to realise these pleasant
prospects appears to consist in the composition of an
artificial fluid or oil easily convertible into illuminative
gas, by combining palm oil with Canada balsam and
caoutchouc in distillation in such a way as to leave no
residuum that is not also resolvable into the same
vegetable oil in new distillation. Much cheaper and
more abundant ingredients, however, will doubtless yet
be found to be easily combinable into the requisite fluidor solid form that will yield pure gas with
facility. tg
is known, fur instance, that linseed oil and cotton kiTeo
in certain circumstances, such a tendency to combine
th
at they not only do so, but burst into flame sP`.7..
abundant ingredients such as these, and say turpentine,
ncoal, be
taneously. Might not some hopeful experimente, i'
be mod
resin, tar, bitumen, cannel, and even common
gone into, and the requisite mean fluilder
that
__.), dared
readily and cheaply got? It is probab ."
will assume
or more hydro-carbons distilled in
a more distinct andthat soma
of two so distilled. Is is quits possible,
may thus be
of the more insoluble, suen
fluois
d form by means of an
form than
ding in association with e
readily convertible inptoennthaenent
intermediate hydro-carbon sone,Builder.
highly hydrogenous (2.1v22......._____..--
intermediate commontoo,

TRANSFER BOOKS AT THE BANK OF ENGLANII
AND SOUTH SEA HousE.—Notice was issued yesterday at
the Bank of England thattransfer books for the under•
toines,theltilgwliOutgh
dates,of viz.:.—Bank
zo b. 7—nßexant,kwsiltloet
fislnrhoeumntt iaoFnndreiddoapay,nesudbi •
10
Cu ee ant y
A, tuhueuli
t9i tehs o ffrOuem-
Tinhsrte.e,filld-Wa-ednesday, the 20th of October ; /te-
tthobeero;th
dueed Three per Cent. Annuities, from Thursday, the 9th
•
inst., till Tuesday, the 19th of October ; Long Annuities.
from
Friday,
lirivilundrTuasuiydte:arytdh,afetyuhr;eot
httleetrhmilin,snstsetht.:,oytftieli l
ebefsresdedruJaayvi:stthhohuueertsll99atstyhhe,aootHffhOcleo
ucc9tstoteetti
ibrossnirt!,
--The trensfer books for South Sea Annuities will be closed
ber next.

Last CAPTURE
OIL r nA FLY
i ng,aslNMGr.}lsn A
John Pollard, TB
Ao
of Kie? Leighton-
terrace, n -
terrace, near Bacuy, was strolling on the shore of Black.
pool, he was surprised to meet with. a strange fish, which
had been left on the beach by the tide receding from it. He
went towards it, when it made an attempt to fly at him.
He then called to some persons near him for assistance, and
soon afterwards captured the monster. It was found to ue
a flying-fish, with four wings and two feet, and measure('
54 inches in length and 25 inches in breadth. Mr. Duke,
of the New Inn, intends to have it preserved.—Preston
Chronicle.

AN EARTHQUAKE AT SEA.—The following is an
extract from the log of the Tropic, arrived in the Downs*-:
" On the 17th July, at 7.20 A.M., being then 70 deg. wen"
from Jamaica, a severe shock of an earthquake, contintlM
nearly two minutes, the water being quite smooth and n1;1
very light, ship going 21/, miles per hour, and steering /prat
by north, when the shock commenced on port quarters
ship
progressing forward, ended on the starboard bow;
four'
had then lost her way, and the watch below ran
containing
of the
forecastle, declaring the iron tanks (each con::
hundred gallons of water) were dancin in the '
along
going While the horrid rumbling noise continuedwas that of a
under the bottom, the sensation on deck was a few
minutes
ship tearing over rocks at a violent rate; in I
water, at three
the ship was quietly gliding through t
miles per hour."
Vellore
—The ship
EMIGRATION FROM BRlsTol-
freighted with a large
has left this port for Melhournoe;
f the all-absorbing old-
fen decka.
number of passengers and car
usensation in the city. Thoa-
departure occasioned quite
diggings. The passengers n
a crowded down to the Cumber -
sands of persons of all gradesasteam-tug towing her down the
cargo for
nearly 300, and Weir
land-basin to see her
passedstartialong
amid the cheers of the as-
river Avon. She w horn there were 7,000 or 8,000 pm-
sembled spectators,
is
is being made by the authorities to
Bristol, and an is _
of
taking place to a large extent from
f Government to its being made a
pp i
emigrants, on the grat _
for the departure I Government
trolly situated for South Wales and t r
that it ism ost Gen
west of England.
yesterday, and
Colchester arrived in town yes
obtainspre-
sent.
t Emigrationt
the sanc t sanction _
Lord
, roprod to Eidbroo e la the atteraonn.
transacted business
kat
.theßoard of Trade.