The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

IMPROVE2IIENJS IN FIREARMS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Having seen in last evening's Sun a state'
ment to the effect that a French soldier of the line
had brought before the Emperor and the militarY
authorities of France, an invention for the purpose,
of obviating the necessity of rifling the interior a'
firearms and cannon, in order to obtain a rotary er'
tion of the projectile ; and finding, by the descrir
tion, that this end is sought to be obtained by means
of six vanes or wings, helically arrnhged at the bas°
of the projectile, I cannot but believe that it is idea',
tical, or the same in principle, as the plan proposed
by myself to the Hon. Board of Ordnance, in March'
1855, during the Russian war, in conjunction wit!l
the invention of a new description of shell, which
at the same time laid before them.
It is not my intention to explain the construction
of these. shells, for having at the time, by drawing;
and written description, explained them to the Board
of Ordnance, and not finding sufficient in the answe,l.
(as given below) to alter my opinion of what thou'_,
efficiency might be, I have felt, and still feel, it 3
duty not to render the matter public.
Of the shells, the answer from the Board of Ord-
nance spoke thus :—" Your plan for shells has
been examined by the proper officers, who have
reported that in their opinion your shells are o°'
applicable to the service;" and then comes the reaftou'
because, "the fuse at the base is liable to be bloil
- into the shell by the explosion of the charges,
the shell itself is not strong enough to bear the COll.
cussion consequent on discharge ; they cannot, there"
fore, recommend that any experiments should 13" e
made with your projectiles." This answer I consi-
der very remarkable, as no objection is made to the
advantages which I stated as likely, in my opinion'
to arise from the use of such shells—viz., " Stlvigg
of time, ammunition for charges, and wear of the
pieces of ordnance employed," in addition to othel
advantages then pointed out, such as allowing 01e
enemy less chance of escape from their effects. Iftif,i
ing sent a sectional drawing, exhibiting an assumed
thickness of iron, they appear to have thought 1'
too thin (as shown), but there could be no possible
reason why, in casting, they should not be made.
little thicker than was shown on the drawing, it being
the same as in all new plans—a matter for exl)e:
riment to decide, and in no way affecting the principle
involved. In the same section I had shown the fus.e'
somewhat short in length and placed in a neck sin"'
lar to a cork in a bottle, but it was intended that the,
ordinary fuse should be used, which I do not bear 0'
being blown into the interior of shells. With re-
spect to the nibstitute for rifling, I stated that I an-
ticipated the lbrtn of the shells combined with the
construction of the base or end placed next the charge
(which was shown of the wing form before-mol_
,
tioned) would produce a rotary motion on the leogi,,
tudinal axis. In a postscript to the answer, it wil7
stated that this idea had been before proposed. There
were other formations of a spiral character, whi
ch,s
had drawn out at the time as likely to attain thlf,
object, but I did not submit them after the receipt fd
'
the answers just mentioned, thinking they w°lllt
meet with the same fate.—l am, Sir, your obedien
servant, HENRY MACAULAY,

Architect, GE., &C.
Blackburn, Aug. 13, 18.58.

CRYSTAL PALACE. HALF-CROWN DAY.
terday the admissions on payment were 1,082; ditto by
"45°4 ticints: 70; totttl yieitors, 1,70.