The record-union., 1898-11-30

fore, consists of three distinct opera
tions-namely, the ignition of the fuse,
which is brought about by the burn
ing the cordite or powder in the gun
at the moment of propulsion; the igni-
tion of the charge at the base by the
agency of the fuse; and finally, the
explosion of this charge, which blows
off the head of the shell and liberates
the inclosed bullets, allowing, them to
scatter over an extremely large area
"A shrapnel in this manner produces a
result equal to that of 500 rifle bullets.
1t is obvious from the foregoing that
the most advantageous place for the
shell to burst would be at q short dis
tance in front of the enemy, so as to
obtain the maximum effect-a result
which scientific gunnery has rendered
possible. at all distances within the
range of the gun. By the use of the
Ballistic, Tables compiled by the Rev.
E. Bashforth, late Professor of Math-
ematics at the Artillery College, Wool
wich, the distance of any given pro-
jectile from the gun after the lapse
of every fraction of a second may be
accurately determined; and the results
for each class of shell are recorded
in the table possessed by every
officer in charge. All that is necessary,
therefore, is to arrange to burst the
shell at a given moment after firing,
which may be done by adjusting the
fuse so that the flash from it shall
reach the bursting charge at the de-
sired moment.
FOR DESTROYING FORTIFICA-
TIONS.
When the object is to destroy fortifi-
cations or earthworks, a shell is used
which contains large charge of pow
der or picric acid (sometimes called
''melinite' or "lyddite''), and which, lun-
like the shrapnel, has no bullets in the
Interior Further, such shells are ar
ranged SO as to explode on striking.
the fuse previously described being re-
placed by a. percussion cap, which
brings about the explosion Of the charge
when the shell strikes in exactly the
same manner as the firing of an ordi-
nary rifle. In outward appearance this
shell resembles the shrapnel, the
pointed end being followed out for the
reception Of a screw-plug containing
the cap, which is inserted immediately
before placing in the gun. The action
in this case is comparatively simple.
When the shell strikes an object the
pointed end becomes imbedded to a
greater or less extent owing to the tre-
mendous velocity with which it is pro-
jected. The concussion produced by the
impact Of the point fires the cap. which
in turn ignites the bursting charge and
the shell bursts into fragments with
terrible violence Such shell in action
is exactly equivalent to a charge of ex-
plosive placed in position for blasting
purposes and produces an equal effect:
the fragments of the shell, in addition.
often causing great loss of life.
ARMOR-PIERCING PROJECTILEs.
The armor- piercing projectile differs
from the two former in containing no
internal charge. 1t is practically solid.
and has a cylindrical body and pointed
end. The object of this projectile is
to pierce the steel armor of a vessel.
and it must therefore be composed of
to achieve this end A special kind of
steel is used in the manufacture of
this class of missile, which while not
sufficiently hard to develop brittleness.
possesses sufficient toughness to resist
crumpling on impact The point is
specially hardened, so as to render it
capable of penetrating the~ best quality
of armor- plates. The destructive ca
pacity of these projectiles is enormous.
and the extent toswhich they will PEN
citrate the hardest steel is truly sur
prising. Captain Orde Brown. r.. A.,
has published rule. based on actual
experiments, which states that IAN