M. Paixhans' 80-pounder, of 7450 pounds, with hollow shot weighing from 56 to 58 pounds, at 3°, charge 10 pounds, windage 13 inches, attained (being the medium of six rounds) 1688 yards; at 5°, 1812; at 8°, 2214; at 10° 2396; at 16° 2384. In this practice a fact is observable, which, though it does not bear on the present question, is noticed, since it tends to illustrate a problem in gunnery which has not at all times been duly considered. It appears that the range of the solid shot of 80 pounds, and the hollow one of 56 or 58 pounds, which, with its charge, could not much exceed sixty pounds, were, in each medium of rounds, with the same charge and elevation, within a few toises equal, the excess being sometimes with the solid, sometimes with the hollow-shot. Now the initial velocity communicated to the hollow shot was greater than that acquired by the solid shot in the inverse ratio of the square roots of their weights; the surfaces of each shot being equal, the resistance of the air was greater to the hollow shot in a ratio higher than the squares of the velocities; the velocity, however, rapidly decreases to a certain point, but the specific gravity or weight of the solid shot being greater than that of the hollow, it had, in the same proportion, a power to resist the air, and hence arose the result in practice which we have noticed.

In the British service, the practice with these new guns has not been carried to an equal extent as in the French, but with the 12-inch gun of 90cwt. 3qrs. 4lbs., weight of hollow shot about 125 pounds, windage 15 inches, charge 12 pounds only, a range of 1300 yards has been the result.

The number of men employed to work M. Paixhans' gun was fifteen, being that required for a 36-pounder. The English gun referred to, mounted as on board ship, was manned by six men with ease; it recoiled from four and a half to five feet.

Having shown that the effect of hollow shot on shipping is tremendous, it may be well also to prove that their use on board ship, as well as that of red-hot shot, for which steam-vessels offer peculiar fitness, is unattended by any extraordinary risk, not greater than that which the circulation of cartridges must produce, particularly if screw-capped copper fuzees, as recommended by an officer of the French marine, be adopted. The proposition made by him in 1824 was

"De donner à chaque fusée un petit couvercle víssé, qui ne s'ôtera que quand la bombe sera dans la bouche du canon, et qui écartera en même temps tout danger."

If it be asserted that the effect of the accidental ignition of a cartridge and a loaded shell could admit of no comparison, it may be replied that the odds are greatly in favour of the use of M. Paixhans' guns, from their limited number and proportional decrease of circulation of ammunition on the decks; and that taking into account the greater security which the iron-case presents above that afforded by the texture of the cartridge, the odds in the one case may be fairly set against those in the other. In practice, it is believed that the cartridge cylinder and a shell-box would reduce the chances of accidental ignition to an inconsiderable amount. It must be quite obvious that the adoption of shells on board ship would render an additional magazine or shell-room necessary; that the shells must be fixed on shore, (or, if actually necessary, in a boat at a distance from the ship,) and carefully stowed with tow in separate cells, in cases which may be luted, as in Sir William Congreve's mode of packing ammunition in ships' magazines. We have been led into speculation as to the danger of the use of shells, but we with pleasure quit an employment so unprofitable, to apply to the actual experience of Capt. Abney Hastings, who, on each subject of our previous inquiry, may with much profit be referred to.

*

Capt. Hastings commanded the Greek steamer-of-war the Karteria; she was fitted out under his special directions, and armed with eight 68-pounders, four of which were common carronades, and four guns cast according to

+ See a Memoir by Capt. Hastings on the use of Shells, Hot-shot, and Carcasses, from Ship Artillery, (Ridgway, Piccadilly,) reviewed in a former Number of this Journal.

drawings furnished by Capt. Hastings, who describes them as similar to carronades, excepting that they had trunnions placed to correspond with the axis of the bore, instead of being below it, as is usual in guns of the ordinary make. As to the danger of employing shells on board ship, Capt. Hastings states:

"I am prepared to prove, however paradoxical it may appear at first sight, that the liability to accidents from explosion on board a ship is much diminished by the use of shells. I have fired about eighteen thousand shells from this ship, and have never had the slightest accident from explosion; the guns have never broken a breeching, drawn a bolt, or injured a carriage. I was but in two naval actions in the British service, in each of which we had accidents. In the Neptune, in the battle of Trafalgar, an explosion on the lower deck killed and wounded sixteen men. In the Seahorse, with the Baadla Zaffar, a gun going off while loading, killed one

or two men.

With respect to the use of hot-shot, he observes :

"I imagined that with a wet clay wad between the yarn wad and the shot, it was next to impossible any accident should occur. I made the experiment, and found, that although the exterior of the gun about the shot became very hot, and remained so for a length of time, nevertheless the shot became cold in the gun without any accident. I have since continually used hot-shot with perfect safety; my people having become familiar with them, employ them with as little apprehension as if using cold-shot. The clay wad, however, has the inconvenience of fouling the gun."

As to the objection to the clay wad, it may be observed, that a dry yarn wad next the powder, and a soaked one on the top of it, answers every purpose; and that a shot may, by such means, be allowed, without the least risk, to cool in the gun, since it will only burn a few strands of the wet wad. Capt. Hastings bears ample testimony to the effect of hot-shot and shells against shipping. At Salona he fired not only hot-shells, which he had substituted for hot-shot-as by their weight, he says, they frequently broke through both sides of small vessels, (preferring probably this expedient to reducing the charge, from the superior facility with which they may be heated,) but he fired also carcasses and shells. Referring to this occasion, he observes:

"By the time we had fired twice, a brig-of-war blew up, owing to a shell exploding in her magazine; an armed transport brig sank forward, owing to a shell exploding in her bow, and was set on fire aft by a hot shell."

At Tricheu (quere Trickeri) he burnt a Turkish brig-of-war with hot shot. An accident which befell his own ship affords strong evidence of the efficiency of shells against shipping; he states, that when engaged with the Turks, a shell from an 18-pounder struck him in the counter, and tore out the planking from two adjacent streaks; he remarks that a sea-way ship, built in the usual manner, would have been sunk by the explosion of the nine ounces of powder contained in this shell.

"The Karteria was built with her timbers close and caulked together, and would therefore have floated without planking. She had another peculiarity in her build, two solid bulk-heads inclosing the engine-room, caulked and lined, so as to be watertight."

To which improvement Capt. Hastings attributed the safety of his ship when on fire in the after part of her engine-room, and also states, that another ship, the Rising Star, was preserved from sinking by the same contrivance. The ranges obtained by Capt. Hastings were very great-at Vasiladi, with five pounds of powder, he threw his shells 3000 yards, he does not state the elevation, but says it was as high as his ports admitted, (probably about 15°;) the third discharge a shell struck the magazine and occasioned the surrender of the place. It may be observed, that the diameter of a 68-pounder carronade being 8.05 inches, and that of the shell 8 inches, the windage is very little, less, it is believed, than has been ever adopted for any other description of ordnance. There seems no good reason why the

8

11

windage of any gun should exceed that necessary to allow for the dilation of the shot when used, if possible, at white heat. From actual experiments given in the Aide-Mémoire,* it may be collected that the dilation, as compared to the diameter, decreases as the diameters increase. The dilation of a 24-pounder shot at red heat is stated at eight points, at white heat eleven points; the diameter of the French 24-pounder shot being 5 in. 7 1. 8 p. the dilation in proportion to the diameter is, in the one case,; in the other which would require a windage of about 05 inches, being exactly that of Capt. Hastings' guns; but if this be increased, we may still have guns with projectiles of less windage than has hitherto been adopted even for the new guns, and consequently the well established advantage of decreasing the windage may still be extended. The perfection which the iron-founderies have attained may, by a corresponding remuneration, ensure the casting of shells to the utmost nicety, and they may then merit a coat of paint or lacker. As to the necessity of windage from the increasing diameter of the shot from rust, it does not appear necessary to take into the account, since shot above guage are seldom, if ever, met with; the scaling, or hammering of the shot to beat off the rust, reduces the original diameter.

It is imagined that sufficient has been said to show that shells projected horizontally may be used with the utmost advantage against shipping; that the range of the new guns, with reduced charges, is sufficient for all purposes of naval warfare, and that it may yet be increased without augmenting the charge; that the working of these guns is not attended by increased labour; that their superior capacity admits of reduction in the ordinary number of guns used in the armament of ships of war; and, consequently, it may be asserted, that their use in every class of vessel must be advantageous, but that in steamers they are peculiarly appropriate.

The assumption of M. Paixhans, that the application of steam to vessels of war, particularly when armed with his artillery, will be all in favour of France; his idea of cuirassing line-of-battle ships with iron, and in steamers applying the engine to run out the guns, is not at present to be discussed; it may hereafter be considered, together with his system of iron towers as advanced works, his plan for cuirassing the flanks of works of fronts attacked, and his iron gun-casements. Suffice it for the present to observe, that his reasoning is grounded on the assumption, in some degree supported by experiment, that iron from seven to eleven inches thick is sufficient to resist and break in pieces the largest shot projected against it with the greatest velocities. He supposes that a three-decker, by sacrificing her upper battery, is capable of supporting this casing, and that it may be effected at an expense of 600,000 francs. As to his anticipations, it may be briefly observed, that it has not been proved that the cast-iron of Indret is superior to that of Carron; that the mechanics of England are inferior to those of France; that the steam-engines of the former country are more imperfect than those of the latter, or that the British have ever shrunk from the French in the actual mêlée, to which mode of settling actions by sea M. Paixhans exultingly conceives the ameliorations proposed by him in naval armament have a certain tendency.

We e may also take an opportunity of considering generally M. Paixhans' work, "Force et Foiblesse de la France." We should now be happy, notwithstanding its inapplicability to the present question, did not the present article exceed all reasonable limits, to advert to what he says as to the Belgian fortresses, and the policy of France as it regards this country. We hope the spoliators of those barriers to French ambition and wounded pride will, at all events, be convinced that Philippeville, Marienburg, Chimai, which were conceded in 1815, are, perhaps, the most important of the chain; they well may be considered, in the event of aggression by France, a first parallel against Paris; they enable an army to turn all the French frontier fortresses, and to gain without risk the valley of the Oise.

Vol. I. pp. 477, 485.

Σ.

ON COMMANDER WOODLEY'S DIVINE SYSTEM

OF THE UNIVERSE.

"The heavens themselves, the planets, and this earth,
Observe degree, priority, and place,

Insisture, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order;
And therefore is the glorious planet, SOL,
In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd
Amidst the other."

WE little expected to have any thing farther to say on the subject of Capt. Woodley and his " Divine System;" but as that officer appears to have misconceived us, and has printed an angry ebullition in reply, we think it necessary to have "a few more last words,"for last they will probably be on our side, as connected with his laws of the universe, albeit we may dwell upon the acknowledged ones. We must, nevertheless, disclaim any intentional personality; an imputation which the gallant Captain has inconsiderately charged us with we deny, "with both hands," that we had the Commander in view during the examination of his doctrines, and our animadversions, however expressed, were directed solely to the strictures before us.

With a view of " standing corrected," we have carefully perused the pamphlet which has been circulated to rebuke us; and we are really sorry to assert that, after a strict analysis, we are more puzzled than before; and there are several paragraphs so unintelligible that they must remain, as is boasted, unanswerable. We are told, moreover, that a forthcoming volume will embody such arguments as shall effectually confound the Newtonian squad. To this we have not the slightest objection, if superior wisdom be brought to bear; but that wisdom must become apparent from its propositions being compared and its terms examined. We care nothing for the cited errors of Newton's chronology, nor his uses and nature of comets, his fits of easy reflection and transmission of rays of light, nor his sanction of quantities which are less than nothing, as they do not in the least impair what we owe to those admirable powers which combined physical research, and inventive genius, to a degree attained by him alone. This remarkable man was too wise, and too humble, to harbour the petty vanity of being thought infallible: he would have delighted in seeing such occasional oversights swept from his theories, as they have been by talented followers, and his philosophy take its present exalted stand. It must be seen that the Commander undertakes a weighty enterprize; and he should be endowed with more than mortal powers to bring the whole mass of facts and opinions into a common union, which shall become as satisfactory and useful as the one which has triumphed over the host of physical and moral barriers that have been opposed to it, and by which our ideas of the grandeur of Infinite Power are now assisted and directed. Astronomy, the boast of Reason, and the grand counterpoise to superstition and barbarism, is particularly calculated to enlarge the capability of the human mind, and to inspire it with the noblest conceptions. It differs from other natural sciences, in that its whole foundation is purely mathematical, and demonstrative of the precise mechanics of inanimate and inert In following physical truths, we must advance only upon U. S. JOURN. No. 37. DEC. 1831.

matter.

21

principles admitting of proof, because it is palpable that probability may prove to be in error, while mathematical certainty-from which we exclude the fathoms of metaphysical formulæ by which some visionaries confound the imagination-is immutable. We will not, therefore, detain the reader with the juxta-position of our author's arcs and areas; his drusy planets of ice filled with rarified air, moving in a "rational and circular motion;" his confutation of gravity by a pointless diagram; his simple angle of the moon with the horizon; his difficulties of being towed up-hill to the equator; with other delectable matter derived from his sine qua non, "the evidence of the senses." All these deductions must luxuriate, without proof or probability, till the promised volume shall elucidate them; but, in the mean time, we consider it due, both to ourselves and to Capt. Woodley, to make a remark or two upon his first and fundamental fact, the distance of the sun from the earth; more especially as he has submitted his notions of longitude, depending thereon, to the Lords of the Admiralty, for the purpose of adoption into the British navy.

If we remember rightly, Capt. Woodley states the Sun to be exactly 21,600 miles from the surface of the Earth. If so, twice this quantity, together with the Earth's diameter, multiplied by 3=153,348 miles is the rough daily velocity; or, if reckoned from the centre in round numbers = 129,600 miles. And now for our 66 extravagant ideas" of the consequent parallax. Upon the first and commonest principles of geometry, the following diagram must be admitted or denied: an alternative fraught with danger to the new theory on either hand.

Let C be the Earth's centre, Co the Earth's radius, o the place of an observer, M the Sun, MC the Sun's distance from the Earth's centre, coinciding with what is called the true horizon, and mo the horizon of the observer. When the Sun is at M, he has to describe the angle mo M=0 M C, before he can be visible to the observer at o (making an allowance for the effect of refraction ;) whence M C: Cox rad. Co radius: tangent o M C= :

MC a reasoning perfectly obvious, and applicable to all the heavenly bodies.

We will now assume Capt. Woodley's Sun as an example in illustration; this is 21,600 miles from the surface of our globe; and not from the centre as we imagined, when we formerly cited the monstrous correction which the wayfaring seaman would have to apply to his altitudes. And as the "Divine System" does not admit of the spheroidal figure of the Earth, we will take the mean semidiameter as=3958 miles. From these data we shall have ;

.3958 miles, Log. 3-5974758 MC21,600+3958=25,558 miles, Log. 4:4075269

o MC 8° 48′ 11′′

. Log. Tan. 9-1899489