Page:Once a Week Jul - Dec 1859.pdf/39

28 The demon  went  in,  and  up  stairs,  but  he  broke nothing beyond  the  fact  that  Halgover  was  paying the cab. Arabella prepared  for  a gush  of  overwhelming welcome.

“I introduce to  you  the  member  for  Stackleborough,”  said  the  fiend,  taking  his  friend’s hand.

Arabella sprang  up. The M.P.  removed  his hat. Mr. Thomas  Moore  has  described  what  happened when  the  Veiled  Prophet  unveiled  to Zelica.

Sir Cresswell  Cresswell,  in  giving  judgment, said,

[N.B. I hereby  interdict  any  hairdresser, respectable or  otherwise,  from  adding  a neat  sentence, and  converting  the  above  into  a puff  for any Oil  of  Jehoshaphat  or  Limpid  Balm  of Harabia.]

the Parade  inside  the  Horse  Guards,  near where once  ran  the  northern  channel  of  the  Kiln Burn, serving  with  the  Chelsea  Creek  to  enclose the Thorney  Island,  whereon  Westminster  Abbey was built,  is  a very  long  brass  cannon,  considerably shortened at  the  muzzle,  brought  we  believe  from Egypt in  the  days  when  our  Sydney  Smith baffled the  elder  Bonaparte; on  the  green,  inside the gates  of  Woolwich  Arsenal,  there  is  a similar gun, also  of  Eastern  origin: and  both  of  them remarkable for  their  small  bore  compared  with their length. In the  United  Service  Museum there is  an  East  Indian  matchlock,  with  a small bore and  an  enormously  long  barrel. Why was this structure  adopted? Certainly not  from  mere fancy, for  we  find  that  these  weapons  are  but types of  the  general  form,  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  a more  troublesome  matter  to  cast,  and  bore,  and  forge long guns  than  short  ones,  we  may  be  sure  it  was not done  save  for  some  useful  purpose. The object was  threefold. First, to  obtain  power. A gun expels  its  charge  or  bullet  by  the  expansion of powder  burnt,  precisely  as  a piston  is  moved along a cylinder  by  the  expansion  of  steam  heated. To produce  the  best  effect  with  a steam-engine, the piston  fits  the  cylinder with  an  elastic  packing, both surfaces  being  truly  turned  and  bored  to make  an  accurate  fit  with  the  minimum  of  friction, yet without  permitting  any  particle  of  steam  to  pass between cylinder  and  piston. If the  cylinder  or piston  be  rusty  there  will  be  no  fit; but  if  polished, the fit  may  be,  and  is,  so  accurate,  and  the  friction so small,  that  the  piston  may  be  moved  by  hand, though the  steam  cannot  escape. But the  steam is not  suffered  to  exert  a violent  force,  like  a man  who  wastes  his  power  on  mere  passion. When the  cylinder  is  one-third  or  one-half  full, the supply  is  stopped,  and  then  the  process  called “expansion” takes place — the  force  going  on  by the  swelling  of  the  steam,  and  this  expansion,  of course,  operates  best  in  a long  cylinder  compared with a very  short  one. Precisely thus  was  the process with  the  long  guns  described  before. Whether they  were  truly  bored  and  highly  polished we do  not  now  know; but  the  powder  was  of a slow  burning  quality,  and  had  it  been  used in  a short  gun  a large  quantity  would  have been wasted  by  being  thrown  out  at  the  muzzle, and the  expansive  action  of  the  gases  would not have  taken  place. The second  advantage was, that  the  two  sights  being  a long  way apart, a truer  aim  could  be  taken  at  the object. The third  advantage  was,  that  the  truth of flight  in  the  projectile  was  powerfully  influenced by  the  length  of  the  guide  diminishing  any tangential tendency,  for  which  purpose  rifle grooves were  invented,  as  a mode  of  accomplishing the  same  object  with  a shorter  barrel. Whether the  rifle  groove  is  the  best  method  is  by no  means  proven,  though  the  tendency  of  almost all modem  effort  sets  in  that  direction. That there is  some  connection  between  length  of  barrel and length  of  range  there  is  little  doubt; and Queen Elizabeth’s  pocket-pistol  is  a proof  that our ancestors  thought  so ; and  the  Indian  blow- pipe, which throws  a dart  a hundred  paces,  acts by the  expansion  of  a long  column  of  air  heated by the  breath,  as  do  our  children’s  pop-guns  by the  pressure  of  the  hand.

The rifled  barrel  was  invented  for  the  use  of leaden  bullets  which  would  take  the  impress  of  the grooves. The advantage  of  the  spinning  motion thus given  was  recognised  by  one  of  our  earliest writers on  gunnery,  Robins — a member,  it  was said, of  the  Society  of  Friends — and  he  was  the first to  propound  in  print  the  making  rifled cannon, to  be  fitted  with  iron  balls  with  leaden projections fixed,  precisely  like  those  attributed  to the  French  Emperor. But Robins  dealt  wholly with spherical  balls,  and  did  not  dream  of  elongated shot;  and  the  elongated  shot  is  a more important matter  than  the  rifle,  which  is  subsidiary to  it,  tending  to  keep  it  from  turning  over in its  flight.

Neither is  this  shot  altogether  new. It is simply  a shortened  arrow — shorter  than  the  crossbow bolt  or  quarry,  which  was  the  first  curtailment of  the  arrow. The great  advantage  of the  elongated  shot  over  the  spherical  bullet  is, that with  a given  weight  the  cleavage  resistance of the  atmosphere  is  diminished. A smaller bore will  throw  an  equally  heavy  shot,  or an  equal  bore  will  throw  a heavier  shot. For years we  have  been  working  up  to  this; and  one of the  earliest  experimenters  was  a German  gun-maker,  named  Staudennayer,  who  resided  at  Charing Cross, and  made  what  he  called  thimble  bullets — in the  form  of  a woman’s  thimble,  with  a very thick end — the  germ  in  fact  of  the  Mini<j,  the Pritchett, and  the  Jacob  shot  of  the  present  day. The usual  length  of  these  modern  shot  is  about  two diameters for  hand-guns,  but  for  cannon  Whit- worth and Armstrong  have  increased  the  length to about  four  diameters. How far  this  length may be  carried  is  still  a matter  for  experiment. The “cloth-yard  shaft  ” was  a long  cylindrico- parabolic tail,  joined  to  a short  cylindrico-parabolic head, at  one-fourth  the  total  length,  which  was about seventy-two  diameters  of  the  extreme thickness. Marvellous was  the  flight  and  range of this  muscle-moved  projectile,  but  nothing  like this has  been  attempted  with  powder  propulsion.

The rapid  passage  of  bodies  moving  through