Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/506

498 stand the shock of impact, and does not explode on the instant of striking the plate. This is a very severe test—the severest of all. An explosive which will stand this impact on the plate, where the entire velocity of the projectile is overcome, while moving its length through the plate, is proved to be so insensitive that there can be no danger in its projection from ordnance at any desired velocity. That is to say. there will be no danger of the explosive going oil' in the gun, because the shock of acceleration in the gun is necessarily very much less than the shock of retardation when the projectile strikes the armor-plate.

Maximite has passed all of the above tests satisfactorily. When it was subjected to the heat test and no change was manifested at the

 Twelve-inch forged steel armor-piercing shell, weighing 1,000 lbs., before and after exploding the Maximite. There are about 7.000 fragments shown in the photograph from which this illustration was made.

end of fifteen minutes—the required time—the material was allowed, at my request, to remain under the lest for a period of two hours, and there were no signs of decomposition even then.

A 12-inch forged steel armor-piercing shell, weighing 1,000 pounds, and provided with a detonating fuse, Inning electrical connections for tiring, was filled with Maximite. The shell was buried in the sand and exploded. So terrific was the detonation that 7,000 fragments were actually recovered and photographed.

The accompanying illustration. Fig. 1, shows the shell before exploding. On the right of the shell are 7,000 fragments which were recovered. It will he observed that the fragments do not have the