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longitudinal strength were not satisfactory, and I am not aware that they are continuing their experiments. In the United States a wire gun was made, and it was sought to give the required endway strength, by immersing the gun in a bath of brazing metal, to braze all the wire coils together. The first attempt was unsatisfactory, and it appears to me to be one in the wrong direction. I believe, but am not certain, the subject of wire guns is still under consideration in the United States.
Unsatisfactory as the result of wire gun construction has been in France, and in the United States, we are still pursuing the subject, and I trust the time is not far distant when guns on this construction will be in the service.
In the meantime we cannot afford to be without guns, and we must manufacture guns, such as artillerists all over the world agree, should be employed. The construction of these guns is one where the central tube is reinforced, in part or in whole, depending on the size of the gun, with hoops shrunk on, the guns being breech-loading, and rifled.
And now as regards the great increase in the size of the guns which has taken place within the last few years. How has it arisen? The answer is, from the struggle between the guns and the armour plates—the Attack and the Defence.
Twenty-five years ago the armour plate of the Warrior was of wrought iron and was 4½ inches thick.
Feeble as we now think such armour, it was sufficient to resist cast-iron spherical shot. These impinged upon it and indented it, but the shot broke up into a sort of conical nail with its head against the plate, while the rest of the ball was wedged to pieces as it were by the cone formed out of its own vitals, and spread in fragments laterally over the face of the plate. It became evident that some different form of projectile, and some other material were needed.
I have already pointed out to you how the elongated projectile, concentrates the energy of the shot on the surface attacked, but it will be clear that this effect must be reciprocal, and that the energy will be, in like manner, concentrated on the
