that the results which could be obtained in increasing the effectiveness of fire at all distances might make the telescopic sight well worthy of adoption as an adjunct, for some small proportion of the men, to a military rifle. Yet the telescopic sight cannot altogether supersede the ordinary sights, since it is useless in rain and of little advantage in mist. The number of shots fired in South Africa for every casualty caused by them must be something incredible, and in these days of rapid loading, when ammunition is so very easily wasted, whatever really increases the effectiveness of fire, so as to enable the same result to be obtained with fewer shots, is a great economy and a great advantage.

It is an interesting speculation how far, as war becomes more scientific, it will be possible to teach the soldier to use scientific appliances. The spread of education has certainly done much, more, perhaps, than has as yet been realised, to remove the necessity for treating Tommy Atkins as if he required dry nursing and spoon feeding at each instant of the day, and was not to be trusted as a reasoning being in any particular. Wars will in future be won, if we may judge from South African experience, by the intelligence of the rank and file quite as much as by their bravery.

A little device may be here mentioned which is the outcome of the Boer war, and more especially, it is said, of the siege of Mafeking, called the 'infrascope.' It seems clear that in firing from entrenchments against our advancing troops in more than one battle, the Boers found the storm of shot and shell directed against them so overwhelming that they held up their rifles over the edge of the entrenchment, and discharged them in the general direction of the enemy without attempting to take aim. Even such a fire as this has a degree of effectiveness. At Mafeking, where the trenches got to very uncomfortably close quarters indeed, the fact that Nature has placed the human brain above the human eye was sometimes found to be inconvenient, as the part of the head which the enemy saw when he was being fired at was sufficiently large to form a good mark for him. An impromptu device was arranged to enable an effective fire to be brought to bear under such circumstances. Two small pieces of mirror were

THE INFRASCOPE

253

attached so that one could be clipped on behind the back sight, while the other hung down below and to one side of the rifle, and in the latter could be seen the reflection of the line of aim shown by the former. This enabled shots to be truly directed while the whole head of the firer was below the sheltering level of the sandbags or earthwork protecting him. The application of this arrangement could hardly be very extensive, since it admits of no large field of view, but under special circumstances it has proved its utility. We may, perhaps, hear of it again in the future, when entrenchments have to be defended. It might conceivably be of advantage on occasion to use such an aid in stalking animals, but we do not think that the sportsman's spirit of fair play would approve of it, even if the occasions on which it might be useful were likely to be other than quite exceptional.

CHAPTER IX

AIMING-TWO-EYED SHOOTING-AIMING AT A TARGET-USE OF THE BAR SIGHT-WIND-GAUGE SIGHTS-MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONTOBACCO AND ALCOHOL-LATERAL ERROR FROM CROOKED SIGHTSTHE SPIRIT LEVEL-FIRING UP AND DOWN HILL-HIGH-ANGLE FIRE

-TERMINAL VELOCITY

To learn to align the sights correctly is not quite so easy a matter as might be supposed. Even what is laid down in military works as one of the most important rules of aiming, that of closing the left (or non-aiming) eye, is a rule the need of which is in no wise universally acknowledged. Much has been written and many different opinions have been maintained as to the advantage or otherwise of aiming with both eyes open with the rifle. That this is the proper method with the shot gun is in these days universally acknowledged, but there is just this difference between the gun and the rifle, that with the latter absolute accuracy of aim is demanded, while with the former the aim need only be approximately correct. The matter is hardly so complicated as it is sometimes made out to be. If one eye be closed, and the sights aligned upon the mark with the other, no difficulty or confusion of vision is experienced. If the other eye be opened, and also focussed upon the mark, there is conveyed to the brain a second image of the barrel and the sights situated to one side of the line in which the mark is seen by the nonaiming eye. This will be clearly observed if the aiming eye be momentarily closed. Just as by dint of habit and long usage the right hand becomes better educated than the left, and is without special thought set to do any work requiring the smallest skill, so the eye habitually made the most use of is that naturally used in taking up an alignment. This eye is commonly known as the master eye. It has often happened that sportsmen have shot for years with the gun from the

TWO-EYED SHOOTING

255

right shoulder with very little success, and at last found that they were aligning the image of the muzzle, or the bead upon it, as seen by the left eye, with the mark, it being absolutely certain that in doing this the general line of the barrels must be pointed clear away from the mark, and that no success in shooting is possible except by a fluke. In such cases the alternative remedies are, either to shoot from the left shoulder, or to have the gun made with a crooked stock so that, though fired from the right shoulder, the barrels come into place and are aligned upon the mark by the left eye. If the right eye, though not the master eye by habit, have good sight, the left eye must either be closed or bandaged, or else some kind of small screen must be interposed in front of it so as to prevent its having a view of the muzzle of the gun or rifle. Fifteen years ago a controversy on the subject of two-eyed shooting was carried on in the columns of 'Land and Water,' nor was this by any means the first time that the subject had been argued. Mr. Gilbert proposed to deal with the difficulty by attaching to the left side of the weapon a little leaf which blocks the vision of the left eye, and which he called a shooting corrector.' It has been pointed out that a high thumb-stall upon the left hand will effect the same object, that of hiding the fore sight from the left eye, without interfering with the vision of the mark by either eye, and any such device has a distinct utility in certain cases. The same difficulties occur in rifle shooting. It is found convenient to instruct the recruit to shut the left eye in firing so that his sight may not be confused by the double images set up, and that he may not be tempted to use the left eye even if it be the stronger. It would not seem to require much proof that, when Nature has provided a screen for the eye in the shape of a lid, it is normally better, if a screen be necessary, to make use of that than to complicate the weapon by affixing to it an artificial screen to serve the same purpose. But if the right eye be very definitely the master eye, there is no need after a reasonable amount of practice to close the left eye. Formerly, when he had time to shoot regularly with the military rifle, the present writer with some difficulty formed the habit of keeping the left eye open while aiming. The

target gains much in illumination and clearness by being seen with both eyes, while the sights aligned upon it, though seen only with one eye, are sufficiently well defined to admit. of very accurate work.

Ezekiel Baker a hundred years ago came to the same conclusion. He says: In presenting and taking aim, it is far preferable to open both eyes, as the object is sooner attained, and the sight more perfect: it also prevents that blinking which is a general case in shutting one eye. This may be difficult to many at first; but "practice makes perfect"; and when it is once accomplished, the advantages will be sufficiently evident. From my former observations many persons have tried the experiment, and have since declared that, having accustomed themselves to keep both eyes open in taking aim, they are satisfied that this method is the best, and that in every instance it has had the desired effect.'

Mr C. F. Lowe, who has for many years been a conspicuous figure at the meetings of the National Rifle Association, and who is a great advocate and exponent of two-eyed shooting, has pointed out that with both eyes open it is very possible to do reasonably good work with the rifle if a collar of paper is fastened round the muzzle in front of the foresight, so that while the right eye sees the two sights in line it cannot see the mark, but the left eye has a clear view of it. When by the general vision of the two eyes every detail of the whole picture seen is fitted into its place, the target or mark seen by the left eye appears as if seen by the right eye through the paper collar, and the sights can be correctly aligned upon it. In an exactly similar way most sportsmen in shooting at a pheasant coming overhead directly towards them absolutely cover the image of the bird with the muzzle of the gun, but, because the left eye still sees the bird, are able to know how far in front of the bird they are pointing the gun, and so to give the proper allowance and direction. The effect conveyed to the brain is that the right eye sees the bird through the gun barrels.

The physical and the mental machinery of human beings differ so much in particular instances that no rule can be