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6

Gunshot of smooth-bore guns. The ordinary gunshot formerly in use were formed of solid masses of cast iron; the larger kinds being projected singly, the smaller kinds collectively. They were spherical in form, and hence were often called round shot, or, popularly, cannon-balls;' with the Whitworth guns they were hexagonal, either with tapering ends or flat-headed, and were often spoken of as bolts.12 The larger, so-called loose, projectiles, fired singly, varied in weight in the British service from a shot a little under 3 lbs. in weight for a three-pounder gun, to that of the twelve-inch gun, 600 lbs. The smaller kinds, fired collectively, varied from 1 oz. to 3 lbs. in weight.

Spherical projectiles in the very early days of big guns were made of stone, but subsequently for many years they consisted of solid spheres of cast iron. Occasionally they have been made of cast steel or of chilled iron (chilled shot). Solid shot were sometimes heated to a red heat before being fired. They were then used against shipping, magazines, or buildings, more for incendiary purposes than for inflicting wounds.

The smooth-bore guns, from which these spherical projectiles were fired, are no longer in use by field-artillery, and the shot employed with them have therefore become obsolete. Spherical projectiles are only retained in the service for use with some siege and heavy guns against masonry, and a few other special purposes. They will probably disappear altogether from the catalogue of military stores before many years are past.

Grape-shot for smooth-bore guns.-Grape-shot for some years. consisted of a certain number of round cast-iron shot, nine or

FIG. 1.

more, according to the size of the projectile, held in three layers between four tiers of flat circular iron plates. These plates were connected by a central rod or spindle, the latter being secured at one end by a nut and screw. The iron discs had holes bored through them for receiving the shot, which were thus held tightly in their position. This projectile was known in England as Caffin's grape (fig. 1). It was largely employed by the Russians during the Crimean war in the defence of Sebastopol. The instant such a shot left the mouth of the gun, owing to the manner in which the explosive force was impressed on its different parts, the nut in front was forced off the screw, the plates, often distorted, successively followed, and both shot and plates were more or less scattered in their onward flight among the assailants. The discs soon fell to the ground in consequence of the resistance of the air, while the shot had a considerable range.

Caffin's Grape.

FIG. 2.

At a former period, these projectiles were made up in canvas bags, and the bags being tied round and round, 'quilted,' so as to secure the shot from shifting out of their respective places, an appearance somewhat resembling a bunch of grapes was presented-hence the name (fig. 2). This was the grape-shot which was in common use in the British service during the Peninsular and other wars of the present century prior to the Crimean war, and to which reference is frequently made in the accounts of naval actions of the same period. Old stores of this projectile were turned to account in the British army during the Crimean war, though the kind known as Caffin's grape was chiefly employed.

Quilted Shot.

Grape-shot varied in weight according to the size of the gun from which they were intended to be discharged. In a 32-pounder gun the weight of the whole shot was 36 lbs. 4 oz., the nine grape comprised in it each weighing 3 lbs., and the plates, spindle, and screw, 9 lbs. 4 oz.

The manufacture of this form of projectile is discontinued, but Caffin's grape is still ordered to be employed for land service when it may be found advantageous to use it. For general purposes it is superseded by shrapnell and case shot.

FIG. 3.

Case, or canister, shot for smooth-bore guns.-These projectiles have not been much changed in adapting them to modern guns. They have always consisted of closed cylindrical canisters or cases (fig. 3) made of thin sheet-iron, and filled with cast-iron balls of different sizes according to the nature of the shot employed. From the same causes that led to the separation and dispersion of grape-shot, the canister holding the encased shot was torn asunder at the moment of quitting the gun's mouth by the shock of the discharge, and its fragments and the liberated shot which had been contained in it were then forced onwards independently, the scattered shot assuming, as a whole, the area of a cone. The destructive effect of case-shot was confined to comparatively short distances-from 300 to 350 yards. They were principally designed for use against troops in close column, or when massed together, as in the assaults of besieged places.

Case-Shot.

Case-shot were used of various sizes, and the projectiles within the case were also of various weights. The case-shot for a 32-pounder gun weighed nearly 36 lbs.; it contained 66 shot, each shot being 8 oz., or a total of

33 lbs.; the iron case and wood bottom made up the remainder of the weight. In some kinds of case-shot, the contents consisted partly of 8-oz. shot, and partly of 1-oz. mixed metal bullets, which were arranged to fill up the spaces between the larger projectiles.

Wounds from discharges of langridge,' or 'langrel,' are occasionally alluded to in surgical reports, especially those connected with naval warfare. Langridge was case-shot in a primitive form. It appears that very early in the art of gunnery, artillerists employed charges of small stones, nails, and other irregular substances, packed together in bags, as projectiles under this name. Similar contrivances were frequently employed by the rebel sepoys during the Indian Mutiny, in default of projectiles of more regular form and construction. In some French forms of case-shot, small irregularly-shaped fragments of hardware, as pieces of iron, brass, and old nails, were, till lately, employed under the name of mitraille,' for service at close quarters, and this name is still retained in the French service for what in England is termed case-shot.

Case-grape or carronade-grape for smooth-bore guns. This projectile is constructed on the same principle as the caseshot just described. The construction of the cylinder is altered, there being inside, in addition to the outer thin iron case, a loose circular iron plate at the base, and a thick inner iron cylinder,

divided into three separate parts, so that there may be substance enough to contain the heavy iron balls within, and at the same time as little impediment as possible to the rending of the cylinder by the discharge shock (figs. 4 and 5). The general issue of these projectiles is discontinued, but they are ordered to be retained at out-stations for issue on occasions when likely to be of service.

Shells for smooth-bore guns.-Any hollow iron projectile adapted for enclosing a quantity of gunpowder, or other explosive material, and designed to be burst into pieces on this material being exploded, is called a 'shell' (fig. 6). Shells have

been projected from guns of various forms, from mortars, howitzers, guns of position, &c. They may be thrown by the hand; in which case they are designated hand-grenades.

FIG. 6.

The bursting charge is introduced into the interior through a circular opening in the shell. When the shell is prepared for use, the opening is filled by a tubular plug, called a 'fuze.' Ordinary fuzes contain a composition, which, being ignited by the flame emitted on the discharge of the gun, burns for a certain time and then ignites the bursting charge within the shell. The length of time during which the fuze composition shall burn before igniting the bursting charge is capable of being regulated; and thus the distance to which the shell shall travel before being burst can also be arranged by the gunner. Other fuzes are contrived for igniting the bursting charge when the shell strikes an object. These are called percussion fuzes. Formerly the bursting tubes were made of wood, now they are made of metal; these metal fuzes are not unfrequent sources of wounds when shells burst among bodies of troops. The walls of the common shells formerly employed with field-artillery usually burst into from twelve to about forty fragments of various weights and sizes. These fragments were scattered in all directions, radiating from the centre of the explosive force by which they had been torn asunder, and were thus calculated to inflict wounds among a number of men around the immediate vicinity of the exploded shell.13 The weight of a 32-pounder common shell was 23 lbs. 4 oz.; the bursting charge consisted of 1 lb. of gunpowder.

Common Spherical Shell.

Hand-grenades.-These projectiles do not differ in any essential particulars from the shells just described. The circumstance of their having been made about the size of a pomegranate, sufficiently small to be held and thrown by the hand, led to their receiving their special name. They are of two sizes, 6-pounder and 3-pounder grenades, and can be thrown by hand to a distance varying from 20 to 30 yards. The bursting charge of a grenade of the larger size is about 5 oz., of the smaller, 3 oz. of gunpowder. They are chiefly employed in sieges, for purposes of defence, when they are thrown from the parapets among bodies of troops making an assault, sometimes singly by hand, and occasionally

projected in numbers together from small mortars placed just behind the works at the spot under assault. In the year 1678, a company of soldiers armed with these projectiles was added to all British regiments, and these men were hence called 'grenadiers.' Each grenadier had a pouch of hand-grenades in addition to his firelock. This mode of carrying and using grenades ceased as far back as the reign of Queen Anne, but the name of 'grenadier company' has been retained to our own days.

Shrapnell shells for smooth-bore guns were at one time called 'spherical case-shot.' A shrapnell, as formerly used, was a shell filled partly with gunpowder, and partly with a number of hardened bullets of mixed sizes, and was fired direct from a smooth-bore gun, with a very heavy charge of powder to project it, while its own bursting charge of powder was so reduced in quantity as to be only just enough to break it asunder. The bullets were hardened by mixing a proportion of antimony with the lead. Shrapnell shells were usually arranged to burst while still possessing an immense horizontal velocity. This velocity, as a matter of course, was equally possessed by the bullets within the shells; and the bursting charge not being in quantity sufficient to scatter or turn them much aside, they pursued their onward

FIG. 7.

Diaphragm Shrapnell Shell.

course, after the shell had burst, with great force. They were thus calculated, on meeting a body of troops, to inflict a large number of severe wounds among them. Shells of this description get their name of 'shrapnell' from that of their inventor -General Shrapnell of the Royal Artillery.

Diaphragm shrapnell shells. -It occasionally happened that the ordinary shrapnell just described burst prematurely. This appeared to be owing to the powder becoming ignited, either by the effects of friction of the bullets against each other, or against the interior of the shell, after the shell had been projected from the gun. To prevent this accident, Captain Boxer invented a shell in which the bursting charge was separated from the charge of bullets, and this was afterwards adopted in the British service. The separation is effected by a curved plate of wrought-iron (fig. 7), in a similar way that the cavity of the chest is separated from that of the abdomen, and hence the name given to the projectile. The arrangement of the diaphragm shrapnell