GENERAl REPORT OF THE JUDGES OF GROUP XVI. PARTICULARS. ENGLISH. AUSTRIAN. FRENCH. ITALIAN. RUSSIAN. to 2 < p* CO 8-cm. 7-PDR. 3-PDR. 4-PDR. 8-cm. 3-PDR. Calibre, inches 2.02 Length of bore, inches 36 35-8 31-7 35-8 24 3r.6 Number of grooves 3 6 6 6 12 6 Total weight of gun, cwts 1.78 1.71 i-97 1.97 2 1.97 Material of gun Steel. Bronze. Bronze. Bronze. Steel. Bronze. System of loading M. L. M. L. M. L. M. L. B. L. M. L. Weight of projectile, pounds 7-3 6.2 8.8 8.8 Weight of charge, ounces 12 TO.6 10.6 T2 Muzzle velocity, feet 955 794 771 879 698 A highly interesting and valuable series of field-artillery experiments was carried out in the autumn of 1875, at Okehampton, in England. The object of these trials was to ascertain the effect of artillery fire under circumstances as regards ground, etc., that would represent, as far as possible, the conditions of actual war. For this purpose two batteries of Royal artillery were encamped for about a month 011 Dartmoor, in Devonshire. These batteries, day by day, drew their ammunition from a field-magazine, and manoeuvred over all sorts of ground, coming into action in various positions and at different dis tances, the sites of the objects fired at being also varied so as to obtain as closely as possible a representation of the effects of fire under all circumstances that might occur on service. The objects consisted of wooden dummies representing infantry soldiers, and wooden targets to represent cavalry. The batteries depended for their knowledge of dis tance on observation alone, using for the purpose Nolan’s range finder. The results of these important trials may be summarized as follows : 1. Both time- and percussion-shells are indispensable to the effi ciency of field-artillery. The destructive effect of a good time Shrap nel against troops in any loose formation, and presumably in motion, is greater than that of a percussion-shell burst on graze. Against column formations, when the range is known, both projectiles appear to be equally efficient. The time-shell has the advantage when firing at batteries or troops retired behind the crest of a hill. When firing at objects in motion, the effect of time Shrapnel depends greatly on the accuracy with which the varying distances are estimated, upon the care and judgment in boring or setting the fuse to correspond with these conditions, and upon the facilities for observing the value of each shell as regards height and distance of the point of bursting from the object. On the other hand, the extreme simplicity of good percussion-shells and the valuable aid they offer in readily picking
