discoveries of chemists, or of the inventions of mechanics. The record of wars and isolated engagements in which the Gatling gun has borne an important part within the last fifteen years, is sufficient to establish the value of machinery in warfare, and the superiority of the gun. over the ordinary individual arm.

History furnishes abundant evidence that it is to the improvement of arms that nations have owed their successes in war.

The First Napoleon was enabled to conquer most of the nations of Europe by the use of improved guns.

The Prussian army, in like manner, was enabled to defeat the Austrian forces by the use of breech-loading "needle-guns."

It behooves all nations to furnish their soldiers with the best arms that can be procured, and they should be taught their use in times of peace.

Intelligent men, who have carefully watched and noticed the march of improvement, and the steady development of new ideas, will perceive and acknowledge that the day is not far distant when machineguns will be extensively employed in warfare; and the nation which is best supplied with them, and which best understands their tactical use, will best preserve the lives of its soldiers, and be in the best condition to make favorable treaties, and to preserve the integrity of its own dominions.

DISCUSSION.

THE CHAIRMAN.-This most interesting subject is now open for discussion, and members of the Institute and others are invited to present to the meeting their views upon the points suggested by the lecturer. Officers of the army present are cordially requested to take part in the discussion. Attention is especially invited to the somewhat novel feature (as applied to machine-guns) of high-angle fire.

Without presuming to add greatly to the interesting lecture of the distinguished inventor, I would beg to note that he has not mentioned all the good points apparent in the present development of the Gatling system; and he has modestly abstained from special reference to its adaptability to naval uses. A statement of the principles that demanded the changes resulting in the present improved feed would have been much more interesting coming from the inventor himself, but I may perhaps be pardoned in making a hasty reference to them. This I shall do in view of their importance, and also in view of the logical manner in which certain grave defects in the system have probably been definitely eliminated.

It is clear that a machine-gun is almost worthless if not reliable; if not ready at all times for instant use, if ever unready. In an action on shore, a machinegun that has jammed, as the expression goes, is a captured gun, if unsupported by others; the enemy well knows that if he does not charge he cannot take it, as its sustained fire is irresistible. Afloat, certainty of action at a given moment will be, if possible, even more important than on shore, as the use of a smallarm calibre piece will be limited to the cases of emergency of a close action between ships, to offensive and defensive auxiliary employment in ramming, and to defence against a torpedo attack by boats. Failure at such times might

be disastrous.

The original feed, as you all probably remember, depended upon gravity alone for its action. The cartridges were dropped into a hopper, in the earliest model, falling undirected through a considerable interval. This first feed was a single vertical column of cartridges, similar to the tin case used until within a few months. It was found to be defective, in that accidental stoppages occurred, and that it contained too small an amount of ammunition to sustain a fire for

any length of time. An Austrian officer suggested the drum feed (so called from its shape), which carried a number of columns of cartridges, each of which was in turn brought opposite the hopper, the whole drum being turned either by the revolving carrier or by hand. This feed corrected the defect of insufficient quantity; but the action, as before, depending on gravity, there were as frequent stoppages as in the earlier feed, and in order to relieve the gun the heavy drum had to be first removed.

The feed was again changed to a single column of cartridges, placed over the axis of the piece, and as near the bottom of the carrier as possible, in order that the fall of the cartridge might be reduced to a minimum. The perform

ance of the gun was improved, but the old difficulty was still present. There was at any moment a liability to jam, which destroyed confidence in the gun. It might fail at a vital instant; and, as usually occurs, it probably would so fail. The problem of overcoming this difficulty was by no means a simple one, and some of the best inventive talent of all lands was concentrated upon it. Nobel, Gorloff and Baranovsky in Russia, Hotchkiss and Broadwell, to say nothing of a score of clever mechanical minds in this country (among whom should be named Bruce of the Springfield Arsenal), have all attempted a solution.

The desideratum was: A magazine (susceptible of being quickly charged, and containing such a number of cartridges that while the weight loaded would not be too great for ready handling, it would still be sufficient for an effective salvo) which should possess such mechanical features that, while grasping each cartridge firmly to prevent movement in any but a desired direction, the cartridge would be guided along a given path, ending at the carrier, preserving its parallelism to the latter throughout the journey. Thus a positive action, as it is termed technically, would be gained, in spite of gravity, if necessary.

After years of practical experience and study, the present feed was proposed by Mr. George Accles, the firing expert of the Gatling Company. It has withstood the tests of many official trials in this country and abroad, and has, it would appear, corrected the most serious defect in the Gatling system, thereby, in all probability, quadrupling its value. The feed is simply a wheel, actuated by the revolving carrier, carrying the charge of (100) cartridges around in a spiral groove in the enclosing cylinder ends; the groove holds heads and points against movement in any direction but its own, and ends as a tangent to the revolving carrier, where the cartridges are successively, and without possibility of derangement, deposited for the action of the plunger-locks.

The method of filling these magazines (a feature nearly as important as the rapid delivery itself, since, the supply of prepared ammunition exhausted, the gun becomes useless) is ingenious, but is a natural consequence of their own mode of action. The test of feeding up against gravity with the feed under the gun, referred to by the lecturer, suggested this feature to a clever mechanic at Colt's (Mr. Goodall). It was to utilize the revolving feature of the gun in order to feed the feed. A crank turns a toothed wheel, which in turn revolves the feedwheel in a direction reverse to that in delivery upon the gun, the cartridges being stripped into a flange-way grooving above, from the usual packing cases. In this manner there is given a rapidity in filling cases about equal to the delivery of fire of most of the rival systems of machine-guns, and, with a moderate supply of filled cases to begin with, the fire may be rendered continuous for the limited period of naval action emergencies, or for the duration of the critical moment of an engagement on shore.

I do not think the office of machine-guns of the calibre of the Gatling extends farther than this. Artillery of much greater power in range and accuracy will always hold its place in the feeling stage of an engagement, and in giving the hard knocks. The importance of machine-guns for this special purpose, however, is hardly contestable, even though the failures of the French with an imperfect weapon prejudiced the military world for a time against them.

It seems, too, in considering their employment on board ship, where the question of transportation of ammunition is somewhat secondary, that the effectiveness of machine-guns will increase with the number of shots per minute of delivery of fire. If within range, the greater the delivery, the more demoralizing will be the effect upon an enemy, whether he be charging, standing his ground, or retreating. In this the Gatling system stands quite alone. Its delivery is undeniably greater than that of its rivals.

The question also frequently arises as to the relative merits of the volley and the continuous fire. With our usually unsteady platform, I think most naval men will agree that the chances of damaging the enemy are greater with the continuous fire. The delivery should, however, in my opinion, be made in salvos of thirty shots each, or three turns of the crank, if the piece be used afloat, as the jet of balls would be greatly dispersed with a longer effort.

A very serious feature of machine-gun fire is the production of smoke, which is unavoidable with rapid delivery; frequently three turns are all that can be made before the target is obscured; therefore, captains should strive for the weather-gage.

Gun-servants should be carefully instructed in the proper method of delivering Gatling fire. The crankman soon finds with practice that there is a position where the least output of work on his part will accomplish the object; and it is fortunate that this result of least labor corresponds to the best performance of the gun.

The leverman or pointer should be taught the principles of wing-shooting, as here he not only has a moving enemy, but is unstable himself, and he delivers a stream of projectiles of which only a portion may be effective.

Although the inventor of the Gatling system feels that the present gun is nearly a finality in development, it seems as if we were likely, in the not very distant future, to hear of progress, if not in mechanical features or rapidity in delivery, at least in ballistics. Machine-guns are now shielded with steel aprons, which, like all else in the direction of armor, must be pierced by the gun. It is not improbable that we shall hear ere long of high-power musket calibre machine-guns, using charges equal in weight to one half that of the projectile, and steel or steel-cased bullets. I think we should hear of such guns now.

REAR-ADMIRAL C. R. P. RODGERS.-It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that a subject as interesting as this is should be fully discussed at a meeting where so many, both of the Army and Navy, high in authority in matters relating to ordnance, are present.

To us who began long ago the profession of arms upon the sea, when nothing could be brought into action effectively except the heavy guns with which our ships were armed, it seems immensely important, now that we have arms of precision, that machine-guns should be brought prominently forward in naval actions that are to take place hereafter.

I happened to serve not very long ago in the Pacific, where, between certain ironclads, Peruvian and Chilian, and between unarmored ships and ironclads,