1856 Mallet-The Construction of Artillery

§f)ihut ^mx^ Mhm^t0tn ^ mn u ian3 Date Due The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030759777 : ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS INTOLVED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ARTILLERY AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE VALUES OF THE MATERIALS PRINCIPALLY EMPLOYED, AND OF SOME HITHERTO UNEXPLAINED CAUSES OF THE DESTRUCTION OF CANNON IN SERYICE. BY ROBERT MALLET, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEEKS; A.B.T.C.D. i F.R.S. ;M.ll.I.A. ; HON. M.H.S.A. SCOTLAND; HON. M. L ACAD. S. DIJON; Ph.D. CAUSA HONORIS, UNIV. OF GIESSEN; ETC. ETC. LONDON: LONGMAN, BEOWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS. 1856. 3^ s-r ; ; OP ^ IZ(>7>^, ^mx ffierfe, baS tuir ernfl 6ereitett, (Dejtemt fid^ hjol^l etn ernjleS SBort SBenn gute SReben fie itegteiten, SJann ftiep bie Slrtett tnuntei: fott. (So taft un« jelt nttt gfeif tetra^ten, 2Ba« burd^ bie fc^h»ac§e feaft entf^jritigt S)en fiÎec^ten 2Raiin tnuf matt tterac^teit, 2)er ttie iebac§t, t»a§ er tjctlBringt. ®a« tfi'S jo, tt)a« bett 2Rettfcêtt jieret, Uttb baju iDarb i^ttt ber 23er|tfliib, ®af er im ittttertt êrjett fpitret, ffici^ re erfcâft ntit feitier §attb. SciS Steb Bott bet ©tocfe, ©chiller. DuWin : rrinted at the UniYcrsity Press, by M. H. Gitr. TO THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G. C. B., M. P., &0. &C. &0., PEIME MINISTEE OF ENGLAND. My Loed, By your kindly expressed permission, I adorn this Volume with your name ; in remembrance of my owing the approaching trial of a project for the improvement of Ordnance, to the attentive and intelligent consideration of its design by your Lordship ; alld in homage to a long career of able and faithful service, as a statesman of the British Crown. The investigations in these pages were partly made in preparation of my designs laid before you, and their upshot might perhaps be epitomized in the motto of your Lordship's House—" Flecti non Frangi." - I have the honour to be, my Lord, With respect and esteem, Your Lordship's most humble Servant, ROBEET MALLET. Deltille, Glasketin, Co. Dttblin, 1st June, 1856. Tiyag oS' aWog TOv wdpog X^Xsyfievov fielKi^v 6 KofLTTog 5'ov kut dvOpioTrov <ppovii TTVpyoig S' airnXeX Stlv S. /irj xpaivoi Tvxrf 9iov re ydp OeXovTOg kKirkpauv irokiv xal fi-ri BkXovTog friaiv, oiiSi Trjv Aibg Ipiv TTtSif aicii'pacrav iKTroSdiv axiîXv Tag d' aarpairag re Kal Kepavviovg jSoXdf fitarjp.jipivolai BoKirtaiv vpoariKaacv s^H dk tTyjfia yvfivbv avSpa nvp^Spov ^Xsyei ds Xajiirap Sid. XipS>v u'jrXiffftsvfi xpvaoig Sk (poivii ypd/inaaiv. IIPHSQ. IIOAIN. Erra tin OtjjSag, 419. PREFACE. L HE following investigations were first made public by a Paper read before the Eoyal Irish Academy, on the 25th of June, 1855, and since ordered by the Council for printing in its Transactions,—by whose permission the work appears in its present form. The statements of the text by right take date from that time, although some of the more novel or important had been communicated by me to friends, verbally or in writing, at least six months before. The Notes, with the exception of three or four, were added as the text was being printed, and date from April and May, 1856. Circumstances which required, on my part, an examination into the existing methods of construction of Ordnance, and of the probable avenues to their improvement, with whatever knowledge the literature of the subject con- tains, or observation of the processes of various Arsenals could give, led to the conviction that the manipulative skill of the founder, and the practical resources of the mechanical engineer—in neither of which was I without experience —were insufficient either to disentangle its difficulties, and explain its mishaps and accidents, or to supply any certain basis for advancement in the construction, power, and endurance of Cannon, of which the early events of the war with Eussia proved the imperative need. b Vi PREFACE. must come, in the first It became evident that progress and improvement operation, but by the establish- instance, not from questions as to methods of required to be formed and ment of principles;—that a science of gun-founding yet searching and exact systematized;—and that this must commence with a more Ordnance, in strict discussion of the properties of the constructive materials for yet been given reference to their purpose and application, than I could find had by any one. experimental des I endeavoured to fulfil the maxim of Thierry—" L'^tude proprietes physiques des corps est la condition premiere de success dans I'apphcation ;" and the following pages are the first result of the attempt. In this I have not, except where incidentally necessary, entered at all upon questions of detail or practical manipulation, but sought rather to fix some principles, physical or metallurgic, or of theoretic mechanics, which may become " lights and guides" in practice, and in seeking its improvements. Amongst these, the one principle, which links together and consistently explains the varied and before perplexing forms of molecular structure of cast-iron, wrought-iron, and steel—here, I believe, for the first time enunciated—must prove important and valuable in practice, not only to the Gun-founder and Forgeman, but to the Civil and Mechanical Engineer generally, and to every scientific worker of metals. What degree of value or success those competent to judge shall hereafter award to this inquiry, I venture not to surmise ; but I take leave to say, it would be good service to the gun-founder's art were it followed by a work,—în the spirit of science applied by the hand of practice,—treating of the details of operations, and discussing the choice of methods, as well as tracing, by such light, the history of those formerly and at present employed. Such a work does not, that I am aware of, exist. There are those who affirm that all that relates to the fabrication or improvement of Artillery belongs properly to the officer of Artillery or of Engineers, and PREFACE. Vll that he alone is qualified to treat of or to direct such ; and, to these, some apology may seem fitting for meddling with matters deemed so purely professional. To superior knowledge, wherever found, I willingly defer, and recognise the great ability and brilliant attainments of very many within the scientific corps of our army, amongst whom I reckon some honoured friends ; but I cannot admit the preceding doctrine, nor do I believe it possible that, under the existing conditions of military education and life, or perhaps under any others consistent with its primary necessities, commissioned officers can attain that varied, compre- hensive, and accurate scientific and practical knowledge, and that educated physical tact which long experience in technical matters alone confers, to the extent that civil life permits, and which the education and occupations of the civil and mechanical engineer create and empower.—" Non omnia possumus omnes." Experience proves it to have been of necessity so always and in all coun- tries. Who have been the great improvers, if not the creators, of the science of Gimnery itself? Along list of illustrious men in civil life —Tartaglia, Galileo, Cassiui, Marriotte, Hawksbee, Eobins, Hutton ; while many of the most important practical details applied to the military art have also come from men such as Forsythe, a country clergyman, the inventor of the percus- sion lock. -To take anally from the Navy-,-^surely it is not to our admirals or captains, however distinguished as gallant leaders, as seamen, as scientific navigators, that the vast and rapid improvements of steam navigation have been due ; or, who would deem a naval officer the fittest possible man to cast a screw-pro- peller, or to bore an engine-cylinder ? Desirable it is that he should " study or of will be cumbrous to steam," and no breadth depth knowledge him ; yet he cannot be a practical engine-biiilder, an experienced navigator, and, above all, a British naval officer, together. Perhaps even the spirit and habit of mind b2 : via PREFACE. that inevitably tinge each profession, are of the opposite characters of those of Baillie Jarvie and of Rob Roy. Exceptions will now and then occur on both sides. A Cromwell or a Clive, may emerge at once from civil life as born love of science can soldiers ; a Rupert or a Sabine, may prove that the inborn achieve discovery amidst the din of arms ; —but this is not the rule. The fabrication of Ordnance, like the building of marine engines, is, in fact, essentially for the a work of Mechanical Engineering ; and the specialty mainly insisted on one—an experimental knowledge of the effects of powder—is as easily ac- quired as the corresponding knowledge of the effects of steam or of fuel neither demand the military life for their attainment. But I feel that I have exceeded my limit and intent—that my apology for venturing upon a domain that might be thought beyond the bounds of my own, might, if further pursued, assume the colour of a defence. In conclusion, let me disclaim its being inferred, that such views, if admitted, would prove our Government gun-foundries needless, and their command-in- chief by military men inexpedient. I believe these establishments necessary, and their control by really scientific military officers wise—indeed, indispen- sable. R. M. 11, Bridge-street, Westminster, June, 1856.

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