As to the loading weakness, Gustavus Adolphus, understanding the influence on morale of rapid loading and the greater destruction caused by the more rapid fire, invented the cartridge for muskets. Frederick, or some one of his time, the name marks the period, replaced wooden by cylindrical iron ramrods. To prime more quickly a conical funnel allowed the powder to pass from the barrel into the firing-pan. These two last improvements saved time in two ways, in priming and in loading. But it was the adoption of the breech-loader that brought the greatest increase in rapidity of fire. These successive improvements of the weapon, all tending to increase the rapidity of fire, mark the most remarkable military periods of modern times: cartridges--Gustavus Adolphus iron ramrod--Frederick improved vent (adopted by the soldiers if not prescribed by competent orders)--wars of the Republic and of the Empire breech-loading--Sadowa. Accuracy was sacrificed to rapidity of fire. This will be explained later. Only in our day has the general use of rifling and of elongated projectiles brought accuracy to the highest point. In our times, also, the use of fulminate has assured fire under all conditions. We have noted briefly the successive improvements in fire arms, from the arquebus to the rifle. Have the methods of employment made the same progress? 3. Progressive Introduction of Fire-Arms Into the Armament of the Infantryman The revolution brought about by powder, not in the art of war but in that of combat, came gradually. It developed along with the improvement of fire arms. Those arms gradually became those of the infantryman. Thus, under Francis I, the proportion of infantrymen carrying fire arms to those armed with pikes was one to three or four. At the time of the wars of religion arquebusiers and pikemen were about equal in number. Under Louis XIII, in 1643, there were two fire-arms to one pike; in the war of 1688, four to one; finally pikes disappeared. At first men with fire-arms were independent of other combatants, and functioned like light troops in earlier days. Later the pikes and the muskets were united in constituent elements of army corps. The most usual formation was pikes in the center, muskets on the wings. Sometimes the pikemen were in the center of their respective companies, which were abreast. Or, half the musketeers might be in front of the pikemen, half behind. Or again, all the musketeers might be behind the kneeling pikemen. In these last two cases fire covered the whole front. Finally pike and musket might alternate. These combinations are found in treatises on tactics. But we do not know, by actual examples, how they worked in battle, nor even whether all were actually employed. 4. The Classes of Fire Employed With Each Weapon