~French army 1850.~ Some years after these experiments, Captain Minié proposed the adoption of a bullet which should receive its expansion by placing an iron cup in the hollow of the base, which should be driven up by the gas, and force the walls of the cavity outwards, thus making them enter the grooves. (Plate 20, fig. 7.) In 1850 the Fusil rayé with balle à culot was put into the hands of some French regiments of the line, and since then the French Imperial Guard have been armed with the old musket rifled, and a hollow bullet without a cup. At present it is understood that the French are rifling all their smooth bore arms, and the Russians are doing the same. ~Prussian. army.~ ~Russian riflemen.~ ~Austrian riflemen.~ ~Belgium.~ ~Portugal.~ The Prussians have many thousands of their infantry armed with a breech-loading long range Rifle. The Russian Army is to have fifty-four rifle regiments, with a rifle company to each other regiment of Infantry. The Austrians are busy at work, according to their means. The Tyrol has always supplied them with a large number of marksmen. The Belgians are, I believe, universally armed with rifles, and even the little Kingdom of Portugal has ordered 28,000 rifles from Belgium. ~Conoidal bullet, with Brunswick.~ ~Minié rifle, introduced, 1851.~ ~Performance and angle of Minié.~ Subsequent to the French experiments with the conoidal bullet, and the great results obtained over the spherical from it, it was proposed to adapt a conoidal bullet to the Brunswick Rifle. (Plate 20, fig 5.) This was done as an experiment, and succeeded very well, but at the same time the new arm, called the Minié pattern, 1851, was also tried, and the shooting exhibited greater accuracy with this latter arm. Nothing further was done with the Brunswick rifle and conoidal bullet; and the (then called) “new regulation Minié,” was introduced into the service by the late Marquis of Anglesea, Master-General of Ordnance, with the approval of the late Duke of Wellington. Its weight with bayonet, was 10lbs. 8³⁄₄ozs., bore ·702, four spiral grooves, with one turn in 6 feet 6-in., powder, 2¹⁄₂ drs., bullet, 680 grs., with iron cup, diameter of bullet, ·690, windage, ·012. When the axis is parallel to the ground at 4 feet 6-in. above it, the first graze is about 177 yards, and the angle of elevation at 800 yards, is 3° 25. ~Consequences of improvements in military rifles.~ A few years previous to the Russian war, rifles had attained to a degree of improvement in structure and adaptability to the general purpose of war, which threatened subversion to the established notions of the military world. ~Probable effect on artillery.~ ~On cavalry.~ ~Minié in Kaffir war.~ ~Bullet improved.~