“With respect to ranges exceeding 2,000 yards, I may state that on previous occasions the gun had been tried up to 3,000 yards--a distance which was reached with an elevation of 11 deg., and the usual charge of 10 ounces of powder, or 1-8th the weight of the projectile. By augmenting the charge the range is increased, but the accuracy is impaired; and I therefore adhere to the 10-ounce charge, which gives ample penetration, as the experiments at the butt will testify. I may also observe that the ranges obtained with this charge bear a favourable comparison with those of the heaviest round-shot guns fired with a much larger proportion of powder. “It is a curious fact, and one which greatly increases the efficiency of the shells, that owing to the bursting charge requiring a minute space of time to mature its ignition after the firing of the fuse by impact, the shell is enabled to travel four or five feet after striking an object before disruption takes place. Hence, therefore, it acts as a shot before it bursts as a shell. When it perforates a target the explosion may be seen to take place at a few feet beyond, and when it grazes it has time to rise, and may be observed to burst after clearing the ground. If, therefore, it were fired against a ship, it would first penetrate the side in its entirety, and then, bursting, traverse the deck in fragments; or if directed against troops, it would pierce the front line as a bullet, and operate like grape-shot beyond. The shells explode with equal certainty whether the first substance struck be hard or soft; and, in fact, they even burst on the surface of water, provided the elevation of the gun be not too great. The bursting charge is very small, but it suffices to break the shell into about 30 pieces, which pursue their forward course without too much dispersion.