But the calm was only momentary, for in 1803 appeared Shrapnel shell, and with them reappeared Captain Mercier’s forgotten system of “calculated fuzes.” From the first moment it was beyond all doubt that the ultimate success of Shrapnel could be only assured by the use of what no Artillery then possessed—a thoroughly good time-fuze. Writing to Major (afterwards General Sir Thomas) Downman, R.A., on the 29th Feb. 1804, Shrapnel remarks that in firing at short ranges the fuze composition “gives way into the shell once in ten times,”[629] thus producing a burst in the bore; and as a remedy he suggests cutting all fuzes 1¼″ long and then sawing a cut through the bottom of the fuze, in a plane passing through its longer axis, _up_ to the desired length. However, notwithstanding all precautions, of the 1090 shell fired during the Woolwich experiments with Shrapnel in 1819, 74 burst in the bore, 71 burst in the butt, and 111 were blind, _i.e._ 23.4 per cent. were failures.[630] No efforts were spared to improve these fuzes or replace them by better ones, and a large number were proposed, or constructed, during the second quarter of the last century. In 1850 there were no less than nineteen time-fuzes in our service: three of metal and sixteen of wood. Of the latter, ten were Shrapnel fuzes, viz. an 8″, a 5½″ and a 1″ fuze, which were uncut; and seven fuzes which were cut ready for use, and lettered A for .1″, B for .2″,—G for .7″.[631] This medley of fuzes was gradually superseded by a wooden time-fuze proposed in 1849 by an officer who had a genius for ammunition, Captain (afterwards General) E. M. Boxer, R.A., and adopted in 1850. In the final pattern of this fuze, adopted early in 1854, England possessed probably the best fuze in Europe. TABLE XIII. _Time-Fuze Composition._ +---------+----------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+ | |Arab.[632]|German.[633]|English.[634]|Swedish.[635]|English.[636]|German.[637]|English.[638]| | | Late | Late | Early | Late | Middle | Early | 20th | | | | 13th | 16th | 17th | 17th | 18th | 19th | Century. | | | Century. | Century. | Century. | Century. | Century. | Century. | | +---------+----------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+ |Saltpetre| 71.43 | 52.1 | 69.8 | 69.85 | 75.0 | 72.1 | 76.4 | |Charcoal | 21.43 | 25.6 | 12.7 | .5 | 6.25 | 10.7 | 14.1 | |Sulphur | 7.14 | 22.3 | 17.5 | 21.65 | 18.75 | 17.2 | 9.5 | +---------+----------+------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+ _Percussion and Concussion Fuzes._