Machine guns played an important part in the siege of Port Arthur, being freely used by both sides. The Japanese gun was a single-barrelled gun of home manufacture, while the Russians used mainly the Maxim automatic. The Russian guns were used with telling effect against the Japanese in the numerous bloody assaults, being trained to cover all the approaches with a murderous fire. PORTUGAL On mobilisation machine-gun foot batteries are formed, the personnel being provided from the division to which the batteries are subsequently attached. Each battery consists of 6 guns, and is commanded by a captain. It is subdivided into 3 sections of 2 guns each, commanded by a subaltern. The gun is provided with a shield and has a tripod mounting, the whole being carried on a wheeled carriage on the march. When coming into action the gun and tripod are taken out of the carriage and carried into position by 4 men. The weight of the gun, tripod, and shield, amounting to about 175 lb., is unevenly distributed and renders rapid marching impossible, as it must be carried as one piece owing to the complicated attachment of gun and tripod. The tripod is heavy and rather high, making the gun conspicuous in action, and on steep slopes the mounting is unstable. The elevating and traversing gear do not give sufficient scope. The cartridge belt contains 250 rounds. Each section (2 guns) has an ammunition wagon carrying 14,000 rounds for each gun. RUSSIA GUNS.--Rexar and Maxim, but the former are being discarded and Maxims alone will be used in future. They are sighted up to 2,000 yards. ORGANISATION.--Each regiment (4 battalions) has 4 machine guns, and it is intended to increase this to 8 in the future. The detail of the personnel to each battery of 4 guns is as follows: 2 officers, 50 N.C.O.’s and men, and 35 horses if the guns are on wheeled carriages (36 horses if the guns are carried on pack-horses). The detachment is armed with the carbine. For each gun 13 belts of ammunition are carried, each belt containing 450 rounds. The weight of the gun is 68 lb., and of the tripod 45 lb.; the total weight carried by the pack-horse being 198 lb. SPAIN has 6 groups of Maxim and Hotchkiss guns, which have been recently subdivided into 2 sections. Two new sections were raised in September 1908. The 14 sections are attached to the infantry brigades. Pack transport has been adopted. SWITZERLAND There are 4 companies, each having 8 guns, which are subdivided into sections of 2 guns each. The detachments are mounted and the guns are allotted to the cavalry. The Maxim is the gun adopted by the Swiss Army, and in the Regulations three kinds of machine-gun fire are recognised, viz.: (1) _Salvoes, for range-finding._--The 2 guns of a section fire short salvoes of 20 to 25 rounds alternately to get the right range. (2) _Quick fire._--This is the normal method, and consists in firing about 100 rounds at a time.