The shrapnel is known from the joint which connects the head to the body. Fragments of a copper disc would denote that Palliser projectiles were used, and a fragment of the head of a Palliser projectile is easily recognizable by the grain of the iron. PALLISER CONSTRUCTION. [Illustration: Palliser Converted Gun. (10-inch Rodman Smooth-Bore converted to an 8-inch Rifle.)] The Palliser construction is entirely applied to the conversion of old cast-iron smooth-bore guns into efficient rifles. In this system the bore of the gun is reamed out to a sufficient diameter to permit the insertion of a coiled wrought-iron tube. This tube is made up of a number of short coiled sections end-welded together. The rear of the tube is planed down, and a jacket (coiled with the spirals opposite in direction to the tube) is shrunk on. The breech end of the tube is closed by a wrought-iron disc screwed into place. The surface of the tube is then turned to a snug but not tight fit in the casing or gun, and is inserted, being held in place by a muzzle screw-collar. A screw is tapped through the chase into the tube to keep it from turning. The old vent is bored through and the gun is submitted to a course of proof-firing with full charges, to expand the tube against the wall of the casing, making a snug fit. A spiral slot is cut around the tube from front to rear, and carried through the cascabel as a tell-tale for the escape of gas in case the tube is split or cracked through at a weld. These guns are extraordinarily long-lived, and have been extensively used by the governments of Great Britain and the United States. _Palliser Projectiles._ See Pages 208-210. WHITWORTH CONSTRUCTION. [Illustration: Whitworth Muzzle-Loader.] Whitworth ordnance is used almost exclusively in the Brazilian Navy, and is the regulation type. The Whitworth construction belongs to the all-steel type, and differs in almost every particular from the other types. The guns are both muzzle and breech-loaders. The body of the gun consists of a steel tube reinforced by steel hoops. The tube is cast solid and submitted to a heavy hydraulic pressure while in a molten state, giving the metal as it solidifies a perfectly homogeneous crystallization throughout. This tube is bored completely through, and in the muzzle-loaders the breech end is closed by a steel screw-plug. The hoops are hollow cast and forged on a mandrel, the lengths in the different layers being accurately turned and screwed together; the layers are then put on the gun _cold_ and forced home (from the muzzle end) by hydraulic pressure, the forcing being carefully gauged so as not to crush the metal of the tube. [Illustration: Whitworth Breech-Loader.]