When he returned he sought in vain to interest his father and others in his idea of a pistol with a revolving cylinder containing six chambers to be discharged through a single barrel. This boyish notion won no converts, and at the age of eighteen he went on a lecture tour on chemistry, under the dignified title of Dr. Coult. These lectures met with success, and he used the money made by them in developing his pistol, which was in a shape to patent by 1835. Patents were taken out by him in this and the following year in the United States, Britain and France, and in 1836 he established the “Patent Arms Company” at Paterson, N. J., with a paid-in capital stock of about $150,000. This was a bold move by the young inventor, then just escaped from boyhood. [Illustration: PACK SADDLE FOR CARRYING AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN AND COMPLETE EQUIPMENT] [Illustration: AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN MOUNTED ON LIGHT LANDING CARRIAGE, AMMUNITION CHESTS OPEN, SHOWING HOW FEED BOXES, ETC., ARE CARRIED] Young Colt tried in vain to interest government officials in his new weapon, their principal objection being that he used in it the new percussion caps instead of the time-honored flint-lock. But success came during the Seminole War of 1837, when some of the officers, who had seen the new revolving pistol, decided to give it a trial and sent to the factory for a supply. Its value was soon proved. The Indians looked on this weapon that could be fired six times after one loading, as something magical. It was too much for their philosophy and the war soon came to an end. At a later date it was used by the Texans in their war against Mexico, and from that time on every Texas ranger wanted a revolver. It has ever since been the favorite weapon of the cowboy and frontiersman. [Illustration: AUTOMATIC PISTOL--GOVERNMENT MODEL, CALIBER .45 In this model the slide remains open after firing the last cartridge. When reloading the arm in this position, insert the magazine, then press downward the slide stop (to the rear of the trigger as illustrated). The slide goes forward, inserting a cartridge without any movement of the slide by hand. The slide stop is operated by the thumb of the hand holding the pistol.] [Illustration: POLICE-POSITIVE REVOLVER Adopted by the Police Departments of the principal cities of the United States and Canada.] [Illustration: AUTOMATIC PISTOL--POCKET MODEL, HAMMERLESS The action of this pistol is automatic except that the trigger must be pulled to fire each shot; continued discharge will not result from one pull of the trigger.]