OF PROJECTILES. 187

can best remedy the defect: the charge should be lessened,when it proceeds from the want of proper weight in thegun, or of a due thickness of metal in the breech.

The knowledge of an artillerist should be both theoreticaland practical: to ascertain the nature of the curve de-scribed by a projectile, develope the causes that influence itsformation; thence deduce rules applicable to the variouscafes that occur on service, and be able in the best and mostexpeditious manner, to repair any accident that may hap-pen, is the part of the theorist, and of the officer. Thenon-commissioned officers and soldiers are instructed in thepart purely practical: they are taught

1. To load the guns in a regular and uniform manner,and to ram the wads when the fame charge is used,with equal force; a neglect in this point is the causeof great irregularity, particularly when the guns aredepressed.

2. In laying the gun, to remove every obstacle thatcan tend to derange the firing.

3. Having by two or three rounds ascertained thedirection for hitting the object, to continue it withoutvariation.

176. That the gun may be placed at a proper distancefrom the object (174, No. 2); the shot’s path must be con-sidered, and allowance made for every circumstance that canaffect the range : the relative size and position of the objectmust be particularly attended to ; for, when it is much higherthan the gun, though very distant and narrow, it is more easilyhit, than when lower and of greater extent; so that thelower the object is, the nearer the gun must be brought toit. In the attack and defence of places of low profile, theheight of the works against which the fire is directed in thefirst part of the attack, does not exceed 7 feet, as the para-pets, the exterior of the embrazures, the heads of saps, &c.The greatest distance at which guns should be fired againstsuch low objects, has been fixed in our military treatises,at 680 yards.

177. After hitting the object, the next point is to con-sider the degree of force requisite to overcome its resistance :for, if this be superior to the impetus of the shot, no effectwill be produced; and, when greatly inferior, it may besometimes proper to diminish the force of the projectile,in order to produce a greater effect, and avoid spoiling the

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