From the Earth to the Moon direct in ninety-seven hours and twenty minutes, and a trip round it . fmasonry of stone and cement. The piece once cast, it must bebored with great precision, so as to preclude any possiblewindage. So there will be no loss whatever of gas, and allthe expansive force of the powder will be employed in thepropulsion. One simple question, said Elphinstone : is our gun to berifled ? No, certainly not, replied Barbicane; we require anenormous initial velocity; and you are Avell aware that a shotquits a rifled gun less rapidly than it does a smooth-bore. True, rejoined the
From the Earth to the Moon direct in ninety-seven hours and twenty minutes, and a trip round it . fmasonry of stone and cement. The piece once cast, it must bebored with great precision, so as to preclude any possiblewindage. So there will be no loss whatever of gas, and allthe expansive force of the powder will be employed in thepropulsion. One simple question, said Elphinstone : is our gun to berifled ? No, certainly not, replied Barbicane; we require anenormous initial velocity; and you are Avell aware that a shotquits a rifled gun less rapidly than it does a smooth-bore. True, rejoined the major. The Committee here adjourned for a few minutes to tea andsandwiches. On the discussion being renewed, * Gentlemen, said Barbi-cane, we must now take into consideration the metal to beemployed. • Our cannon must be possessed of great tenacity,great hardness, be infusible by heat, indissoluble, and inoxydableby the corrosive action of acids. There is no doubt about that/ replied the major; and aswe shall have to employ an immense quantity of metal, we shallnot be at a loss for IDEAL SKETCH OF J. T. MASTONS GUN. [p. 42.] i HISTORY OF THE CANNON. 43 Well, then, said Morgan, I propose the best alloy hithertoknown, which consists of 100 parts of copper, 12 of tin, and 6 of brass. I admit, replied the president, that this composition hasyielded excellent results, but in the present case it would be tooexpensive, and very difficult to work. I think, then, that weought to adopt a material excellent in its way and of low price,such as cast iron. What is your advice, major ? ** I quite agree with you, replied Eiphinstone. In fact, continued Barbicane, cast iron cost ten times lessthan bronze; it is easy to cast, it runs readily from the moulds ofsand, it is easy of manipulation, it is at once economical of moneyand of time. In addition, it is excellent as a material, and I wellremember that during the war, at the siege of Atlanta, some ironguns fired one thousand rounds
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