DEVELOPMENT OF THE MACHINE GUN Side by side with this advance in the design of rifles, and starting from an early date in the history of small arms, there was taking place a gradual development of the mechanical means of producing an ever-increasing volume of fire. Until the develop ment of the Spanish arquebus (about 1520) infantry fire was, from lack of range, inaccuracy, and slowness of delivery almost ineffective. In those days, cavalry was the battle-winning arm, and the cavalry charge the decisive manoeuvre. Weapons propelling pro jectiles being then so unfitted to repel these rapid moving cavalry charges, reliance was placed by the defenders on masses of pikes for close defence rather than on the fire-arm. Accordingly, for the attackers arose the problem of how best to overcome or counteract these masses of pikes. The first solution attempted was the "cart with gonnes" known as ribaudequins. In these, the barrels were connected to a combustion box common to all, and on ignition of the powder in the box, all the barrels were fired in a volley. Though originally intended to assist in the attack, these weapons also lent themselves to the defence. An historical instance of the employment in battle of these ribaudequins is that of Pedro Navarro, who commanded the Spanish forces at the battle of Ravenna in 1512. He disposed in front of his infantry, 3o carts, on each of which several large arquebuses were mounted. Thus was conceived the idea of one man, with assistance, delivering a fire greater in volume that he alone could otherwise have attained with his individual weapon, and the economizing of man power.
When, towards the latter half of the i 5th century, the field artil lery improved, and a cannon ball could be fired from a gun mounted on a mobile carriage, these ribaudequins gradually dropped out and eventually ceased to exist.
Soon of ter this, however, the same idea was re-employed in a more up-to-date form, known as orgues, or organ guns. In these, a number of musket barrels were mounted side by side in a frame on a wheeled carriage, the latter having also a number of pikes projecting to the front, and intended for the ultimate protection of the personnel against frontal attack or cavalry charges. These
barrels were so arranged that they could be fired singly, by means of locks, or alternatively by a single lock, which ignited a quick match which in turn ignited the charges of all the barrels in rapid succession. However, with the further development of the artil lery it was realized that these "organs" had the fatal defect of being neither powerful enough to engage, nor mobile enough to evade the hostile artillery. (An interesting resurrection of this old idea was employed in the World War when rifles were mounted in frames, laid to sweep approaches and trenches, and operated by one man.) The usual competition to improve and outdo the armaments then employed began shortly afterwards, and inventions were numerous, if often impractical. An instance of the development that took place is embodied in a weapon still to be seen in the Tower of London, which would appear to have been made before the advent of the flint-lock in the first half of the 16th century. It is an arquebus of the period, with four chambers and a single barrel, a separate flash pan for each chamber, with the chambers revolving round a central axis.
In 1701 we find a wider view taken of the role that such a weapon should fulfil, when Beaufort de Mirecourt, a Lorrainer, laid down that such a weapon should have as its purpose the aug mentation of infantry fire power, so as to place a numerically in ferior army on an equality with one superior to it in numbers, etc. Then, in 1718, we find a patent granted to one Puckle, to produce a gun, which had one barrel but had also a revolving cylinder in which were seven or nine chambers. The equipment also consisted of moulds for making the necessary balls. It seems probable that there were two cylinders, for in his application for the patent he proposes "round balls for Christians, square balls for Turks." A very important development in all forms of fire-arms was made when in 18o5 Alexander Forsyth invented the percussion system of igniting the charge.