CANNON is a general name for large pieces of ordnance or artillery, as distinguished from those pieces which can be held in the hand while being fired. No military weapon in use before the invention of gunpowder can fairly come under this designation; they were more generally of the kinds described under BALISTA. At what exact date C. were first used is not known; but C., called "crakys of war," were employed by Edward III. against the Scots in 1327, by the French at the siege of Puy Guillaume in 1338, and by Edward III. at Crecy, and at Calais in 1346. The first C. or bombards were clumsy, wider at the mouth than at the chamber, and made of iron bars hooped together with iron rings. '1 he balls tired front them were first made of stone, afterwards super seded by iron. In the 15th c., various kinds were known by the names of C., bom bards, culverins, serpentines, etc. Bombards of great length and power were employed by Louis XI. during his Flemish campaign in 1477, some with stone balls, some with iron. About this time, C. began to be made by casting instead of with hooped bars; and bronze or brass as a material began to be used as well as iron. The C. of the 16th c. were generally smaller, but better finished, than those of the 15th. The largest C. made in the 17th c., so far as is known, was the Bejapoor cast-irou gun, "Malick é Meidan," or "Lord of the Plain," made either by Aurungzebe or by the Mahrattas; it was 14 ft. long, 28 in. bore, and required a ball of 1600 lbs. weight. From the time of the great European wars in that century, C. have undergone vast improvements, as well as the science and art of artillery necessary for their management. Major Straith. a leading
authority ou this matter, gives the following tabular view of the chief kinds of ordnance in use in the British service, prior to the introduction of rifled guns: It must be borne in mind, however, that many of the novelties introduced within the last few years are not here included. Nevertheless the table will be useful for occa sional reference. The apparent inconsistencies in length and weight are due to the great differences in thickness of metal; and if we were to go beyond the limits of the table, we should find that, during half a century, iron 32-pounders have varied from 63 down to so low as 25 cwt., and 24-pounders from 50 to 33 cwt.; in each case the length and weight varying, while the caliber remained constant. In the above table, the caliber is not always precisely the same for the same weight of ball; as instanced by the 32-pounders, which have 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4 in. caliber; this is due to the fact that some guns have more icindage, or space round the ball, than others.
In England, during the last few years, great expense has been incurred in replacing old C. by others of larger power and caliber; while the French are gradually bringing about a limitation in the number of kinds and sizes, for the sake of simplicity.
This being merely a general or collective notice of all kinds of C. as a class, particu lars concerning each kind will be found under such headings as ARMSTRONG GUN, CAR RONADE, GUN, HOWITZER, LANCASTER GUN, MORTAR, SHELL GUN, etc.