Thus, Louis XII. in 1503, had twelve brass cannon cast of an extraordinary size, which he named after the twelve peers of France. The Spaniards and Portuguese named theirs after their saints. The Empercir Charles V. when he went against Tunis, had twelve cannon founded, which he called the twelve apostles. At Mi lan, there is a seventy pounder, called the Pirriontelli, and one at Buis le Duc, called the Devil; at Dover, there is a sixty pounder, named Queen Anne's pocket pistol ; and an eighty pounder in the Tower of London, brought from Edinburgh, called NIount's Meg. There is also an eighty pounder in the arsenal at Berlin, named the Thunderer ; and one of the same calibre at Malaga, called the Terrible. There are likewise two curious sixty pounders at Bremen, designated the messengers of bad news ; and also a seventy pounder in the castle of St. Angelo, at Rome, made of the nails which fasten ed the copper plates that covered the ancient Pantheon.
The largest cast gun existing is a brass one at Beija poor : it is called 6, Malick NIeidan," (Lord of the Plain.) It was cast in commemoration of the capture of Beijapoor, by the Emperor Alum Geer, in Anno Ilijrez, 1097, A. D. 1685.) It is ornamented with Per sian and Arabic inscriptions in relief.
It is supposed to be intended for stone balls. An iron shot of proper size would weigh about 2600 lbs. It has been filed only once, on which occasion the bastion it is tnounted on was damaged, and the stone shot knock ed down part of a mosque which it struck.
Of late years, the object of the different powers of Europe has been to reduce the weight and magnitude of their cannon, and to increase the numbcr of them. And to such a pitch was the latter carried by the Eng lish in the last war, that, notwithstanding the immense supples that we had furnished to our own armies, and to uur allies, there were in the arsenal at Woolwich, at the time the Emperor Alexander visited it, nearly forty thousand pieces of ordnance, including only cannon, car ronades, howitzers, and mortars.
Explanation of the several parts of a Gun.
The following are the technical terms applied to the different parts of a gun, and which are necessary to be known before we attempt to illustrate the practical con struction of these pieces of ordnance. Referring to Fig. 3. Plate CCCCXLIII.
These terms apply to every species of ordnance in which the parts enter, and may therefore be considered as a set of general definitions. We proceed now to the construction of brass cannon.
Construction of a Light Six Pounder Braes Gun.
According to the present principle of construction, the light six pounder is 5 fcet in length, and weighs about 6 cwt. The calibre, which exceeds the diameter of the ball by one tenth, is 3.668 inches, and this ca
libre is divided into sixteen equal parts, which consti tute the unit of measure in the several minor parts : but, in the general dimensions, the unit is taken one 18th of the length.
Having divided a line intended to represent the length of the gun into 18 equal parts, let a line be drawn parallel to it, to represent the axis of the piece, and from the fifth division of the scale, draw a line per pendicular to the axis, as 5 C, Fig. 2. which limits the length of the first reinforce AC. The length of the second reinforce CD, is equal to three eighteenths, plus one calibre ; that is, the centre of the trunnions being determined by the line 8 Q, drawn parallel to the axis of the gun from the division 8. on the scale line, e D is taken equal to one calibre, making c D equal to three eighteenths and one calibre ; the remainder of the length is for the chase and muzzle.
The thickness EF of the breech is 11 parts, and GH at the face 4 parts. The lines EH, PS, being drawn, will determine the external surface of the chase. To determine the external surface of the first reinforce, the line FI is drawn parallel to the axis of the piece, KI is bisected in X, and FX is drawn, which is the external surface required. In the same way the exter nal surface of the second reinforce is found, viz. draw XL parallel to the axis, and bisect LAI in N', and join XN'.
The axis ON of the trunnions is perpendicular to that of the gun, and placed, as we have stated above, eight eighteenths of the length of the piece from the breech, and their centre a is placed one eighteenth of their diameter a b, above the lower surface of the base, which diameter is Orths of a calibre ; their length is 15 of a calibre, the projection of the second reinforce ring being added to this length. The breadth b e of the shoulder is one tenth of the diameter a b, and the pro jection which is equal to that of the second reinforce ring, is made parallel to the axis of the piece.
The bottom of the picce is described from the three centres g h l, the first of which is distant from it one calibre. The others are determined by the f.l.C"St:C films ()fig, and ni f =f e,=e q fi P, oi the breech, is concentric wt o g fi, and is described with the radius g The. breadth A / of the base ring is TIcr of AC, and the width of the first reinforce ring is iths of the base ting; the breadth of the second reinforce ring is also As of the base ring, and the reinforce ogee is aths of its Hip,. The astragals, their fillets included, are like wise 4,lis of the base ring, and each fillet is half its as tragal.