The three boats proceeded to the
entrance of the bar, where the sea was roughest, and numerous
spectators collected upon the shore and wharfs followed their
evolutions from afar.
The experiments began at half past three o'clock in the afternoon. The
two life-boats shot forward to seek the most furious waves, and were
seen from afar to surmount the billows and then suddenly disappear. It
was a spectacle as moving as it was curious. It was observed that Mr.
Relvas's boat cleft the waves, while the other floated upon their
surface like a nut-shell. After an hour's navigation the two boats
returned to their starting point.
The official committee that presided over these experiments has again
found in this new boat decided advantages, and has pointed out to its
inventor a few slight modifications that will render it still more
efficient.--_La Nature._
* * * * *
EXPERIMENTS WITH DOUBLE-BARRELED GUNS AND RIFLES.
The series of experiments we are about to describe has recently been
made by Mr. Horatio Phillips, a practical gun maker of London. The
results will no doubt prove of interest to those concerned in the use
or manufacture of firearms.
The reason that the two barrels of a shot gun or rifle will, if put
together parallel, throw their charges in diverging lines has never
yet been satisfactorily accounted for, although many plausible and
ingenious theories have been advanced for the purpose.
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