two-thirds of the weight of the projectile is used, this proportion is
not always necessary. Calculate, and you will see that for the shot of
half a ton weight, instead of 333 lbs. of powder, this quantity has been
reduced to 116 lbs. only.

"What are you driving at?" asked the president.

"The extreme of your theory, my dear major," said J.T. Maston, "would
bring you to having no powder at all, provided your shot were
sufficiently heavy."

"Friend Maston will have his joke even in the most serious things,"
replied the major; "but he need not be uneasy; I shall soon propose a
quantity of powder that will satisfy him. Only I wish to have it
understood that during the war, and for the largest guns, the weight of
the powder was reduced, after experience, to a tenth of the weight of
the shot."

"Nothing is more exact," said Morgan; "but, before deciding the quantity
of powder necessary to give the impulsion, I think it would be well to
agree upon its nature."

"We shall use a large-grained powder," answered the major; "its
deflagration is the most rapid."

"No doubt," replied Morgan; "but it is very brittle, and ends by
damaging the chamber of the gun."

"Certainly; but what would be bad for a gun destined for long service
would not be so for our Columbiad. We run no danger of explosion, and