Chapter 1

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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 664

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 22, 1888

Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XXVI., No. 664.

Scientific American established 1845

Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.

Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE I. ARCHITECTURE.--The Commercial Exchange, Paris.--History of the new building, with its general design and architectural features.--2 illustrations 10607

The New Central Railway Station at Frankfort-on-the-Main.--A full description of this gigantic structure, with its constructive features and cost.--2 illustrations 10605

II. ART OF WAR.--Gun Practice in the French Navy.--Gun practice at sea against a moving target.--1 illustration 10599

Modern Cavalry on the Field of Battle.--By Col. R. S. LIDDELL.--An exhaustive paper on this subject, treating of a much discussed branch of military tactics 10600

III. BIOLOGY.--Subterraneous Flora and Fauna.--By Dr. Otto Zacharias.--A popular article on the interesting subject of animal and vegetable life underground.--8 illustrations 10612

IV. CHEMISTRY.--Pepsin.--By A. PERCY SMITH, F.I.C., F.C.S.--The analysis of pepsin, difficulties of the usual method, and simple comparative test, applicable by any one 10611

V. CIVIL ENGINEERING.--Timber and Some of Its Diseases.--By H. MARSHALL WARD.--Continuation of this valuable series, treating of fungus life and its destructive effects.--5 illustrations 10613

VI. ELECTRICITY.--A Basis from which to Calculate Charges for Electric Motor Service.--A practical paper treating of the percentage of horse power hours used in different industries 10608

VII. ETHNOLOGY.--A Chinese Imperial Cemetery.--The cemetery of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.--The remarkable statues and buildings.--2 illustrations 10610

How a Mound was Built.--An interesting contribution to the history of the Ohio mounds by Mr. GERARD FOWKE 10609

Some Abyssinian Customs.--The hair dressing of the Abyssinian women.--Their method of grinding pepper.--3 illustrations 10609

VIII. MEDICINE AND SURGERY.--A New Surgical Operation.--Dr. Brudenell Carter's operation for relieving pressure on the optic nerve 10611

Dyspepsia, its causes and prevention.--How this malady is caused and how easily it may be guarded against, an essay in prophylaxis 10610

IX. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.--Coal Tar as Fuel for Steam Boilers.--By JOHN McCRAE, of Dundee.--A review of the economy of tar firing and of the method employed by the writer.--1 illustration 10604

Steam Generator of Serpollet Brothers, producing steam instantaneously.--A new inexplodible steam generator, its construction and application to a tricycle.--3 illustrations 10602

Transmission of Power between Bodies Moving at Different Velocities.--A simple system of transmitting power applicable in many places 10602

X. MISCELLANEOUS.--Note on Missouri Marble 10614

Water Blast Pump.--A filter pump of simplified and improved construction.--3 illustrations 10602

XI. NAVAL ENGINEERING.--Iron Sailing Ships.--Scotch sailing ships, built of iron and steel, the favorite sizes and rigging adopted.--1 illustration 10602

XII. SANITARY ENGINEERING.--Putzeys' Flushing Reservoir.--A French invention, applicable in sewage disposal and pipe flushing.--1 illustration 10611

XIII. TECHNOLOGY.--Gas Lighting by High Power Burners.--A review of a number of regenerative and other gas burners and their practical success 10603

Synchronizing Clocks.--A simple synchronizing mechanism described and illustrated.--1 illustration 10604

Watch Cleaning and Repairing.--A long paper treating of the details of watch cleaning from the practical standpoint 10604

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GUN PRACTICE IN THE FRENCH NAVY.

The gunners of the French fleet are possessed of a skill which is recognized by all the maritime powers, and these picked men proved this at the siege of Paris, where they made themselves illustrious, not only by their courage and their coolness, but also by the accuracy of their firing.

Nothing is neglected, moreover, to keep up the precision of hand and eye that distinguishes them, and which has become so much the more necessary in that it is no longer a question of firing a broadside at the enemy and reckoning on one ball being more fortunate than another in damaging the enemy's ship. At present, the most powerful ironclad has four, and sometimes six or eight, guns of large caliber, which are of from 30 to 100 tons. Every shot represents not only an enormous sum, but also a prodigious force expended, and so powder must not be used too lavishly, since the shot should be in relation with the colossal power that it represents, and the shell adopted in the navy is accompanied with so disastrous effects that a single one, well directed, is capable of reducing the enemy's ship to impotence. So exercises in firing are becoming more and more frequent, and they have a right to be multiplied, inasmuch as the present guns are complicated affairs, the maneuvering of which requires constant practice.

Our engraving represents one of these exercises performed by the Squadron of the North, which is of recent organization, and which consists of the three ironclads Marengo, Suffren, and Ocean, and three coast guards Furieux, Fulminant, and Tonnerre. Each of the ironclads is provided with four 27 cm. guns and four 24 cm. ones, not counting the revolving guns, which constitute the small artillery reserved for fighting torpedo boats. The Furieux has two 34 cm. guns, and the Tonnerre and Fulminant each two 37 cm. ones.

An endeavor is made, as far as possible, to practice firing such as is done in a naval action, that is, at moving targets. To this effect, the dispatch boat Epervier tows a rectangular float about two meters in length, upon which are arranged two canvas balloons kept taut by a wooden framework. One of these balloons is white and the other is black. Each is a meter in diameter, and is supported by a rod which is usually a meter in height. The vessels of the squadron successively fire their large guns at this target, which moves at a definite velocity. The shell, on dropping into the water, raises an immense jet, which entirely hides the balloons when the projectile falls in a line with and sufficiently near the target.

The smoke that envelops the ships, the thunder that echoes in the calm of the sea, and the jet that rises in the air produce a thrilling effect and give an idea of the power of man carried to the last expression.--_L'Illustration._

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MODERN CAVALRY ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE.[1]

[Footnote 1: A lecture lately delivered at the Aldershot Military Society's library.]

By Col. R. S. LIDDELL.

I feel that some apology is due from me for coming down to Aldershot and giving my opinions before so many officers whose daily experience renders them much more capable than I am of bringing this subject forward, and it was with some hesitation that I yielded to the flattering invitation of the Military Society of Aldershot to read a paper here to-day on cavalry. At the same time, if it is thought that anything I can say can increase the success that this society has already met with, I can only add that I render my services most willingly. It seems to me one of the many advantages that these meetings possess is the bringing together of the different branches of the service, and the mutual information they afford of each other's arm. When we look back only a few years, we have much to be thankful for in the disappearance of a vast amount of prejudice that used to exist between the different branches. Each arm thought that theirs, and theirs only, was worth studying. Infantry officers sometimes said, as long as their arm was sufficiently numerous and well equipped, that, with the exception of a few scouts and orderlies, cavalry might be dispensed with. Artillery might think that unless guns were largely used, no infantry could ever make an attack at all; while cavalry officers, who were perhaps the most conservative of all, would point to the past, and show how every battle that had ever been fought was won by cavalry, and ever would be.

Confidence in one's own arm is most desirable, and should be fostered, if at the same time we can learn how to work with others, remembering that while cavalry gives the information to and hides the movements of the army, while artillery shakes and disperses the enemy's formation, and prepares the way for attack, it is the infantry alone who can assault and hold the position, and it is for their advance and to bring them up to the point that determines the battle in the condition most favorable to insure success that all the efforts of the other two arms must be devoted. I have made these preliminary remarks, as from my paper being entirely given to the actions of cavalry, it might appear that I am claiming more for that arm in the battle field than is reasonable; but I wish it clearly understood that whatever I may say is only in an auxiliary sense to the action of infantry, and I trust that I shall not be thought underestimating other arms, while showing unbounded confidence in my own.

The necessary rest required by Europe after the exhaustion of the wars of Napoleon resulted in the long peace which succeeded the campaign of 1815. This, and the improvement that took place in fire arms in the next forty years, gave room for speculation as to whether cavalry would play as important a part in the future as it had done in the past, under Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and Wellington. The Crimean war helped to confirm the opinion that the days of cavalry had gone by. No account was made of the enormous distance by sea that the cavalry had to be transported, the unfavorable nature of the seat of war for that arm, the little scope given in a campaign that resolved itself into a siege, the smallness of the cavalry force employed, and the difficulty in keeping up a fresh supply of horses. After this war came the introduction and improvement in the breech loader, and with it opinions were strengthened that cavalry duties would be still further limited, and its traditions for a time appear to have been lost.

The awakening from this transient period of theory came from a nation not trained to arms, and it is to the American civil war that we owe the revival that took place in the use of the cavalry arm. The raids made by the Confederates under Morgan, Stuart, Forrest, and by the Federals under Sheridan, drew attention to advanced cavalry work, such as scouting, reconnaissance, outpost and dismounted work. As particular examples we may select Morgan's boldest and greatest raid in 1862, when he passed through Kentucky and Indiana, capturing large stores from the enemy. By his rapid and skillful marches the Federal officers were completely bewildered. He was absent from his army 24 days, in which time he traveled 1,000 miles, capturing 17 towns and destroying all the government supplies and arms. In a second raid he forced the Federal army to fall back by taking possession of the railway in its rear which brought it supplies. In October, 1862, Stuart made his greatest raid through Pennsylvania, around the Northern army. He set out with 1,800 cavalry and four pieces of horse artillery, and crossed the Potomac. The telegraph wires were cut in all directions, railways obstructed, and a large number of horses captured, and all the public stores and buildings were destroyed. His position at this time was very critical, 90 miles from his own army. He considered it less dangerous to return by the opposite way to which he came.

Forrest used his cavalry in every possible manner, dismounting in the battle field and employing it as infantry. In October, 1864, during a raid, he impeded the navigation of the Tennessee River, which was filled with Federal gunboats. Choosing a strong position on the bank, he masked his guns and awaited the approach of the enemy's vessels. He captured a gunboat and a transport, and manned them with his own men; but his naval expedition did not last long. Pursued by several gunboats, he had to run his ships on shore, when the troopers gladly mounted their horses again. His object was, however, gained--inspiring alarm throughout the country and occupying a considerable number of the enemy. Later on the Federals copied this system, when the raids of Sheridan, with his 10,000 horsemen, armed with the magazine rifle and revolver, with sword attached to the saddle, brought about the final overthrow of the Southern army.

The next campaign that took place was in 1866, known as the "Seven Weeks' War," when large bodies of cavalry were used by the Austrians and Prussians. This campaign was of such short duration that there was not sufficient time for the experience gained in the use of cavalry to be utilized while the war lasted; but when the war was over, both sides, having bought their experience, set out to reorganize their systems, and the course pursued by the Prussians after this campaign in largely increasing their cavalry was fully justified by the advantages reaped in the war in France in 1870. At the close of the Franco-German war the attention of the whole of Europe was called to the successful use of German cavalry during the campaign, more especially the advanced duties, when at times 60 miles in breadth and 50 in advance of the army was covered by the cavalry.

In England, after the termination of this war, many German military works of great value were translated and published; the battle fields in France were visited and described; every movement of both armies, strategical and tactical, was studied. All this tended to draw our attention to the extended use of the cavalry arm in future campaigns, and the shortcomings of our own system were carefully scrutinized. The movements of our drill book were simplified, the careful training of our men in shooting was more fully recognized, and the teaching of advanced cavalry duties, reconnaissance, outpost and dismounted work, were gone into most thoroughly--in such a manner that I may confidently appeal to those officers who have the best opportunities of forming an opinion, whether our cavalry does not bear comparison now with what is being done in other armies, and in these matters is advancing in a satisfactory manner. While all this good work has been going on (and I would be the last to say one word that might seem to depreciate its value) we may perhaps have permitted the action of cavalry on the field of battle to escape from sufficient notice.

It is for this reason I will ask your permission to bring before you this subject, believing that the opinions of all branches of the service being brought to bear upon it, considerable advantage maybe obtained. It will be my endeavor to show, not by my own arguments, but by quotations from others, that cavalry still has an important part to take on the battle field, and far from its duties ending when armies come in contact, that it is still reserved to them, as has been the case before, to decide, perhaps by only one charge, the issue of a whole campaign. Prince Kraft in his letters on cavalry says: "The battle of Mars-la-Tour, won by the bold employment of cavalry, made possible the blockade of Metz, and afterward the surrender of the whole of Bazaine's army. So it may be said, without exaggeration, that the charge of Bredow's six squadrons on that day was the turning point of the Franco-German campaign."

Colonel Home, in his "Précis of Modern Tactics," says: "The action of cavalry on the actual battle field is by no means a thing of the past. The use of cavalry with skill at the right moment and in the right numbers has always been considered one of the most difficult problems in war. Modern arms have increased this difficulty manifold, but to say the day of cavalry on the field of battle is past is merely another way of saying that the knowledge of how it should be used is wanting." Cavalry is apportioned to an army in two capacities: (1) Divisional cavalry, that is (if possible) a regiment, or as many squadrons as can be spared, attached to each infantry division, acting under the orders of the general of the division. (2) The cavalry division, that is, a large body of cavalry composed of several brigades, an independent body having its own commander. On the march the divisional cavalry covers the head and flanks of its own division: on the field of battle it will be as near as possible to its division, in the most sheltered spot that can be found; in the early part of the battle it would be kept as much in reserve as possible, écheloned in rear of one flank of its own infantry. It would remain there until the artillery and musketry had effected their work, and the enemy's flanks had become thinned and shaken. Then, when his infantry become tired and exhausted, under cover of the smoke, the cavalry may be further advanced.

Prince Kraft says: "At Sedan the divisional cavalry were employed during the battle, charging by single squadrons, patrolling and reconnoitering to obtain information of the enemy and the ground. Every infantry body is accompanied by patrols, however small." An instance of the too early employment of cavalry in a battle occurred at Waterloo, when Napoleon at the commencement launched his cavalry into the fight. The result was that although it far outnumbered the English at first, it became so reduced, depressed, and worn out, that it was unable afterward to offer full resistance to the British squadrons, who were comparatively fresh. Wellington, on the contrary, after his first successes, kept his cavalry, as much as possible, in reserve. The field of battle itself shows the proper situation of cavalry, but the divisional cavalry on the defensive side must always be at hand to fall upon the flanks of the enemy's infantry when in extended order, while that of the attacking side must be equally at hand to prevent the flanks of its own infantry being so attacked.

In discussing the action of divisional cavalry, the most advantageous time for its assisting in the combat must be considered. At what moment, if any, can infantry be attacked by cavalry? When opposed to a force acting on the defensive, divisional cavalry has its operations limited, and probably in the earlier part of an engagement, confined to watching, and, if possible, guarding the flanks of its own attacking infantry from surprise. It is the cavalry on the defenders' side that has the greatest opportunities. In both cases, however, a rule must be made not to attack infantry when it has taken up a favorable position, or before its ranks have been shaken by artillery or musketry. Prince Kraft, in speaking of Mars-la-Tour, says: "This same day took place a series of cavalry charges of greater or less importance, which all showed practically to the cavalry the limits of their effective action against infantry. The advancing infantry were brought to a stand, infantry who gave way were ridden down, but where the cavalry attacked infantry intact, the cavalry were unable to prevail."

The precision of modern fire arms has necessitated great changes in infantry tactics. To advance against the murderous fire of the present rifle, infantry is compelled to adopt scattered formations in small lines, and to move forward with sudden rushes. All this lends itself to the attacks of an active cavalry. When these infantry attacks take place, it may be presumed that they have already been under arms some hours, have marched some distance, and been exposed to considerable loss from artillery and musketry fire. Their advance in extended formation will have commenced at about 1,000 yards, or earlier. By this time the squadrons opposing them will have been brought to a more advanced position, to the nearest point to their flank where cover is afforded, and to carry this out successfully requires skillful handling. Files must be extended, and short rushes made with small bodies, say half a troop if over exposed ground, into sheltered places. It is true that cavalry cannot hide themselves over exposed ground as infantry can, but they have one advantage that nothing can deprive them of--rapidity of motion; and the distance that would take them say 10 seconds to traverse, viz., 150 yards, would take infantry a minute.

Prince Kraft writes: "No battle field is a _tabula rasa_, for in the most exposed country there are depressions. If strong skirmishing lines of infantry can advance directly over a country devoid of cover, cavalry can undoubtedly do the like, if by making use of the lie of the ground they can gain the enemy's flank. A skilled cavalry leader will thus undoubtedly find an opportunity to get close to the enemy." Having arrived at this more advanced position, say from 500 to 1,000 yards, according to the formation of the ground, the nearer the better, the most favorable moment to assail the flanks of the attacking infantry would probably be immediately before the last belt of the fighting line, and before the main body had re-enforced them, as they are preparing for their last united rush, and as their supports are doubling up to join them.

At this moment the men would be to some extent out of breath, their attention would be fixed on the point about to be attacked, and their flanks would be neglected. Cavalry should then descend upon them at the utmost speed that can be extracted from the horses, with a good interval from knee to knee. If there is only one squadron, one troop should take the flank or fighting line, while the other throws itself upon the support. As the distance to be covered in the open will probably be not more than from 200 to 400 yards, they will be exposed to fire, supposing none of the ground is undulating, for fifteen to thirty seconds when at full speed. As they close on the infantry neither the supports nor those in rear of them or their artillery will dare to fire, on account of their own men. If the infantry run to get into small squares, as is most likely, the cavalry must endeavor to catch them before they assemble. If they get together it may be too late for the cavalry to stop. They must then throw themselves upon them and trust to the supporting squadron to complete the attack.