Chapter XIII: Part III: Different Machines Considered in the State of Motion (2)

There are no _répétiteurs_ in the school; but the system of _interrogations particulières_ is carried on; and an examination by the professor and an assistant professor takes place after, about, every eight or ten lectures.

THE STAFF AND GOVERNMENT.

The Staff of the Institution consists of--

1 General Officer, at present a General of Brigade of Artillery,
as Commandant.
1 Colonel or Lieutenant-Colonel, Second in Command and Director
of Studies, at present a Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.
1 Major of Artillery.
1 Major of Engineers.
5 Captains of Artillery.
8 Captains of Engineers.
1 Surgeon (_Médecin-Major_.)

The Commandant is taken alternately from the Artillery and Engineers, and the command lasts for five years only.

The Second in Command is always chosen from that arm of the service which does not supply the Commandant.

The inferior officers of each rank are taken in equal numbers from the two arms.

The Staff of Instructors is as follows:--

1 Professor of Artillery, at present a Captain of Artillery.
1 Assistant ditto also a Captain of Artillery.
1 Professor of Military Art, charged also with the Course
of Military Legislation and Administration
(a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of Permanent Fortification and of the Attack
and Defense of places (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Assistant ditto ditto (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of the Course of Topography and Geodesy
(a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Professor of Sciences applied to the Military Arts.
1 Professor of Mechanics applied to Machines (a Captain of Artillery.)
1 Professor of the Course of Construction (a Captain of Engineers.)
1 Assistant ditto.
1 Professor of the German language (a civilian.)
1 Professor of Veterinary Art and Riding (a Captain of Artillery.)
1 Assistant ditto (a civilian.)
1 Drawing Master, Chief of the Drawing Department (a civilian.)

In all, nine Professors, four Assistant Professors, and one Drawing Master.

The School employs in addition an administrative staff, consisting of--

A Treasurer, } both of whom must have been Officers in the
A Librarian, } Artillery or Engineers.
A Principal Clerk.
An Assistant Librarian.
Two Storekeepers, intrusted with the _materiel_ belonging to
the two arms.
One skilled Mechanic.
One skilled Lithographer.
One Fencing Master.

Clerks and draughtsmen are provided as required.

The school is under the general superintendence of two hoards or councils, the Superior Council and the Administrative Council.

The Superior Council consists of the General Commandant, as President, the Second in Command, the Director of Studies, as Vice-President; the Major of Artillery, and the Major of Engineers, as permanent members; two Captains of the Establishment, one of each arm; two Military Professors, one of each arm; and one Captain of the Establishment; these five last being all removable at the General Inspections.

The Superior Council has the duty of drawing up the programme of the studies of the year, of suggesting changes in the regulations relating both to studies and discipline, all subject to the approval of the Minister of War; of preparing at the end of the year the classified list of the students, drawn up according to their conduct and progress in their studies, and of pointing out to the Jury of Examiners any students who should go again through the courses of the year, and stay in consequence an additional year at the school.

When questions relating to the instruction are brought before the Superior Council, the whole body of military professors attend and take part in the proceedings, and the Council is thus said to be constituted as a Board or Council of Instruction. Improvements are here suggested, and are subsequently submitted to the Jury of Examiners, and to the Minister of War; the value to be attached, in the system of marks or credits, to each particular course of study is determined; a statement is drawn up showing what printed works, models, &c., are wanted. The budget itself, to be submitted to the Minister of War, is finally drawn up by the Superior Council in its ordinary sittings.

The Administrative Council, composed of the Second in Command as President, the two Majors of Artillery and of Engineers, one Captain and one Military Professor, and the Treasurer as Secretary without the right of voting, takes cognizance of all the financial and other business matters of the school.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD OF STUDY.

The studies at Metz consist of topography and geodesy, including military drawing and surveying under special circumstances; field fortification, military art and legislation, permanent fortification, and the attack and defense of fortified places, accompanied by a sham siege, without, however, executing the details practically on the ground; architecture, as applicable to military buildings and fortifications; the theory and practice of construction, and artillery. The programmes of these studies are inserted at length in the Appendix.

The instruction is given principally (as at the Polytechnic) by means of a series of lectures, and the knowledge which the students have acquired is first directly tested by requiring them to execute various kinds of surveys of ground, either with or without the use of instruments; to prepare drawings of buildings, workshops, and machines in full detail (plan, elevation, and sections) from the measurements they have recorded in their note-books or on their sketches, and to accompany such drawings with descriptive memoirs of all particulars and calculations that may be necessary to exhibit their purpose or efficiency; to draw up projects and lay out works of field and permanent fortification, or of those of attack or defense of a particular place on certain given data, or according to the nature of the ground; to design a military building, bridge, machine, or piece of ordnance, accompanied by estimates and descriptive memoirs, showing in what manner the instructions and conditions under which it was drawn up have been complied with; and to prepare a project for the amelioration of the works of defense of a specified portion of a fortified place known to be defective in some respects.

The instruction during the first year’s residence is common to the two arms; and the time is appropriated in the following manner, namely:--

Days.
Military art and legislation, 33
Topography and geodesy, 47
Field fortification, 39
Permanent fortification, 88
Theory and practice of construction, 77
---
Total, 284

The _sous-lieutenants_ who complete their first year’s work are allowed nearly a month’s vacation during November.

The instruction given to the Artillery and Engineers during the second year’s residence is not entirely the same, as will be seen by comparing the accompanying table of the year’s study:--

Artillery. Engineers.
Days. Days.
Military art and legislation, 2 2
Topography and geodesy, 28 28
Attack and defense of places, 44 44
Permanent fortification, 44 129
Artillery, machines, &c., 81 --
Theory and practice of construction, 46 42
--- ---
245 245
Brought forward from first year, 284 284
--- ---
Total, 529 529

We should not omit to state that there is a short course on the Veterinary Art.

The lectures, as before said, begin at 10 A.M., and they last usually an hour and a half, and are followed by work in the halls of study. It would appear, however, that very frequently the day’s occupation consists simply of work in the halls of study (or occasionally out of the school buildings, when the students are sent on some excursion;) and, accordingly, in giving the account of the studies, a _day_ or day’s work will sometimes mean a lecture followed by drawing or other employment, sometimes this drawing or other employment without any lecture preceding. Taking a general average, the proportion appears to be about two lectures to five _séances_, _i.e._, sittings without lectures.

The system will be better understood by referring to the accompanying tables, which are translated from the Project for the Employment of Time for the year 1851-2, submitted for the approval of the Minister of War. The dates in the first column indicate the days of the commencement of each particular study. The school year, it should be said, begins on the 1st of December.

EMPLOYMENT OF TIME FOR THE YEARS 1851-1852.

[KEY]
Att Attendances.
LbW Lectures before Work.
TL Total of Lectures.

-----------+------------------------------------------+--------------
Month and | Second Division. | Number of
Date. | +----+----+----
| First Year’s Instruction. | Att| LbW| TL
-----------+------------------------------------------+----+----+----
December 1 | Lectures on Military Art in | | |
“ 2 | Topography--Conventional Tints, | 2 |....|....
“ 4 | Study of Hill Drawing | | |
| (in sepia with contour lines,) | 2 |....|....
| { Plate 1 .. 5} | | |
| { Plate 2 .. 5} | | |
“ 6 | Military Art,{ Plate 3 .. 5} | | |
| { Plate 4 .. 5} | | |
| { Plate 5 .. 9} | 29 | 4 | 39
January 12 | Front of Cormontaige | 24 | 3 | 13
| | | |
February 9 | Project of Field Fortification, | | |
| { Plate 1. Plan of the whole, 3} | | |
| { Plate 2. Organization of a work, 8} | | |
| { Plate 3. Details of Construction, 4} | | |
| { Memoir 4} | 19 | 5 | 7
March 3 | Plan of Stability of Revetments, &c., | 9 | 9 | 9
“ 13 | Study of the Drawing showing the effect, | 8 | 1 | 1
“ 23 | Plan of a Building, | | |
| { Out-of-door work, 9} | | |
| { Laying down and drawing, Memoir, 23} | 32 |....|....
April 29 | Topographical Triangulation, | 4 | 4 | 6
May 5 | Defilement and Profiling on the Ground, | 3 |....|....
| Project of a Building, | | |
| { Sketches, 14} | | |
| { Drawing, 24} | | |
| { Memoir, 4} | | |
| { Estimate, 3} | 45 | 12 | 22
June 28 | Survey with a plane-table, | | |
| { Out-of-door work 0} | | |
| { Laying down and drawing, 3} | 13 | 1 |....
| One day free in case of bad weather, | 1 |....|....
July 14 | To find the Variation of the Needle, | 1 | 1 |....
“ 17 | Survey of Ground with the Compass, | | |
| { Out-of-door work, 8} | | |
| { Laying down and drawing, 2} | 10 | 1 |....
| One day free in case of bad weather, | 1 |....|....
August 2 | Reconnaissance Plan--Out-of-door work, | 6 | 1 |....
| One day free in case of bad weather, | 1 |....|....
“ 10 | Study of Shaded Drawing | | |
(_Hachures_ and colored.) | 8 | 1 |....
“ 18 | Laying down and drawing the Survey | | |
made with the Compass, | 2 |....|....
| Project of Fortification on Level Ground,| | |
| { Plate 1 6} | | |
“ 20 | { Plate 2 30} | | |
| { Memoir, 6} | 42 | 3 | 19
September | | | |
October 8 | Project of Fortification on Hilly Ground,| | |
| { Plate 1 19} | | |
| { Memoir, 3} | 22 | 8 | 10
Nov. 3 | Last day of week, | | |
“ 6 | Leave for their Vacation, | | |
There remains therefore in this division:--1st. Three free days in
case of bad weather; one after each survey. 2nd. Two days at the end
of the year, the 4th and 5th November. Total five free day.
-----------+------------------------------------------+----+----+----
Total of the days employed 279 + 5 days free, |284 | |
-----------+------------------------------------------+----+----+----

EMPLOYMENT OF TIME FOR THE YEAR 1851-1852.

-----------+------------------------------------------+--------------
Month and | First Division. | Number of
Date. | +----+----+----
| Second Year’s Instruction. | Att| LbW| TL
-----------+------------------------------------------+----+----+----
| Brought forward, |284 |....|....
December 6 | Laying down the First Survey | | |
| by Reconnaissance, | 8 |....|....
“ 16 | Attack and Defense:--Plate, | | |
| Batteries, with Plan and | | |
| Sections of Detail, | 4 | 5 | 6
| Ditto, { Plate 1, 25 } | | |
“ 20 | { Journal, 2 } | | |
| { Plate 2 13 } | 40 | 6 | 20
January | | | |
February 7 | Designs and Constructions of | | |
| Revetments, Arches, &c., | 9 | 9 | 9
“ 18 | Project and Permanent Fortification | | |
| in Hilly Ground, { Plate 1 19 } | | |
| { Memoir, 3 } | | |
| { Plate 2 8 } | 30 | 8 | 19
| | | |
| SPECIAL WORKS: | | |
| Artillery. | | |
| Engineers. | | |
| | | |
March 25 | Measurement and Drawings | | |
| of a Cannon, 12 | 12 |....|....
| Project of Fortification in | | |
| hilly ground, Plate 2 _cont._, 12 | | |
April 8 | Measurement of a Workshop, | | |
| Out-of-door Work, | 9 | 30 | 30
“ 19 | Laying down the Measurement, 28 | | |
| Laying down the Measurement, 24 | | |
May 18 | Project of Fortification in hilly | | |
| ground, Plate 3, 14 | | |
“ 24 | Project for Machines, 14 | | |
June 4 | Abstracting and calculating | | |
| Measurements, 3 | | |
“ 8 | Plate 4, 11 | | |
“ 9 | Questions in Artillery, 5 | | |
| 1st. Measurement of _Matériel_, | | |
| Gun Carriages, &c., 8 | | |
| Register of the removal of Earth, 3 | | |
| Laying down ditto, 10 | | |
| Estimate, 2 | | |
| Memoir, 2 | | |
| Project for Improvements, | | |
| {Plate 1, 30 | | |
| {Plate 2, 6 | | |
| {Memoir, 2 | | |
July 6 | 2nd. Measurement of _Matériel_, 8 | | |
“ 15 | Project for a Cannon, 24 | 97 | 2 | 2
| | | |
August 12 | Second Reconnaissance Survey, | | |
| Out-of-door Work and Tracing of the | | |
| Lines on the Reconnaissance Plan, | 7 |....|....
| One day free in case of bad weather, | 1 |....|....
“ 21 | Geodetical Calculations, | 4 |....|....
“ 26 | Laying down the Reconnaissance Survey, | 8 |....|....
September | | | |
4 | Memoir on Entrenched Lines, | 1 |....|....
“ 6 | Tracing or laying out Camps, | 1 |....|....
“ 7 | Operations of a Sham Siege, | 13 |....|....
| One day free, | 1 |....|....
“ 19 | Preparing for the Examination, |....|....|....
October | | | |
November 1 | Examination for leaving, |....|....|....
| |----|....|....
Total of the days employed, 522 + 7 days free |529 | |
-----------+------------------------------------------+----+----+----

EXAMINATION AND CLASSIFICATION.

FINAL EXAMINATION.

About six weeks of free or voluntary study is allowed, immediately prior to the Final Examination, for the sub-lieutenants to prepare for their last effort.

The examination which takes place prior to their leaving the School of Application, is entirely conducted by a board of six officers, under the presidency of a general officer alternately of the artillery or engineers, the remaining members of the board consisting of a general officer of each corps and three field officers of these corps; the last three being specially charged with the duty of examining. It takes place in a room set apart for the purpose, with a small interior room in connection with it, into which the members of the board retire to deliberate at the end of each student’s examination. The jury assembles each year at the period fixed by the minister of war.

The three examining members conduct the examination of the students in three different branches of study; the first more particularly relating to artillery science, the second to engineering science, and the third to mechanical science in its connection with the art of war. The whole of the students who are to leave the school are first examined in such one or other of these branches of study as may be determined on.

The student under examination is specially questioned by the examining officer in his subject, and occasionally by the president or any other member of the board that may wish to do so, for three-quarters of an hour. As soon as the examination of the student has been concluded, the board retire to the adjoining room and compare their notes of the credits they have severally awarded to the student under examination, and they also examine his drawings, sketches, and memoirs relating to the subjects on which he has been questioned, and prepared during his two years of residence in the school. They severally note the credits to which they consider him to be entitled for them, and adopt the general mean.

As soon as the examination of the whole of the students in this particular study has been finished, the examination in the next branch is commenced, so that five or six days elapse between the first and second examinations of the same student; and the same interval of time occurs between the second and third examinations.

The credit allotted to each student by the board of examiners represents, on the scale of 0 to 20, the manner in which he has replied to the questions, or executed the drawings, sketches, memoirs, &c., belonging to each course. The importance attached to each particular branch of study is estimated very nearly by the amount of time allowed for its execution divided by 20; and the definitive marks which each student obtains for that branch of study is obtained from the products of the numbers respectively representing the credit for answering, and that for the importance of the subjects on which he has been examined.

The final classification of the order of merit, in each arm of the service, is arranged after a comparison of the total of the marks obtained by each student. This total is the sum of the definitive marks gained by each student in the sciences bearing on artillery, engineering, and mechanics in connection with the art of war, for the talent displayed in drawing, sketching, and writing memoirs, and for skill in practical exercises, as determined by the results of the examination conducted by the jury of examiners, added to the marks due to the previous classification in the school, with the weight or influence equal to one-third of that allowed for the examination by the jury.

The co-efficients of influence for the present year are--

For those particularly relating to Artillery Science, 39.29
“ “ “ Engineering Science, 53.75
“ “ “ Mechanical Science, 43.00
For talent in drawing, sketching, writing memoirs, &c., 6.80
For practical exercises, 16.75
Previous classification in the school, 45.30

So that the examination conducted by the jury of examiners exercises an influence on the position of the students very nearly approaching to two-thirds of the whole amount.

It is this final classification which determines their seniority in the respective services. We were permitted to be present during the examination, which was entirely oral, of two of the _sous-lieutenants_, before the jury of examiners.

The questions were replied to with great fluency and readiness, but it seemed to us that the examination was somewhat limited for the object in view, viz., that of awarding a credit representing the progress which each student had made in the particular science on which he had been questioned, especially as that credit would have very great weight in determining the candidate’s future position.[14]

[Footnote 14: The examination chamber is a small room in the
school buildings, near the library, ornamented with portraits of
Vauban, and of D’Argenson, under whose ministry the original
schools at La Fère and Mézières were founded. At a large table
under these portraits, and extending across the room, General
Morin, President, and four officers, members of the jury, were
seated. The sixth member sat at a small table in front, near the
blackboard, at which the student stood. The Commandant, the
Director of Studies, and the other officers of the school were
seated also in this part of the room.

The student who was first examined was questioned partly by the
examiner, partly by the president, and gave his answers, working
problems and drawing illustrations on the board as he went on. He
was asked questions as to the details of the steam-engine, and as
to the method of casting cannon. The German teacher of the School
put him on to construe from a German book, and tried him in
speaking; he succeeded just passably in both. The whole occupied
about three-quarters of an hour.

The second student, after answering similar scientific questions,
had opportunity given him to show his knowledge, which was
considerable, of the geology of the neighborhood; and having lived
in foreign countries, he was able to make a very good display of
his knowledge of German, Spanish, Italian, and English.

After each examination the jury retired into the inner cabinet, by
a door opening to it from behind their seats.]

On quitting the School of Application at Metz, the sub-lieutenants of artillery and engineers respectively join the regiments, to which they are then definitely assigned as second lieutenants, and continue to be employed in doing duty, and in receiving practical instruction with them, until they are promoted.

SUBSEQUENT INSTRUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT.

The lieutenants of the artillery are employed on all duties that will tend to make them efficient artillery officers, and fully acquainted with all details connected with the drill, practice, and manœuvres of the artillery, and also with the interior economy and discipline of a regiment of artillery.

After the officers of artillery are promoted to the rank of second captain, but not before, they are detached from their regiments and successively sent into the various arsenals, cannon foundries, powder mills, and small arm manufactories, pyrotechnic establishments, and workshops, in order that they may become practically acquainted with the whole of the processes connected with the manufacture and supply of artillery, rockets, small arms, powder, material of all kinds, tools, &c., and also with the construction and repair of the buildings and factories required for these purposes. Sometimes they are employed as assistants in these establishments. The inspectors of the arms of regiments are selected from among those who have become acquainted with the manufacture of small arms.

When promoted to first captains they again rejoin their regiments, so that they may not lose the qualifications and knowledge required from a good practical artillery officer.

Field-officers of artillery are employed as superintendents and directors, and captains as sub-directors, of the important works intrusted to their arm.

In time of war, the officers of artillery have the construction of their own batteries, and the direction of the ordnance in battles and sieges, together with the formation of movable bridges and passages by boats.

It must be noticed, in contradistinction to the practice which prevails in England, that the artillery and engineer services manufacture their own tools.

The young engineer officers are employed with the men of their regiments, and with them pass through courses of practical instruction in the field, in sapping, mining, field fortification, sham-sieges, bridges, and castrametation. During this practical instruction one of the lieutenants belonging to each company is always present, and the captain of the company visits the work once in the course of the day.

The duties of the officers of engineers in time of peace are the construction, preservation, and repairs of fortresses and military buildings, and the command and instruction of the engineer soldiers.

In time of war, the officers of engineers are intrusted with the construction of works of permanent fortification, of the general works in the attack and defense of fortresses, and the reconnaissance connected therewith.

They _may_ also be charged--

With the construction of such works of field fortifications as the commander-in-chief or the generals of division consider necessary; such as _épaulments_, trenches, redoubts, forts, blockhouses, bridgeheads, intrenched camps, as well as the opening of communications, the establishment of bridges resting on fixed supports, and the formation and destruction of roads.

After the officers of engineers have been promoted to the rank of second captain, and not before, they are mostly employed apart from their regiments, on the _état major_ of the engineers in fortified towns and places, either in charge of the existing military buildings and fortifications, or with the duty of carrying on, or assisting to carry on, such new works as are in course of construction from time to time.

We have already stated that by the law in France one-third of the officers of the army is obtained from the military schools; one-third from the non-commissioned officers who have been raised to that grade from the ranks; while the remaining third is placed at the disposal of the supreme executive power. As regards the artillery and engineers this last third is in actual practice obtained, like the first third part, from the Polytechnic School, so that only one-third of the officers of those arms are promoted from among the non-commissioned officers, and these seldom rise above the rank of captain. Much attention is, however, paid to the improvement of the education of these latter officers, and we found that _four_ officers of engineers and _one_ officer of artillery so promoted were, by order of the minister of war, on the recommendation of the inspectors-general, passing through the School of Application at Metz, the course of instruction for them being modified on their account. And it was confidently expected that a large number of those officers who had been promoted in this way during the war would be ordered to the School of Application at Metz.

We should not omit to mention that occasional exchanges of service take place, during the first year of residence at Metz, among the pupils destined for the artillery, and those destined for the engineers.

The pay of officers of the artillery and of the engineers is the same. A small additional allowance is granted to officers of artillery when mounted.

REGIMENTAL SCHOOLS.

ARTILLERY REGIMENTAL SCHOOLS.

There are ten regimental artillery schools established in places or towns that are usually garrisoned by the troops of this arm, and one of these schools exists at Metz.

ENGINEER REGIMENTAL SCHOOLS.

The soldiers of the engineers appear to be very well taught in their regimental schools, of which there are three, one for each regiment, established at Metz, Arras, and Montpellier, where the regiments are usually in garrison. The strength of each regiment is 4,500 men.

The instruction given in these schools has for its object to afford, to its full extent, to the officers, _sous-officiers_, and soldiers of the engineers, the requisite theoretical and practical knowledge to enable them satisfactorily to fulfill the duties of their various ranks, and to qualify them for promotion to higher rank.

It is so regulated that at the end of the first year the men have learnt the nature of the service and duties of a soldier; and that at the close of the second year, the practiced sapper is cognizant of mining, and the practical miner is acquainted with sapping.

In the lowest classes the men begin with learning to read and write; this if followed by arithmetic, grammar, writing from dictation, and composition. The next subjects are special mathematics, landscape, plan, topographical and architectural drawing. We attended a class in which a corporal of sappers was explaining to the mathematical teacher (a civilian) the theory of the inclined plane, and we saw a large number of their drawings, topographical and architectural, many of which were very well executed.

The theoretical instruction is given between the months of November and March, the practical instruction in the field, (already noticed) occupies the rest of the year. The combined courses are completed in two years.

REGULATIONS AND PROGRAMMES OF INSTRUCTION

OF THE

IMPERIAL SCHOOL OF APPLICATION FOR THE ARTILLERY AND ENGINEERS AT METZ.

(_Abridged._)

I. POLICE REGULATIONS.

The chief Regulations for the Police of the Establishment are as follows:--

I. BARRACKS.--The Students are lodged in Barracks in the School, under the command of a Captain of the Staff, with the title of Commandant of the Quarter. They take their meals, however, out of the Barracks, in the town. They are allowed free egress and ingress from and to their Barracks, from the call at 6 in the morning to 10 at night, excepting during the hours devoted to lectures and the studies in the rooms. During these hours they must give special notice o£ their times of going out and coming in.

II. ORGANIZATION INTO BRIGADES AND SECTIONS.--Each Division is arranged in Brigades of thirty Students at the utmost, and each Brigade in two sections. The Students of Artillery and those of the Engineers constitute, as far as possible, separate Brigades. A Captain of the Staff is attached to each Brigade for its superintendence. The students in these Brigades and Sections are arranged in the order of merit which they held on entrance, and the first Student on the list of each Brigade and of each section of a Brigade is called its Chief. This arrangement is preserved at their messes, which are held at the Restaurateurs’, each section of fifteen having its own table, and its chief being the head of the mess. Private bills or private additions to the mess are forbidden, the maximum price for the daily fare being fixed by the Commandant of the School.

III. CONDUCT OF THE STUDENTS.--All games of chance are forbidden; and any debts discovered are punished. If a Student continues long without paying such, he is reported to the Minister of War.

IV. INSPECTION OF WORK DONE WITHIN THE HOUSE.--No work or drawing may be done out of the rooms of study, except in cases of illness.

All works to be executed by the Students are considered as service ordered to be done, which must be completed at the hours and within the period fixed in the order of the day. Students who are in arrears of work at the end of their first year are required to finish them during the time of vacation.

V. SUPERINTENDENCE OF OUT-OF-DOOR WORK.--After describing facilities afforded to the Students for working in the country, and stating minutely the method to be followed, the directions add that “on bringing back their plans, Students must present their sketches, and all the notes taken by them, in their rough state, to the Officer of the Staff intrusted to inspect them. They can not begin to put their work into shape till this Officer’s visa has been affixed to the sketches, notes,” &c.

VI. VACATION.--There is one vacation at the end of the first year. Any class, or any single student, under punishment, may be deprived of this. Any work to which the Professor gives a mark below 7, must be considered incomplete, and to be done again. Students are kept up in vacation to finish their work; but if it is done within fifteen days, and marked by the Professor’s visa, they are allowed to go away for the rest of the vacation.

Young Officers, after their final examination, are subject to all the Regulations of the School, down to the moment of their leaving the town.

II. REGULATIONS FOR ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF THE WORK EXECUTED.

The time devoted to each of the courses in the School, to the works of every kind which belong to it, to the exercises, drill, theoretical instructions, &c., is fixed in accordance with programmes approved by the Minister of War; and the Table similar to that given at pages 180-181, exhibiting the employment, is each year submitted for his approbation by the Superior Council of the School.

Every kind of work, such as the out-door operations, sketches, drawings, memoirs, calculations, interrogations, manipulations, manœuvres, drill, &c., is valued by the Professor or Officer of the Staff charged with its direction, by the product of two numbers, one representing the merit of its execution, and the other the importance of the work.

The numbers representing the merit of the execution or instruction are regulated by the scale of 0 to 20, as at the Polytechnic School.

The co-efficient of importance is found by dividing the number representing the maximum value allowed for the execution of any work by 20, the maximum credit for merit; and the number representing the maximum value, allowed for the execution of any work has reference to all the circumstances bearing upon its execution. It is regulated by the number of hours appropriated to its execution; and in estimating this number of hours, regard is had, not only to the time occupied in making the drawing, but also to that which is necessary for the calculations, essays, and sketches indispensable to its execution. The lectures are reckoned at one and a half hours, and the sittings in the Halls of Study at four and a half hours.

The number of hours inserted in the Table giving the distribution of the time employed, being insufficient for the composition of the memoirs, specifications, estimates, &c., the value given for this kind of work, of which a great part is performed out of the Halls of Study, is fixed at twice the number of hours inserted in the Table showing the distribution of the time employed.

The interrogations are the subject of a special credit, the maximum being equal to the number of hours devoted to the lectures, multiplied by one and a half hour, the length of each lecture.

The credit given for a work performed outside the school is divided into two parts: one, equal to one-third of the total credit, is in the hands of the Officer charged with the superintendence of the work, who estimates the zeal and aptitude of the student; the other, equal to two-thirds, is applied by the Professor, and given according to the merit of the work.

The sum of the credits, given for work of all kinds in a course of study, forms the maximum credit for the course.

The method of fixing the credit for the execution of works, according to the time devoted to them, is equally applicable to the exercises, practice, and drill.

When the time granted for the execution of any work has expired, the Director of Studies sends this work to the Professor for his examination, who establishes the number or credit, showing its importance, and returns it to the Director of Studies.

Every work which has been finished and examined, is marked by the Professor by a number representing its merit, which number may be fractional.

This is multiplied by the number representing its importance, and the nearest whole number resulting from this product expresses the value of the examined work.

Every unfinished work receives a provisional value, and is then returned to the person executing it, and as soon as it has been completed a second evaluation is made, but only two-thirds of the difference between the first and second evaluations is added to the first; the same principle is applied to the works which have been valued below seven, or to those which have been amended or recommenced.

Every work which has not been executed by the student is marked 0; but the grounds for its non-execution are placed before the Jury of Examination.

In the event of two papers being so similar that it is evident one must have been copied from the other, and that it is not possible to decide which has been copied from the other, both are marked 0.

And on the other hand, if it is proved that there was no complicity between the authors of the two papers, the copied paper is the only one canceled.

At the end of each year’s study, the Council of the School makes a classification of the students of the two divisions.

Each of these classifications is formed of the following elements:--

1st. Notes of conduct given by the General commanding and the Colonel Second in Command.

2nd. Notes of appreciation given by the General Commanding, and the Colonel Second in Command, and by the Officers of the Staff of the School.

3rd. Tables of credits given by two Field Officers of the Artillery and Engineers on the theoretical and practical instruction with which they are charged.

4th. Tables of credits given by each Professor for the works of all kinds, interrogations, &c., of his course.

The classification of the first year comprehends all the works, drill, and practice, executed during the first year, which have been valued, as well as the notes of appreciation and of conduct.

The number appropriated to these notes at the end of the first year is equal to the moiety of the total number allowed for the two years of study.

The classification of the students of the second year presents the reunion of the works executed by them since their entrance into the school.

The maximum number of credits appropriated to all the Officers of the Staff, as a note of appreciation, is equal to one-sixth of the total of all the courses taken together.

The same number, divided into two equal parts, is assigned to the notes of appreciation given by the General commanding and the Second in Command.

Lastly, the notes of conduct given by the General commanding and the Second in Command form one-fiftieth of the total value.

For the classification of each division the Director of Studies abstracts into a Table, for each arm, all the elements which should enter into this classification. Below the name of each student are inserted all the credits which belong to him, and the total, reduced in the ratio of the maximum 20, is the definitive number of the classification of each student.

The Director of Studies appends to these Tables a report containing everything which affords a means of estimating the work, the conduct of each student, the delays, and the causes, &c. In giving the names of the students whose credits are less than 7, he proposes, conformably with the Regulations, the measures that should be taken with regard to them.

The Superior Council of the School being assembled, the different Tables furnished by the Professors and by the Officers of the Staff, as well as those in which they are summed up, are collated, and the list of classifications for each division and for each arm is fixed separately, with the definitive numbers representing the credits.

These classified lists indicate for each arm the new rank of the Students, their rank at admission to the School of Application and of passage to the first division, the sum of the values for the works executed by them, and all the elements which would tend to enable a proper judgment to be formed of their merits and conduct.

The Superior Council adds to it, if there be any necessity for it, notes, exposing the grounds which have contributed to the principal alterations in the relative position of the Student, and points out those whose credit is less than 7, as well as those who by their bad conduct deserve to become the object of exceptional measures.

_Examination for Leaving._

Each year the General commanding the School determines by lot, at least one month in advance, the order in which the examinations for the promotions in the Artillery and Engineers are to take place. The Students belonging to the same arm can change among themselves, but eight days after the lots have been drawn the list of the order of examination is definitely closed. The General commanding the School makes known at the same period the order of the examinations and the division of the subjects between these examinations.

The General commanding the School places before the General of Division, President of the Jury of Examination, the following:--

1st. The division of the subjects between the three examinations.

2nd. The order of examination of the Arms, and of the students of each Arm.

3rd. The provisional classification of the students of the first division made by the Superior Council.

4th. The particular reports relating to each student made by the General commanding the School.

5th. The list of the propositions made by the Superior Council and the proceedings of the sitting at which it was agreed to.

6th. The classification of the Students of the second Division.

7th. Tables of questions established for each course.

8th. The abstracts of the sittings of the Superior Council held since the last examination.

The Student Sub-lieutenants are successively examined in all the branches composing the theoretical and practical instruction of the School. The theoretical knowledge is grouped in three series, each of which is the object of a particular trial.

The drill and practice are executed in the presence of the Jury, who cause the command to be given to the Sub-lieutenant, in order to satisfy themselves of the amount of their instruction, and to assign marks of merit to them individually.

The subjects of the three examinations are divided in the following manner:

First. Examination, made by the Field Officer of Artillery in the--

Course of Military Art.
Course of Artillery.
Course of Veterinary Art.
Sham Siege (part relating to Artillery.)
Course of Military Law and Administration.

Second. Examination, held by the Field Officer of Engineers.

Course of Permanent Fortification and the Attack and Defense
of Places.
Course of Construction.
Sham Siege (part relating to the Engineering.)

Third. Examination, held by the third Examiner, taken either from the Artillery or Engineers, in the--

Course of Mechanics.
Course of Applied Sciences.
Course of Topography and Geodesy.
German Language.

Every Student, on presenting himself before the Examiners, submits for their approbation the drawings and manuscripts relating to the subjects on which the examination is to bear. Independent of the questions which are placed before him by the Examiners, the Student Sub-lieutenant must reply to any objections or questions which the members of the Jury may think fit to address to him.

The German Master directly questions the Students, if the Jury wish it. The Professors or their Assistants must be present at the examinations relating to their course.

As soon as the examination is ended, the members of the Jury retire to an adjoining room with closed doors, to determine on the amount of marks to be given to the Student examined.

When the trials of all kinds are finished, the Jury proceed to the definitive classification of the Students belonging to each arm. In making this classification, regard is had to the following considerations:--

1st. Each examination has a co-efficient of importance equal to the sum of all the different courses which are included in it.

2nd. The co-efficient of importance for drawing is equal to the 1/20 of the sum of the co-efficients of the three examinations.

3rd. The co-efficient of importance of the practice, drill, &c., is, as for the courses, the sum of the co-efficients appropriated to the works taught in the School.

By multiplying the co-efficients of importance by the mean number of marks of merit obtained by the Students in the different examinations, the definitive credit which must be assigned to each Student in the Table of Classification is obtained.

The classification of the School enters into the definitive classification for a value equal to one-third of the total number of the three examinations, without comprising the valuation of the drawings; this value is added to the credits determined above.

The Jury give an account of the proceedings of the examinations in a “_procès-verbal_” addressed to the Minister by the General acting as President.

III. PROGRAMME OF THE ARTILLERY COURSE.

FIRST PART.--INTRODUCTION.

_Twenty-six Lectures common to Students of both Arms._

_First Lecture._--(1.) Definition of the word Artillery. Material, personnel, science. Object and division of the course.

FIRST SECTION.--EFFECTS OF POWDER.

Ideas on the origin of powder and its use in fire-arms; mealed or pulverized powder; powder in grain. General conditions which powder ought to satisfy; action of each of its component parts. Proportion of component parts used in France. _Fulmi-ligneux._

Considerations on the physical properties of powder. Size of the grains expressed by the number of grains to the gramme. Density of the grains and specific density of the powder; circumstances causing them to vary. Effects of damp upon powder.

_Second Lecture._--(2.) Combustion of powder. Different modes of ignition of powder. Research respecting the laws of its combustion, process of observation employed, laws discovered. Influence of the density, the composition, the mode of manufacture, the damp, the tension and temperature of the surrounding gases.

Combustion of the grains of powder. Calculation applied to the spherical grain. The formula is applicable to the irregular grains of ordinary powder.

Calculation of the density of the gases of powder in a fixed space, on the hypothesis of a simultaneous ignition of the grains. Discussion of the formula obtained; influence of the density of the grains, of the duration of their combustion and of the space in which the powder is inclosed.

Inquiry into the rapidity of ignition of charges of powder. Experiments made upon trains of powder, and upon gun-barrels filled with powder. Conclusions drawn from the results obtained.

_Third Lecture._--(3.) Calculation of the density of the gases of the powder on the hypothesis of successive ignition.

Results of the application of the formula to charges of a spherical and a truncated form.

Tension of the gases of powder. Impossibility of determining it by considerations of a purely theoretical nature. Experimental solution of this question. Experiments by Rumfort; description of his apparatus. Results obtained. Formula representing them. Observations on these results.

_Fourth Lecture._--(4.) Effects of powder in a fixed space.

Hollow projectiles. The readiest bursting of a hollow sphere takes place in the direction of the plane of a great circle. Determination of the minimum bursting charge; law by which this charge varies with the thickness of the envelope. Influence of the fuse-hole of hollow projectiles; weakening of the envelope of the shell, diminution of the charge; loss of gas, increase of the charge. Effects of the shock of the exploding gases; means of estimating it. Influence of the vivacity of the powder in burning. Number and rapidity of the explosions.

Hollow cylinders burst more easily longitudinally than transversely. Consequences of this principle relatively to the employment of a fibrous metal for the manufacture of arms. Thickness necessary to resist bursting.

_Fifth Lecture._--(5.) Effects of powder in cannon.

Analytical theory of the effects of powder in cannon.

Equation of the problem. General expressions of the quantity of force exercised by the expansion of the gases,--of the density of the different sections of gas and of their tension. Differential equations of the motion of the gases, of the projectile, and of the gun. Equation of condition leading to the establishment of the general formula which determines the position of a stratum of gas in the terms of the function of its original position, and of the other data of the question. General relations between the velocity of the projectile and that of the gun.

Density of the stratum of gas at a given moment. Position of the stratum which has a maximum density.

_Sixth Lecture._--(6.) Approximative solution applicable to the cases ordinarily met with in practice. Hypothesis relating to the velocity and the tension of different strata of gas.

Relations between the velocity of the projectile and that of the gun. Approximate expression of the amount of force due to the expansion of the gases; line to be followed in the execution of the arithmetical calculations. Formula serving to determine the velocity of the projectile. General considerations on the state of the gases of powder during the burning of the charge. Influence of the motions of the projectile and of the bottom of the bore on the distribution of the gases at each instant. Influence of the successive generation of the gases combined with the enlargement of the space which incloses them on their density throughout the whole duration of the phenomenon.

_Seventh Lecture._--(7.) Influence of the vent and of the windage of the projectile on the effects of powder in cannon.

Determination of the loss of velocity occasioned by the windage of the projectile. Influence of the weight of the piece upon the velocity of the projectile. Influence of the weight of the projectile on tension of the gases and upon the velocities of the two bodies set in motion. Influence of the weight of the charge of powder. Charge giving the maximum of velocity. Influence of the size and density of the grains of the powder as well as other circumstances which cause a variation in the law of generation of the gases. Advantage of very rapid combustion in short pieces and of slower combustion in long ones.

_Eighth Lecture._--(8.) Influence of the length of bore; circumstances which modify it; length corresponding to the maximum of velocity. Comparison of the quantities of motion of the projectile and of the gun. Trial of a formula fitted to represent their relation. Determination of this relation with the help of the balistic pendulum.

Mean pressure exercised on the projectile during its passage through the bore. Injuries produced in guns by firing; enlargement of metal and cracks; lodgment and percussion of the projectile.

Different effects of the percussion; means tried to prevent injuries (in general.) Considerations on the metals employed in the manufacture of ordnance. Charging with elongated cartridge; use of wooden bottoms and wads.

_Ninth Lecture._--(9.) Examination of the proper means for measuring the effects of powder. Eprouvettes of different sorts. Experimental processes founded on the measure of the velocity of the projectile. Grobert’s rotatory machine. Process of Colonel Debooz. Process based on the employment of an electric current. Method by ranges (mentioned here by way of note.)

Balistic pendulum. Pendulum of Robins, of d’Arcy, of Hutton. Improvements introduced in France into the construction of these apparatus. Description of the pendulums in use at the present day; cannon pendulum; musket pendulum.

_Tenth Lecture._--(10.) Analytical theory of the balistic pendulum.

1. Receiver pendulum; formula which gives the velocity of the projectile. Determination of the elements which enter into the formula, and the degree of approximation necessary. Simplification of the calculation of the velocities in the case of firing several times consecutively.

2. Cannon pendulum. Amount of recoil in the gun. Percussion of the knife-edges of the pendulum. Case where there is none. Means of correcting the position of the center of percussion.

_Eleventh Lecture._--(11.) Examination of the effects of the recoil upon guns and their carriages. The question may be considered as resolving itself into two others.

1. Percussions of the carriage upon the points supporting it; analytical solution. Determination of the percussions and of the force of the recoil in the case of carriages on wheels, and that of mortar beds. Graphic solution of the same question by an analysis of the force which acts upon the bottom of the bore. Modification of the sketch according to the different cases presented by the direction of fire relatively to the ground.

_Twelfth Lecture._--(12.) Discussion of points relating to the percussion of the carriage upon its supports, and to the force of the recoil. Influence of the elevation of the line of fire; of the inclination of the ground or of the platform; of the length of the carriage in proportion to its height and of the friction which results from the contact of the trail with the ground. Velocity of recoil of the collective apparatus. Determination of the extent of the recoil on a given ground. Recoil of the different pieces of ordnance in use. Case in which the forepart of the carriage has a tendency to be lifted up; velocity of this motion; determination of the effect resulting from it.

_Thirteenth Lecture._--(13.)

2. Percussions produced by the gun upon its carriage. Determination of the amount of percussion of the breech upon the elevating screw, and of that of the trunnions upon the trunnion holes. Discussion of points relative to the effects produced. Influence of the elevation; of the dimensions of the gun, and of the proportion of its weight to that of the entire apparatus.

Effect of the elasticity of the different parts of the apparatus. It diminishes the wear of the parts struck, and renders it necessary to take into account the velocity of the parts striking.

_Fourteenth Lecture._--(14.) Effects of powder in mines. Historical notices. Dimensions of the boxes containing the powder. Considerations on the effects of the expansion of the gases in an indefinite or limited compressible medium.

Definitions having reference to craters and chambers of mines. Ordinary charge of the chamber. The old rule for miners; its entire alteration. Table relating to different kinds of medium. Overcharged chamber. Overcharged chamber or “camouflet.” Limit of the effects of compression which result from the action of the chambers. Use of gun cotton. Considerations on the effects of the petard. Dimensions of the cavity reserved for the powder. Means employed or proposed to diminish the charge of powder proportioned to a given effect.

SECOND SECTION.--MOTION OF PROJECTILES IN SPACE.