e
not having indicated the most efficient method of consummating this
end. In some cases the bombs are carried in a cradle placed beneath the
aeroplane and launched merely by tilting them in a kind of sling, one by
one, to enable them to drop to the ground, this action being controlled
by means of a lever. In another instance they are dropped over the side
of the car by the pilot, the tail of the bomb being fitted with a swivel
and ring to facilitate the operation. Some of the French aviators favour
a still simpler method. The bomb is attached to a thread and lowered
over the side. At the critical moment it is released simply by severing
the thread. Such aeroplane bombs, however, constitute a menace to the
machine and to the pilot. Should the bomb be struck by hostile rifle or
shell fire while the machine is aloft, an explosion is probable; while
should the aero plane make an abrupt descent the missiles are likely to
be detonated.

A bomb which circumvents this menace and which in fact will explode
only when it strikes the ground is that devised by Mr. Marten-Hale.
This projectile follows the usual pear-shape, and has a rotating tail to
preserve direction when in flight. The detonator is held away from the
main charge by a collar and ball-bearing which are held in place by the
projecting end of a screw-releasing spindle. When the bomb is dropped
the rotating tail causes the spindle to screw upwards until the
projection moves away from the steel balls, thereby allowing them to
fall inward when the collar and the detonator are released. In order to
bring about this action the bomb must have a fall of at least 200 feet.

When the bomb strikes the ground the detonator falls down on the charge,
fires the latter, and thus brings about the bursting of the bomb. The
projectile is of the shrapnel type. It weighs 20 pounds complete, is
charged with some four pounds of T.N.T., and carries 340 steel balls,
which represent a weight of 5 3/4 pounds.

The firing mechanism is extremely sensitive and the bomb will burst
upon impact with the hull of an airship, water, or soft soil. This
projectile, when discharged, speedily assumes the vertical position, so
that there is every probability that it will strike the ground
fairly and squarely, although at the same time such an impact is not
imperative, because it will explode even if the angle of incidence be
only 5 degrees. It is remarkably steady in its flight, the balancing and
the des