nder
howitzer in one of the small gunboats, that in cutting its fuze
(Bormann) the incision had been made directly into the magazine.

Had the gun been fired, the explosion of the shrapnell must have
occurred at the muzzle of the gun.

There is no doubt such errors will often account for the supposed
defects of the fuze.

The attention of officers is therefore required to this subject; and,
in making reports of defective ammunition, samples should be forwarded
to Washington for examination.

It is of the gravest importance, not only because it involves the
failure of the shell to act properly upon the object of fire, but may
also endanger the lives of our own men.

113. Whenever it is expedient or necessary to examine the fuzes and
loading of shell which have been already prepared, great care must be
observed in removing the fuze. It should never be done in the
shell-room.

114. The fuze-stock may generally be safely unscrewed with the
fuze-wrench, taking care, in the first place, to strike the side of
the shell gently with a wooden mallet, to detach the powder from the
fuze, to work very slowly, and not to endeavor to overcome any unusual
resistance.

115. Whenever it shall be necessary to load and fuze shell on board
ship--a properly secured place being first prepared, as directed by
the Captain, not in the shell-room and as far from the magazine as
convenient--the shell, being strapped and sabotted, are to be examined
to see that they are clean, both inside and out, and thoroughly dry.
The greatest care is to be taken to remove every particle of sand or
fragment of iron from the interior. The prescribed charge of powder is
next to be poured into them through a proper funnel; care is to be
taken that the end of the funnel passes below the screw-thread in the
tap or bouching, to prevent any grains of powder entering it; any
grains of it which may remain sticking to the thread of the bouching
are to be brushed away carefully, and then, after putting a light coat
of lacquer for small arms, or sperm oil, on this thread and on that of
the fuze, the latter is to be screwed in carefully with the
fuze-wrench. The lacquer should be of the consistency of cream, and
when from evaporation, it becomes too stiff, should be thinned by
adding more spirits of turpentine.

116. In emptying shell they are to be handled carefully and placed on
a bench with a hole in it to receive and support the inverted shell. A
wooden vesse