In July 1855, the pipes were proved, and the towers were completed shortly afterwards.
The remainder of this chapter will relate to matters which have but little in common with the subjects of the earlier part of it; but the change is hardly less marked than that which took place in the nature of the questions which occupied public attention within a few years of the close of the Great Exhibition.
Polygonal Rifle.
In October 1852, Mr. Brunel consulted Mr. Westley Richards, of Birmingham, as to the manufacture of a rifle ‘for the purpose of determining whether there was anything in a crotchet he had upon the subject.’ The rifle was made by Mr. Westley Richards according to Mr. Brunel’s directions, and finished in May 1854. Many experiments were tried with it, at Birmingham and at Manchester, in the spring of 1855, and afterwards at Woolwich; and its performances obtained great notoriety.
The history of this rifle, and the objects Mr. Brunel had in view in its design, will be understood from the following letters to Mr. Westley Richards:—
I.
October 25, 1852.
I have long wanted to try an experiment with a rifle, for the purpose of determining whether there is anything in a crotchet I have upon the subject, but I have been deterred from attempting it from the feeling that in these abominable patenting days (I hate patents) the chances were, that if, in the progress of my experiments, any new result, good or bad, were observed, or a workman should think he saw something, a patent would be taken over my head, and, to say the least, I should be stopped in pursuing my own investigation, as has happened to me more than once.
I have also been deterred by my not knowing whether the existing machinery for rifling barrels would enable me to obtain an increasing or varying twist from one end of the barrel to the other, as this would be necessary to make the experiment, and I should not care to incur the expense of a machine on purpose. My introduction to you, through our mutual friend Whateley, induces me to make the enquiry whether your apparatus or mode of rifling enables you to give such a twist, and if so, whether you could and would make me a barrel. If so, I will trouble you with an explanation of my scheme, as I should have no secrets with you.
II.