Challenge is also a term applied to an objection made against any member of a court-martial, on the score of real or presumed partiality. The prisoner, however, in this case, must assign his cause of challenge; of the relevancy, or validity of which the members are themselves the judges; so that peremptory challenges, though allowed in civil cases, are not acknowleged in military law. The privilege of challenging belongs equally to the prisoner and the prosecutor.
CHAMADE, in a military sense, means a signal made by the enemy, either by beat of drum, or sound of trumpet, when they have any matter to propose; such as to bury their dead, &c. See [Parley].
CHAMBER of a cannon, in artillery, that part of the bore of a cannon which receives the powder with which it is charged. See [Cannon].
Chamber of a mortar, the space where the powder lies, and generally of several forms and dimensions, such as the conic, spheric, cylindric, parabolic, and concave, or bottled chambers. See [Mortars].
In 1787 and 1789 experiments were made at Woolwich with an 8 inch mortar, with four shifting chambers, to ascertain which form gives the longest range.
The chambers were all of the same capacity, viz. 63.7 cubic inches, and contained two pounds of powder. Their forms were:
1st. Common conical chamber with the circular bottom.
2d. The same reversed.
3d. The cylindric chamber with circular bottom.
4th. The spheric chamber.