guarded secret.

The method of aiming was as novel as the bomb
itself. In this process nothing depended on the
eyesight of the gunner; the personal equation was
entirely eliminated. The gun was so mounted that its
direction was accurately indicated by graduated scales;
there was an instrument which was acted upon by the
dip, rise, or roll of the vessel, and which showed at
any moment the position of the gun with reference to
the plane of the sea-surface.

Before the discharge of the cannon an observation
was taken by one of the scientific men, which
accurately determined the distance to the object to be
aimed at, and reference to a carefully prepared
mathematical table showed to what points on the
graduated scales the gun should be adjusted, and the
instant that the that the muzzle of the cannon was in
the position that it was when the observation was
taken, a button was touched and the bomb was
instantaneously placed on the spot aimed at. The
exactness with which the propelling force of the bomb
could be determined was an important factor in this
method of aiming.

As soon as three of the spring-armoured vessels and
five "crabs" were completed, the Syndicate felt itself
ready to begin operations. It was indeed time. The
seas had been covered with American and British