Projectile Weapons of War and Explosive Compounds

Richmond, Surrey, England: The Richmond Publishing Co., Ltd, 1971. Republication of the Third Edition, Revised of 1858. Hardcover. Good/ood. [14], 306 pages., Footnotes. Illustrations. John Scoffern (1814-1882) was an English surgeon and popular science writer. He attended University College, London and Aldersgate Medical School. Scoffern was lecturer at Aldersgate Medical School in 1840, and graduated M.B. at the University of London in 1843. He lectured also at the medical school in Charlotte Street. He went on to a prolific career in scientific and other writing. During the Franco-Prussian War, Scoffern was a newspaper correspondent. He was in the Château de Saint-Cloud, occupied by the Prussian forces, when it was shelled by French guns in October 1870. He tended the sick and wounded in Paris, and was awarded the Iron Cross in 1871 for bravery and his medical work. This work on projectile weapons went through several editions during the author's lifetime. A projectile weapon, sometimes called a ranged weapon, is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is called projectile weapon or missile weapon because it typically works by launching solid projectiles ("missiles"), though technically a fluid-projector (which throws out pressurized streams of liquid or even gas). In contrast, a weapon intended to be used in hand-to-hand combat is called a melee weapon. Projectile weapons give the attacker an advantage, since the target is often getting hit from beyond immediate visual range, therefore making it more difficult for the defenders to react and hitting back effectively. It also puts distance between the attacker and the opponent, which is a safer combat option since the close physical contact during melee fights often puts the attacker within the immediate striking range of enemy counterattacks and thus at an equal risk of getting hurt or killed.
The line between projectile and melee weapons is not entirely definite; for instance, spears, axes, daggers, and knives can be used for both throwing and striking, depending on purpose and situation, and a projectile weapon can also be used as a melee weapon in close encounters, such as the buttstock of a rifle used for butt-stroking with a fixed bayonet, a handgun used for pistol-whipping, and even an arrow being used as a hand weapon in desperate situations. Early projectile weapons often included specifically designed hand-thrown weapons such as darts, javelins, slings, as well as more complex elastic weapons such as bows and crossbows; and siege engines like stone throwers, catapults, ballistas and trebuchets. These projectile weapons were extremely effective in ancient and early medieval warfare, especially when used en masse, as they gave the wielder an opportunity to launch multiple rounds of attack before an enemy armed with melee weapons or shorter-ranged missile weapons could even get close enough to pose a threat. After the invention of gunpowder and the development of firearms, gun-type pneumatic projectile weapons became the dominant weapon of choice in armed conflicts, even in close combat. In modern warfare, projectile weaponry is also used both tactically and strategically in the form of long-range artilleries, rockets and guided missiles. The maximum effective range of a weapon is the greatest distance from which the weapon can be fired while still consistently inflicting casualties or damage.