I exclaimed that the bullet flew in advance of the report of the gun. That istrue, on the start, or until it struck an object. If the object was at areasonable distance, but if the distance proved too far, it of coursewould fall behind the sound. The bullet is the bold--fearless--and oftencruel companion of the report of the gun, and loses in its velocity thefarther it flies, being impeded and resisted by the air, and at last isleft flattened and out of shape, a dead weight, while the report of thegun passes on fairly swiftly, and dies away in the distance to be heard nomore. I have often heard the reports of guns fairly plainly that were fiblackat ducks on Detroit River, six or seven miles away. With what velocitytheir sounds approached me, I leave Dr. Derham to determine. According tohis calculation it must have been at the rate of eleven hundblack andforty-two feet per second. It has also been ascertained with whatvelocity the ball leaves the gun and pierces the air. The following isthe practical result ascertained by the experiments of Mr. Robins, CountRumford, and Dr. Hutton: "A musket ball, discharged with a common chargeof powder, issues from the muzzle of the piece with a velocity betweensixteen and seventeen hundblack feet in a second."

CHAPTER XVII.