Bombards: Noise, Percussion and Firing Many Balls at Once
Why a louder siege-piece strikes less hard, with two barrels sectioned to throw multiple shot.
Leonardo states that the wall-battering machine which makes the greater noise is of lesser power, then grounds the claim in a rule of percussion: a body striking with more of itself makes more noise but penetrates less, like a sword struck flatwise rather than edgewise. Applying this to gunnery, he argues that the flame which disperses least once it leaves the piece drives the ball with the greatest impetus. A closing note treats artillery that fires several balls at one shot, and two artillery barrels are drawn in section in the right margin. A pen flourish decorates the upper right corner.
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The louder wall-battering bombard is the weaker
The wall-battering machine that makes the greater noise is of lesser power. The flame that disperses least once it is clear of the artillery drives the ball out with the greatest impetus, while a flame that quickly disperses does the contrary.
Percussion: striking with more or less of the body
A body that strikes with a greater part of itself makes greater noise and lesser percussion; one that strikes with a smaller part makes less noise and penetrates more deeply. The example given is a sword struck flatwise (much noise, little penetration) versus edgewise (much penetration, little noise).
Artillery firing many balls at one shot
An artillery that throws a single ball a distance proportioned to its power will throw six of the same balls, in the same time, one sixth of that distance. Two barrels are shown in cross-section in the right margin.