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Taking the length of the column of shot, it is clear that the difference of time in seconds between the first and last arriving pellets, divided by the length of the column in feet, will give the mean velocity of the shot column at the instant the first pellets struck the target. The amended figures are tabulated on the next page.

It has lately been attempted to show that Mr. Griffith’s measurements are not supported by the results on a target passing at 75 feet a second at right angles with the line of fire. But this speed is not enough to prevent the irregular spread of the shot pellets from misleading. In other words, the faster the movement of the target the less will the elongation of pattern depend upon the accident of pattern, and the more it will depend upon the length of shot column and its speed. Besides this, birds at 75 feet per second are not the difficult sort that people want to learn to kill in a wind.

In the following table it is seen that in one case the column is no longer at 50 yards than at 40 yards, and we may be quite certain shot columns are not so in reality:—