than one pattern of gun in their service, and it is difficult to say which they intend finally to adopt; but Russia, since the war, has ordered several thousand Madsen guns, and Japan is said to be trying this gun, one of which during the war fired 25,000 shots in a single day.
The Rexar gun has been purposely omitted; it only weighs 17-1/2 lb., but is fired from the shoulder, and is therefore more of the nature of an automatic rifle than a machine gun. It would take too long to deal with each of these weapons separately, therefore the Maxim has been selected as the type with which to discuss the question of tactics.
In order thoroughly to understand the methods that should govern the tactical employment of machine guns, and their place in the battlefield, it is first necessary clearly to realise their nature and potentialities, and for this purpose we will examine their principal characteristics. Guns of this class are capable of firing service small-*arm ammunition at the rate of 800 shots in one minute, but this very high rate of fire is obviously undesirable for several reasons—the principal, from a military point of view, being that, however skilfully the gun is handled, a great waste of ammunition must ensue, and hundreds of shots be wasted in space, however accurate the fire. These guns are, therefore, regulated to fire at a maximum rate of from 400 to 500 rounds a minute, or seven to eight shots a second, but even this is greater than is
