and it will be seen that it possesses the fire effect of the infantry arm while it has several of the characteristics peculiar to artillery; for instance, it is fired from a mounting by one man, and is moved from position to position by draught or pack animals.
We have seen that the chief characteristic of the machine gun is its power of delivering the "maximum fire from the minimum front"; this fire is of great volume and is highly concentrated, while it can also be made to sweep a wide lateral surface of ground. The gun's narrow frontage in action renders it easy to conceal, and when discovered it presents a very small and difficult target to the enemy's riflemen; on the other hand, when once discovered if it cannot be moved unseen to another position it is liable to suffer a prolonged and concentrated fire from the widely scattered riflemen of the enemy, to which it cannot effectively reply, and which must in time cause loss. Again, its range being limited, it is powerless against artillery except under special circumstances at effective rifle range.
The general principles governing its tactical employment depend upon three factors, viz. (1) the target, (2) the range, (3) the position.
The volume and concentration of its fire necessitate a large and vulnerable target, or ammunition will be expended without adequate results. The first essential is therefore to obtain this description of target and to avoid firing on
