[
    {
        "id": 214292,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1998",
        "page_number": 150,
        "title": "RAS-1998",
        "content_text": "113\n\ngenerated when a flint struck the steel and landed on the small charge of powder in the priming pan. This form of ignition had been used on firearms from the first half of the sixteenth century, and by the nineteenth it had developed into an efficient mechanism. However, it had a number of faults, one being its susceptibility to dampness, so that in wet weather it was very unreliable.\n\nThe effect of rain on the flintlock is illustrated by the account of an action before Canton given by Ouchterlony: \"..., the General, finding the rain descending in torrents, and every appearance of a tempestuous night, directed a retreat towards the heights occupied by the main body of the army. The muskets of the troops being all furnished with flintlocks, had, of course, by this time, become utterly useless.\n\n27\n\nThe action came to a successful conclusion, however, as after a while help arrived: \"In another minute the marines had formed: and a destructive volley, poured into the crowded ranks of the Chinese, at a distance of a few paces, speedily swept away the astonished pursuers, and taught our own people, in a manner the most impressive, the value of the admirable weapons, the percussion muskets, with which the marines were armed.\"28\n\nThe percussion form of ignition was invented by a Scottish minister, the Reverend Forsyth in 1805. It had been known for some considerable time that certain chemicals, such as fulminate of mercury, explode when struck with a hammer. They were too strong an explosive to use as a substitute for gunpowder, but Forsyth had the idea of using them as a means of ignition. It took a little while for the standard percussion mechanism to develop, but by the 1820s most sporting guns were using it. The military, however, were, as usual, slow to respond and were even about to issue a new flintlock arm, when in 1834, comparative trials were held to assess the performance of the percussion musket. The new system proved its worth, and there was then the problem of reequipping the army. This was a lengthy process, and hence, it is not surprising that the main troops assembled for the Eastern Expedition in 1840 still carried flintlock muskets.\n\nThe action described above, which took place on 30th May 1841 was the first use of percussion muskets in war. The honour fell to the\n\nPage 150\n\nPage 151",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214927,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-2000",
        "page_number": 23,
        "title": "RAS-2000",
        "content_text": "submission to the Inland Revenue Department for charitable institutional status.\n\nAccommodation\n\nAgain we are grateful to our many good friends on whom we rely for accommodation. They include the Public Records Office, where our Journals and some of our archives are stored, the latter on permanent loan. We are also grateful to the City Hall where our lectures (which are run as joint functions with the City Hall) take place and again to PricewaterhouseCoopers who kindly allow us to hold committee meetings on their premises. A heartfelt thank you to all concerned.\n\nThe Council\n\nOther than those that have to be taken at AGMs, all-important Branch decisions are made in Council to whom our membership has delegated the running of our Branch. The latter functions completely autonomously from our Headquarters in London and separately from other Branches in Asia. Over the past year the RASHKB Council has comprised two Vice Presidents, Drs Elizabeth Sinn and Michael Lau. Other members have included Robert Nield, Julia Chan, Valery Garrett, Bob Horsnell, Tim Ko and May Holdsworth. It has also included Drs Patrick Hase, Joseph Ting, Peter Barker, Peter Halliday and Janet Lee Scott. The Reverend Carl Smith, our Honorary Vice President, and Sarah Parnell as Assistant Secretary, and her successor, Mary Painter, have been co-opted, non-voting members. We are grateful to everyone who sat on the Council and gave of his or her time.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nHaving thanked Council and Activity Committee members, speakers and leaders of groups and various other persons, who have I failed to mention? Firstly we must thank HKBRAS members, Angus Forsyth and John Budge, for their valuable professional advice. Past Council member Geoffrey Roper still helps in various ways quietly behind the scenes as do some spouses of Council members. We value everyone's assistance. So many people and institutions have rendered help to us over the course of the year. It is quite possible that someone who deserves to be thanked has inadvertently slipped through the net.\n\nxxii",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n",
        "rank": 0
    }
]