The Hon. B. Moran, United States Secretary of Legation in London had forwarded the following piece of information that he believed was worthy of preservation to Captain Jeffers, of the Naval Bureau of Ordnance. The covering letter stated in part: "I enclose herewith a very curious sketch of certain inventions which Mr. James McHenry found in an English magazine of more than a century ago. It confirms the biblical saying that there is nothing new under the sun. He must have known all we know on the subject at this day." "Authentic Copy of an extraordinary Proposal, privately delivered at the houses of Persons of distinction …by a Gentleman, who wishes to put an end to the American War. The particulars are as follows First, To fix gunpowder in the water, if a ship or vessel should touch the same, it will be instantly blown up. - 2d, to convey a cannon along the bottom of the sea, and fire the same at a distance of one mile and a half from the land, under a ship's bottom. - 3d, To convey a floating battery the same distance from the land, along side of a ship, and fire balls into her under the surface of the water. - 4th, To convey fixtures the same distance, along the bottom of the sea, - which will catch ships moorings and drag them on shore. N.B. - These inventions are to be made use of, when an enemies shipping comes to cannonade or bombard a town." Accession No.3028. 'The Explosion of the "Fish Torpedo" at Woolwich Arsenal.' The Engineer, vol. 37, 27 March 1874, p. 209. "The inquest which was held upon the body of Herbert Edward Baker, who was killed by the explosion of a "Whitehead's" or "fish torpedo" at the Royal Arsenal Woolwich, …clearly established the fact that the accident was caused by the giving way of the steel diaphragm or bulkhead which separates the air chamber from the engine-room or central compartment of the torpedo."