DISPART

, a term in Gunnery, used for a mark set upon the muzzle-ring of a piece of ordnance, of such height, that a sight-line taken from the top of the base ring near the vent or touch-hole to the top of the dispart near the muzzle, may be parallel to the axis of the concave cylinder; for which reason it is evident that the height of the dispart is equal to the difference between the radii of the piece at the base and muzzle-rings, or to half the difference of the diameters there. Hence comes the common method of disparting the gun, which is this: Take, with the calipers, the two diameters, viz, of the base ring and the place where the dispart is to stand, subtract the lesa from the greater, and take half the difference, which will be the length of the dispart, which is commonly cut to that length from a small bit of wood, and so fixed upright in its place with a bit of wax or pitch.