Maxim Gun, an automatic machine-gun invented by Hiram S. Maxim, an American, in 1884, capable of discharging 620 rifle cartridges per minute; the first shot is fired by hand, and the recoil is utilised to reload and fire the next, and so on. A cylinder of water keeps the barrel from heating.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Maxim, Hiram S. * Maximilian, Ferdinand Joseph