of cuckoldom:—But the Curtin , Sir, is the word we use in fortification, for that part of the wall or rampart which lies between the two bastions and joins them—Besiegers seldom offer to carry on their attacks directly against the curtin, for this reason, because they are so well flanked . (’Tis the case of other curtains, quoth Dr. Slop , laughing.) However, continued my uncle Toby , to make them sure, we generally choose to place ravelins before them, taking care only to extend them beyond the fossé or ditch:⸺The common men, who know very little of fortification, confound the ravelin and the half-moon together,—though they are very different things;—not in their figure or construction, for we make them exactly alike, in all points;—for they always consist of two faces, making a salient angle, with the gorges, not straight, but in form of a crescent:⸺Where then lies the difference? (quoth my father, a little testily).—In their situations, answered my uncle Toby :—For when a ravelin, brother, stands before the curtin, it is a ravelin; and when a ravelin stands before a bastion, then the ravelin is not a ravelin;—it is a half-moon;—a half-moon likewise is a half-moon, and no more, so long as it stands before its bastion;⸺but was it to change place, and get before the curtin,—’twould be no longer a half-moon; a half-moon, in that case, is not a half-moon;—’tis no more than a ravelin.⸺I think, quoth my father, that the noble science of defence has its weak sides⸺as well as others.
—As for the horn-work (high! ho! sigh’d my father) which, continued my uncle Toby , my brother was speaking of, they are a very considerable part of an outwork;⸺they are called by the French engineers, Ouvrage à corne , and we generally make them to cover such places as we suspect to be weaker than the rest;—’tis formed by two epaulments or demi-bastions—they are very pretty,—and if you will take a walk, I’ll engage to show you one well worth your trouble.—I own, continued my uncle Toby , when we crown them,—they are much stronger, but then they are very expensive, and take up a great deal of ground, so that, in my opinion, they are most of use to cover or defend the head of a camp;