 them;« - nor have the horn-works, he speaks of, any thing in the world
to do with the horn-works 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 curtins, 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, - tho' 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-works (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 form'd by two epaulments or demi-bastions, - they are very pretty,
and if you will take a walk, I'll engage to shew you one well worth your
trouble. -
