Barbette. — When the guns of a battery are placed so high that they fire over the crest of the parapet and not, as is usual, through embrasures, this is called en barbette. To bring the guns to this height, various means are employed. In field fortifications, an earth bank behind the parapet forms the platform for the gun. In a permanent fortification, the ordinary traversing carriage or the revolving platform raises the gun to the necessary height. Guns mounted en barbette do not have the same cover from enemy fire as those which fire through embrasures. They are therefore only placed thus when no embrasures can be cut in the parapet, because this would considerably weaken it, or when it is desirable to extend the range of the guns more to right and left than would be possible with embrasures. For this reason guns are mounted en barbette in field fortifications, in the salient angles of fortifications, and in coast batteries intended to direct their fire against ships, especially when the parapet is of masonry. To protect the guns from enfilading fire, traverses and bonnets are erected, when necessary.