DREYSE, Johann Nicholas von (1787-1867), inventor of the needle-gun, was the son of a locksmith, and was born at Sommerda the 20th November 1787. He served his apprenticeship in the shop of his father, and from 1806 to 1809 followed his calling at Altenburg and Dresden. From 1809 to 1814 he was in Paris, where he succeeded in finding employment in the gun-factory of the Swiss officer Pauli, patronized by Napoleon I. Afterwards he returned to Sömmerda, where, in partnership with Kronbiegel, he established a factory for the making of articles in iron by machine tools. In 1824 he patented a new percussion action for the gun, and continued thereafter to busy himself with experiments to improve in every way possible the process of shooting. In 1827 he invented the needle-gun, but without the advantage of breech-loading; and in 1836, having been encouraged in his endeavours by the Prussian Government, he invented his first complete needle-gun. A gunnery was opened by him in 1841, which ultimately supplied weapons for the troops of all the German states, and before his death employed about 1500. persons. In 1864 he and his family had the rank of nobility conferred on them. He died 9th December 1867.