162 Col, Beaufoy on Naval Improvement. [Sept. 



One ^reat point has been gained by building these vessels, 

 in showing that the synthetical process is inadequate to obtain 

 the end in view. Is it not similar to a chemist who, desiring 

 to analyse metals, of which some were known and, others 

 unknown, first mixed them altogether, and then, after great 

 pains, labour, and expence, discovered the impossibility of 

 arriving at any accurate conclusion in regard to their respective 

 properties ; whereas had he, in the first instance, separately 

 examined each^, the result would have proved less fatiguing, less 

 costly, and more satisfactory? In all complex cases, scientific, 

 or mechanical, the most easy and natural way for well under- 

 standing the subject is to resolve it into the component parts. 



In the construction of ships, the great and leading features 

 are stability and fast sailing; the theory of the former is suflii- 

 ciently known, but our acquaintance with the resistance of non- 

 elastic fluids may be termed yet in its infancy. The ablest 

 builder is at present ignorant of the curves best adapted for 

 dividing the water; and working thus in the dark, it is no won- 

 der that the aggregate of slow sailers so far e;tceeds those that 

 ai'e fast. 



If it be deemed desirable to persevere in building experimental 

 vessels, the plan proposed in the Annals of Philosophy ^ for .Ocj«. 

 1817, may not be unworthy of notice. . ., .. , , 



The importance of discovering the curve of least resistance is 

 not confined alone to vessels moved by the power of wind. 

 Constructors of steam boats are deeply interested in the fact. 

 If a packet with an engine of forty horse power be driven nine 

 knots in an hour, it will require an effort of nearly sixty-one 

 torses to increase the speed to ten. Could this additional mile 

 be gained by giving the hull a more advantageous form for cleav- 

 ing the water, many substantial benefits would accrue. The 

 original cost of the engine would be lowered from the inferior 

 size required, expenditure in fuel and stowage would be saved, 

 ?ind less risk incurred of the melting of the grate bars. In short, 

 from the waterman who plies upon the Thames to the captain 

 commanding the largest ship in the British navy, all are inte- 

 rested in finding the sohd of least resistance ; the first by dimi- 

 nishing the labour of the oar, and the latter by out-sailing, 

 coming up with, and capturing the enemy's ship. 



Ships nave been aptly compared to bridges connecting the 

 whole world together; a slow sailing vessel, therefore, is a 

 bridge longer than necessary. It is not improbable that the 

 Carthaginian and Roman builders surpassed the moderns in the 

 form they gave their men of war for cleaving the water, because, 

 being frequently impelled by oars, to lighten the fatigue of the 

 yowers, must have been a matter of the greatest moment. 



It is highly gratifying to observe the pleasure that several 



