1874.] Loss of Life at Sea. 469 
any universal rule for the safe loading of all merchant 
ships.” 
This is all true so far as it goes, but it is very unsatisfac- 
tory that it goes no further. They omit from the list of 
considerations that should influence the load-line, the ruling 
one—that of the disposition of the cargo: this wrongly 
stowed renders nugatory, as regards safety, all care that 
may have been bestowed upon other points. Then there is 
a looseness in the use of the term zeserve buoyancy that 
ought not to occur; the mere fact that a part of the vessel, 
as she floats, is above water, by no means proves that this 
is reserve buoyancy—it may be absolutely without buoyancy, 
and may be, so to speak, only waiting for an opportunity 
to take its natural place below. The ship may have become, 
by bad stowage, what Sir Edward Watkin styled—when 
speaking of vessels designed by Mr. Reed—a “‘ ship upside 
down.” 
Buoyancy, to be efficacious in that degree, must be real. 
Buoyancy is the hydrostatic pressure that supports any body 
floating in a fluid. It is equal to the difference between the 
mean specific gravity of the floating body and the fluid in 
which it floats multiplied by the displacing volume. 
It is clear, from the above exact definition, that unless 
that portion of the body which is temporarily above water 
is of less specific gravity than the water in which the body 
floats, it does not possess buoyancy, and cannot give any 
support. 
We strongly object to the season of the year being taken 
as a consideration when fixing the line to which a ship 
should be loaded, as it implies that it is proper that a ship 
should be less safe in summer than in winter, forgetting 
that she may cross the Tropics, and thus pass from summer 
into winter, and that she may, and they do, frequently meet 
with abnormal seas and winds in summer; besides, ships 
stowed on such erroneous principles as these cannot be 
otherwise than proportionably unmanageable and ineffective, 
and do not bring profit to the owners. 
The Commissieners seem to recognise the faultiness of 
their definition of buoyancy, or rather the erroneous ideas 
that are current about it amongst those who inculcate that 
it matters not where the buoyancy is placed, so only it be 
sufficient in the aggregate; for they say (p. 6) :—‘‘ Double 
bettoms for water-ballast are attended with danger, because 
when the cargo is taken on board these spaces are emptied 
of water, and this may tend to capsize the ship. There are 
many cases where the double bottom affords additional 
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