186 



Monthlt/ Review of Literature, 



[ Feb. 



hw guns, and an American Corvette, in 

 wliicli ths former, as much superior to 

 the latter as tlie President to the Little 

 Belt, was sorely mauled, and we believe 

 returned to port to refit, that would have 

 taught our seamen to suspend their judg- 

 ments. Since that time more attention has 

 been paid in our navy to tlie use of the 

 guns. Before, the practice was shamefully 

 neglected ; and, unless we greatly err, one 

 ot our sloops of war was taken by an Ame- 

 rican entirely owing to want of practice in 

 this grand point. The allowance of pow- 

 der and shot for purposes of practice is ut- 

 terly contemptible and useless, and loudly 

 calls for an increase of at least tenfold. 

 It is perfect idiotism to affirm, tliat actual 

 firing is not necessary, and that going 

 through the manoeuvres is equally beneficial 

 — no )'.a\'al men would uphold such sense- 

 less gabble, and one and all loudly com- 

 plain of the trumpery restrictions on the 

 use of powder fur the purposes of practice. 

 It is a sin against tiie nation; it is a jiiece 

 of barbarity against the commanders. But 

 we must return to the book more immedi- 

 ately before us. 



Tlie various subjects handled in the work 

 before us are all of importance. The paper 

 " On determining the centre of gravity of 

 a ship," will we hope be renewed ; for the 

 point cannot be too deeply inculcated, 

 since the utility is great. The article " On 

 the stowage of ships" is clear and masterly, 

 and ennces both a practical and philoso- 

 phical knowledge of the subject; and we 

 regret that we have not space enough to 

 quote 1, 2, and 3, on the stability — roll- 

 ing, and pitching of ships. We remember 

 a new frigate, the Havannah, coming out of 

 riymouth Sound, being nearly capsized by 

 a puff from off the heights of Mount Edge- 

 combe. It was said that a scientific expe- 

 riment had been made with her halhst, which 

 was stowed up the sides of the orlop deck ! ! 

 The doctrine of the " resistance of fluids" 

 is yet in too much obscurity to be made 

 very practicably applicable to naval science. 

 The work before us contains an elaborate 

 paper on the subject ; but the ingenuous 

 writer does not conceal the difficulty of the 

 subject or the uncertainly of the results 

 for practical purposes. The future numbers 

 will, we hope, embrace further enquiries 

 into tills abstruse subject. Among the 

 j)ractical ])ai)ers, tiiose on the " raking of 

 ship's masts," and on the " timber used 

 for the masts of ships/' and on the " sta- 

 bility of flouting bodies," demand atten- 

 tion. 



The account of the experimental cruises 

 of the Orestes, Cliampion. and Pylades, 

 is very impartially given. The Cliampion 

 was constructed by Captain Hay£S, and 

 may be «steeraed a little superior, as a man 

 of war, to the Orestes, constructed under 

 the direction of Doctor Inman, and both 

 these vessels far superior in capacity and 

 fivery qualification to the Pylades, built 



under the direction of Sir R. Seppings, 

 sui'veyor of the navy. 



It will be seen by the following quotation 

 how impartially the merits of these vessels 

 are stated ; at the same time it may be 

 observed that some of the defects of the 

 Champion were capable of being remedied, 

 since they were consequences arising from 

 a consumption of weight in the shape of 

 stores which might have been supplied'by 

 water. After stating that " the Champion 

 had greater capacity than the Orestes, and 

 the Orestes than the Pylades," that the 

 capacity of the former arose from the 

 fidness of the after body, which required 

 all her ballast to be stowed aft to keep her 

 in trim, and which weakened her structure, 

 &c., they thus conclude : — 



" In rolling they were all considered easy. In 

 pitching, the Orestes and Champion were easy and 

 dry ; the Pylades easy, but not so di7 as the other 

 two. The Orestes and Champion were nearly equal 

 in stability ; the Pylades had not so much as either 

 of these two, but was not at all deficient in conipa- 

 rison with other ships. But the peculiarity of the 

 Champion's construction materially afl'ected the per- 

 manence of her stability ; she required her ballast to 

 be stowed aft, consequently its centre of gravity was 

 much higher than it would otherwise have been ; 

 and as the consumable parts of the stores were dimi- 

 nished, this had a proiwrtionally greater effect in 

 raising the centre of gravity of the system, and 

 therefore diminishing the stability. On the whole, 

 then, the greater fullness of the after body of the 

 Champion was certainly a considerable fault in her 

 construction ; in the Pylades, the stowage and ac- 

 commodations were small; and the Orestes might 

 probabiy have been improved had her bow been 

 rather finer." 



During the first cruize the Orestes and 

 Pylades carried lee helms ; much is said on 

 this subject, and we will offer a few cursory 

 remarks on it. A vessel, when upright in 

 the water, has the fluid passing equally on 

 both bows. Suppose her under sail on the 

 starboard tack, the larboard bow is deeply 

 immersed in the water, while the starboard 

 is proportionally raised out of it : hence 

 it is evident that the fluid is pressing on a 

 greater portion of the larboard, or lee bow, 

 than on the starboard, or weather bow, 

 and so must have a powerful tendency to 

 turn the vessel's head to the wind, to 

 prevent which it is necessary to counteract 

 that influence of the fluid by the helm. 

 The v.eather quarter being also raised, adds 

 to this tendency, which is not proper- 

 tionally counteracted by the immersion of 

 the lee quarter, owing to the eddy water, 

 &c. A fine and seamanlike adjustment of 

 the levers (for such the sails are virtually) 

 will make most ships, if in tolerable trim, 

 steer without difficulty. Perhaps a minute 

 attention to the structure of the bow wovdd 

 lead to very beneficial results on this point. 

 The only unphilosophical action apparent 

 during the cruises of these sliips, was that 

 of overdressing the Champion. There is a 

 maximum in caiTying sail, beyond which 

 tlie. velocity is retarded in proportion ^ the 



