212 Notices respecting New Books. 
seamen. His accounts of the school for naval architecture, of the 
Royal College at Portsmouth, and of the Naval Asylum at Green- 
wich, are particularly interesting. 
Six chapters are consecrated to the exercises, naval tactics and 
battles. We cannot here give a sufficient idea of so important a 
subject, and must content ourselves with recommending the work 
itself to the attention of all officers, particularly a remarkable chap- 
ter in which Mr. Dupin explains how it happened in the last was, 
that the Americans obtained successes so unexpected and so un- 
natural as they did at first. In treating of these subjects Mr. Dupin 
holds out the exploits of our naval heroes, Nelson, St. Vincent, 
Exmouth, Sidney Smith, &c. as examples to all the maritime 
powers, and never suffers himself to be biassed by any undue par- 
tiality to shade the splendour which belongs to our naval history. 
A large part of the book is consecrated to naval gunnery, which 
presents to the author many recent and valuable improvements. 
General Blomefield’s and General Congreve’s short guns, Ge- 
neral Congreve’s mounting of naval ordnance, Col. Howard 
Douglas’s double flinted lock, Col. Millar’s new chambers for car- 
ronades ; are the most preeminent improvements or inventions 
which he describes at length. He gives also a great many ballistic 
experiments ; he sets particular value on those carried on at 
Woolwich with the ballistic pendulum, under the direction of 
Dr. Gregory, professor of mathematics at the Royal Military 
Academy. 
Having treated at length of the naval ordnance, he then exa- 
mines our men of war furnished with all their guns, and means 
either of attack or defence. He compares the strength of our 
wooden walls with that of the foreign men of war, and almost in 
every particular relating to military power, acknowledges the de- 
cided superiority of our navy. 
In treating upon this plan the offensive and defensive strength 
of our navy, compared with that of the various maritime nations, 
Mr. Dupin shows himself an able engineer, deep in theoretical 
knowledge, and possessed of a remarkable power of observation, 
joined with an uncommon degree of rectitude of mind. 
Next to the actual strength of ships the most important object 
is to give them duration. We have of late greatly improved in 
this respect. Mr. Dupin bestows on the book recently pub- 
lished on this subject by Mr. Knowles, its due portion of com- 
mendation. 
To finish his work, Mr. Dupin has devoted twelve chapters to 
the description of all our dock yards and their dependencies. 
These magnificent establishments, where have been built, fitted 
aud repaired, the fleets which conquered all the seas of the world, 
required a vo less extensive description, Among the a 
which 
