OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ROWING STYLES. 275 



almost uniform speed, will know that the motion of 

 the lightest boat is not strictly uniform. But there 

 is an immense difference between the almost imper- 

 ceptible loss of way of a modern eight and the dead 

 ( lag ' in the old-fashioned craft. And hence we get 

 the following important consideration. Whereas with 

 the old boats it was useless for a crew to attempt to 

 give a very quick motion to their boat by a sharp, 

 sudden ' lift,' this plan is calculated to be, of all others, 

 the most effective with the modern racing-sight. 



It may seem, at first sight, that, after all, the result 

 of the Cambridge style should be as effective as that 

 of the other. If arms and shoulders do their work 

 in both crews with equal energy which we may 

 assume to be the case and if the number of strokes 

 per minute is equal, the actual propulsive energy 

 ought to be equal likewise. A little consideration 

 will show that this is a fallacy. If two men pull at 

 a weight together they will move it farther with a 

 given expenditure of energy than if first one and 

 then the other apply his strength to the work. And 

 what is more to the purpose, they will be able to 

 move it faster. So shoulders and arms working simul- 

 taneously will give a greater propulsive power than 

 when working separately, even though in the latter 

 case each works with its fullest energy. And not 

 only so, but by the simultaneous use of arms and 

 shoulders, that sharpness of motion can alone be given 

 which is essential to the propulsion of a modern racing- 

 boat. 



T 2 



