OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ROWING STYLES. 299 



boat draws up to the rudder of the other as by a suc- 

 cession of impulses, although either boat seen alone 

 would seem to sweep on with 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 imperceptible loss of way of a 

 modern eight and the dead "lag" in the old-fashioned 

 craft. And hence we get the following important con- 

 sideration : 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-eight. 



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 



