260 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



the other had some gross fault of style, or committed 

 some error in training, or had a screw loose somewhere ; 

 whereas, as likely as not, they were simply beaten 

 because they had to contend against a stronger set of 

 men. 



Now I do not assert that the Cambridge style was 

 perfection in the late race, or that the men were not 

 overtrained. On the contrary, I think their style was 

 slightly inferior to that of Oxford on the whole (it was 

 certainly superior in one or two respects, as everyone 

 whose opinion was worth anything admitted) ; and it 

 required only a glance at the two crews on the morning 

 of the race to perceive that Cambridge were overtrained. 

 To use an old-fashioned way of speaking about training, 

 the Oxford men had trained red, while the Cambridge 

 men had (mostly) trained yellow which last, by the 

 way, was at one time thought, absurdly enough, the 

 perfection of training. But it was well known, long 

 before either crew was selected, that Cambridge would 

 have a weaker crew this year than Oxford ; and when 

 selection was finally made the difference in this respect 

 was notorious. It is not too much to say that the 

 most perfect coaching and training would not have 

 enabled Cambridge to make a close race of it this year. 

 Now the point to which I would call attention is this : 

 Given two sets of eight men, each chosen from a large 

 number, to contend in any feat whatever, whether of 

 strength, skill, or endurance, the chances are against 

 a close approach to equality in the aggregate effective- 

 ness (which is, in fact, the average effectiveness) of the 



