498 POPULAR LECTURES AND ADDRESSES. 



or i-22nd of her weight (5 1 tons). Again the 

 ship B of 300 feet length, going at 20 knots an 

 hour with an expenditure of 4550 horse-power, 

 experiences a resistance of 34 tons, or about 

 i-noth of her weight (3626 tons). Thus the 

 energy actually expended in propelling these 

 vessels at 20 knots an hour at sea would be 

 sufficient, if the}* were supported on frictionless 

 wheels, to drag them at the same speed up railway 

 inclines, of I in 22 for the torpedo boat, and I in 

 no for the ship B. 



My suggestion is this, and I offer it with exceed- 

 ingly little confidence, indeed with much diffidence ; 

 but I think it is possibly worth considering. Inas- 

 much as wave resistance depends almost entirely on 

 action at the surface of the water, and inasmuch 

 as a fish swimming very close to but below the 

 surface makes very little wave disturbance, it seems 

 to me that by giving a great deal of body below 

 the water line we may relatively diminish the wave 

 disturbance very much. To get high speeds of 18 

 and 20 knots an hour, it is probable that, by swell- 

 ing out the ship below like the old French ships 



