30 farmers' and mechanics' journal. 



each other in the manner most conducive to velocity, whicli in our 

 opinion is the very capital object of naval construction, both in 

 ships of war and of commerce. That it is so in the former, no one 

 will, we apprehend, on due reflection deny ; but there will be 

 many who will assert that it cannot be obtained, in the latter, with- 

 out a sacrifice of capacity, which will defeat the object of carrying 

 large cargoes : to this we may reply, thai if a vessel with an ex- 

 pense of one quarter the capacity can make three voyages instead 

 of /zoo, will not the merchant be still a considerable gainer in ca- 

 pacity, and still more so by a ready return of his capital ?* 



All observations on well-conducted experiments concur in prov- 

 ing that velocity is gained by increasing the length, to a much 

 greater degree in relation to the breadth, than has ever yet been 

 done in ships ; and that the increase of the same element contri- 

 butes to their weathering powers, is too obvious to need insisting 

 upon : it is also generally advantageous, when not carried to an 

 extent whicli would seriously retard the manoeuvring of the ship. 

 This limit has not yet by any means been determined ; for it must 

 \w. recollected, that, although the additional length increases the 

 resistance to rotation about a vertical axis, yet the power of the 

 sails to give rotation about the same is also increased, although not 

 in so high a ratio. The power of the rudder to produce rotation 

 is also greater in a long ship than in a short one, not only on ac- 

 count of the greater distance it is from the axis of rotation, but 

 also on account of the greater velocity, and the more direct im- 

 pulse of the water on it. 



******* 



We repeat that the very capital object of the science of Naval 

 Construction is velocity, and we are decidedly of opinion that it is 

 attainable in a much higher degree than at present, without com- 

 promising other necessary qualities, for which we have the concur- 

 rence of facts as far as they go. 



The Americans, in the last war, took every possible advan- 

 tage suggested by views similar to those we have been advert- 

 ing to, in the construction of their large frigates. They had, it 

 may be said, to create a martial navy, and they had to oppose it 

 against tearful odds ; but. free from the prejudices and errors so 

 blindly cherished by their opponents, and which constantly oppose 

 reform by always declaring the present practice to be the best, 

 they did not retread the old path, but began at its last step, and 

 boldly advanced on this principle into all the branches of the art. 

 They built vessels upon the most enlarged dimensions, and of a su- 

 perior weight of metal, and gave an increased ratio of length to the 

 breadth. The result of such a procedure, justified the confidence 

 of the American naval architects in only one maxim, founded upon 

 the scientific observation of facts, and may give us a faint idea of 

 what might be etTected by a still more enlarged and mathematical 



* Foreign nations, and more particularly the American?, find tlieir ad- 

 vantage in having swift niercliant ships, and therefore our assertion i? 

 warranted by facts. 



