125 
of floating Bodies, and the Stability of Ships. 
particularly John Bernouilli, Bouguer, and the excellent 
M. Euler, whose treatise, intituled Theorie complette de la 
Construction & Manoeuvre des Vaisseaux, is a work correspond- 
ent to the title, entirely theoretical. In this elaborate per- 
formance the author has not only endeavoured to explain the 
complicated laws which influence the motion of ships at sea, 
but proceeds to investigate, on the ground of such data as 
the subject affords, the dimensions and position of the most 
essential parts of vessels which combine to give them every 
possible advantage in the practice of navigation. 
Several inquiries are suggested by the perusal of these theo- 
retical works ; first, whether the proportions and dispositions of 
parts in ships resulting from theory have been found to differ 
from, or to agree with, those which had been previously esta- 
blished in the practice of naval architecture ; secondly, if disa- 
greement should have been discovered, whether any adequate 
and satisfactory trials have been made to ascertain the advan- 
tages which result from adhering to the constructions pre- 
scribed by practice, compared with those which are conse- 
quences of following the deductions from theory ; and lastly, 
if any new forms of vessels, disposition of parts, or other va- 
rieties of construction, have been discovered by considering 
this subject in a theoretical view, and in what degree these 
inventions- have been found advantageous when applied in 
practice. 
Exclusive of the application of geometrical principles,* by 
* Practical treatises on ship -building have been published by various authors, 
particularly by M. Clairbois, Romme, and Fred. Chapman. In these useful 
works theory is occasionally applied to explain and illustrate the principles of naval 
architecture : but no accounts are to be found in either of these volumes, as far as my 
researches extend, by which the construction of vessels, founded on theoretic investi- 
