428 
ME. E. J. EEED ON THE UNEQUAL DISTEIBUTION OF 
' Minotaur’ (as shown in Plate XVI. fig. 2 and Plate XVII. fig. 8) there are only two sec- 
tions, and this is the simplest case, besides being that which is most frequently met with. 
In the ‘ Victoria and Albert’ (as shown in figs. 1 & 7) and in the ‘ Bellerophon’ (as shown 
in Plate XVI. fig. 3 and Plate XVII. fig. 9) there are four water-borne sections, and 
consequently four sections of maximum shearing. In the ‘ Audacious,’ when fully laden, 
there are also four such sections (see Plate XVI. figs. 4 and Plate XVII. 10) ; and 
in this case it is evident that, by transposing 40 or 50 tons weight from amidships 
towards the extremities, keeping the ship’s trim unaltered, the curve of weights might 
be made to cross the curve of buoyancy in two other points, thus bringing up the number 
of water-borne sections to six. When the ‘ Audacious’ has only her engines and boilers 
on board, she is, in fact, in the conditions here referred to, the balanced or water-borne 
sections being marked S 1 S 1 , S 2 S 2 , &c. in Plate XVI. fig. 6, and R 1 IP, R 2 R 2 , &c. in Plate 
XVII. fig. 11. We can also imagine a ship to be so loaded that there would be even a 
greater number of water-borne sections than this ; and it appears, at first sight, difficult 
to determine what law regulates the number of these sections. On an inspection of all 
the cases we have given, however, it will be seen that the number of water-borne sections 
is always even ; and it appears probable that, at least in the greater number of ships 
having an excess of weight at the extremities, this law will be conformed to. The 
reason is that the excesses of weight and buoyancy for all parts of the ship must balance, 
and that at the extremities of such ships there are always two loops of the curve of loads 
lying below the axis. 
It will be remarked that we have not fixed the position of the absolute or true 
maximum shearing-force as yet, and it will be necessary to determine it, either by cal- 
culation or by means of the curve of shearing-forces, the latter being the simpler plan. 
In different ships the section of absolute maximum shearing-force is found in various 
positions. For example, in the ‘ Minotaur’ it is at the aftermost water-borne section 
R 2 R 2 XVII. fig. 8), while in the ‘Victoria and Albert’ it is at the water-borne 
section R 2 R 2 (Plate XVI. fig. 7). In screw steam-ships, as a rule, the greatest shearing- 
force is experienced at the aftermost water-borne section, on account of the, to some 
extent, unavoidable excess of weight at the stern. The ‘Bellerophon’ and ‘Audacious’ 
are cases in point (see Plate XVII. figs. 9 & 10). The case of the ‘Minotaur’ is excep- 
tional in one respect, viz. that there is only a small difference between the shearing-forces 
at the two water-borne sections ; in most cases the absolute maximum would probably 
be greater relatively to the other maximum shearing-forces. 
Next, as to the sections where the shearing-forces have zero values. The extremities 
of a ship obviously have no shearing-force to resist, and we have seen, in the case of the 
‘Bellerophon’ (fig. 9), that at the sections of water-borne division the shearing-force is 
also zero. The condition established in that ship holds for all the other ships I have 
taken, and in fact for all ships when floating in still water. In the ‘ Minotaur,’ which 
is the simplest possible case, there is (neglecting the extremities) only one such section 
(a a! in fig. 8) ; in the other three ships, when fully laden, there are three such sections, 
