It is time now to refer to the powerful influence exercised over our naval architecture by Sir Robert Seppings. It was he who in 1804 introduced the round bow in place of the straight wall-like structure which had been inherited from the previous centuries. Similarly, instead of the square stern, he gave his ships a circular one. But more important still was the diagonal method of placing the timbers of a ship which he introduced in 1800. The advantage of this was increased strength and ability to resist the hogging strains, which the Egyptians also had to overcome.[109] A large model showing Seppings’ method of construction will be found in the Greenwich Museum. The system, while no doubt being efficacious in preventing the “working” of a ship’s component parts, must necessarily have added very considerably to her weight. It was about this time, too, that teak was used occasionally for the construction of ships. During the first quarter of the century whatever improvements were made in British naval architecture owed their origin almost entirely to the knowledge gained from the numerous prizes captured from the French. One of the finest ships ever built in France was the _Sans Pareil_, which we had taken from the enemy in 1794. She was of 2242 tons and carried 80 guns. (The reader will find a block-model of this ship in the Greenwich Museum). The influence which this vessel exercised over our naval architecture was not inconsiderable. So much admiration did she receive that as late as 1845 there was designed on similar lines and laid down at Devonport a British ship. She was never launched, however, as another _Sans Pareil_, but while on the stocks was altered, her length was increased, and she was eventually given the addition of a screw propeller, and thus launched in 1851. [Illustration: FIG. 70. THE “NEWCASTLE,” AN EAST INDIAMAN. _Photo. Hughes & Son, Ltd._]