In Bushnell’s _Compleat Shipwright_, published in 1678, a proposal was made for working oars by pivoting them at the vessel’s side and connecting their inboard ends by longitudinal rods operated by cranks geared to a centre-line capstan. But the disadvantages of oars so used must have been apparent, and there is no evidence that this invention was ever put into practice. The obvious alternative was the paddlewheel, and though that device had been known and used in a primitive form long before the seventeenth century, it was continually being reinvented (especially in the ’nineties) and tried by inventors in various countries. Denis Papin turned his original mind to the solution of this problem. A paper on the subject written by him in Germany in 1690 is of interest. Discussing the use of oars from ships’ sides he notes that, “Common oars could not be conveniently used in this way, and it would be necessary to use for this purpose those of a rotary construction, such as I remember to have seen at London. They were affixed to a machine made by direction of Prince Rupert, and were set in motion by horses, so as to produce a much greater velocity than could be given by sixteen watermen to the Royal Barge.” Papin, who had suggested the atmospheric steam engine, also suggested the possible application of steam to propulsion. But it was left to others to achieve what he had to propose. His talent, it has been said, lay rather in speculations on ingenious combinations, than in the mechanical power of carrying them into execution on a great scale. In 1708 he laid before the Royal Society, accompanied by a letter of recommendation from Leibnitz, a definite proposal for a boat “to be moved with oars by heat ... by an engine after the manner that has been practised at Cassel.” What form this engine was to take, and how the power was to be transmitted to the oars, is still a matter of conjecture. Only this is known, that the proposal was considered in detail by the president, Sir Isaac Newton, and that on his advice no further action was taken.[134] In France it has been widely claimed that Papin actually engined a boat and propelled it over the waters of the Weser by the force of steam. His biographer states that on the 24th September, 1707, Papin “embarquait sur le premier bateau à vapeur toute sa fortune.”[135] But the statement is not correct. The misconception, like that which assigned to the Marquis of Worcester the invention of a steam-propelled vessel, was doubtless due to the fact that the inventor was known to be engaged in the study of the steam engine and of ship-propelling mechanism. The two things, though distinct in themselves, were readily combined in the minds of his admirers. It is generally agreed to-day, we think, even by his own countrymen, that Papin, though he may claim the honour of having first suggested the application of steam to ship propulsion, never himself achieved a practical success.