this limit had already been reached. The inefficiency of the square tuck was exposed by trials carried out in H.M.S. _Dwarf_ at Chatham. As a result of these, future new and converted ships were given as fine a stern as possible. For several years, however, the policy of the Admiralty remained the same: the screw was regarded solely as an auxiliary. The French, on the other hand, took a less compromising line of action. After waiting for some time and watching our long series of experiments, they convened in 1849 a grand _Enquête Parliamentaire_: a commission which, primed with the latest information as to British naval material, was to decide on what basis of size, number, armament and means of propulsion future French warships should be built. For two years the commission sat sifting evidence. And then it recommended screw propulsion of the highest power for all new ships, as well as the conversion of some existing classes to auxiliary screw power. England had fitted her ships with screws capable of giving them small speed; France must fit hers with screws of greater power. Speed, said the commission, is an element of power. Superior speed is the only means by which the English can be fought with a good chance of success. Sails must be secondary, therefore, and full reliance must be placed on the screw. The recommendations of the commission were duly realized. In the following years a powerful force of fast screw battleships, frigates, transports, and despatch boats was constructed which by ’58 had brought the aggregate of the horse-power of the French fleet almost to a level with that of England.