The upright position a little inclined backwards, (which, like every other change of posture, must be done deliberately, by the corresponding movement of the head,) reversing in this case the motion of the arms, and striking the flat part of the foot down and a little forward, gives the motion backward, which is performed with greater ease than when the body is laid horizontally on the back. According to this system, Bernardi says, a swimmer ought at every stroke to urge himself forward a distance equal to the length of his body. A good swimmer ought to make about three miles an hour. A good day’s journey may thus be achieved, if the strength be used with due discretion, and the swimmer be familiar with the various means by which it may be recruited. Of Bernardi’s successful practice, he says, “Having been appointed to instruct the youths of the Royal Naval Academy of Naples in the art of swimming, a trial of the proficiency of the pupils took place, under the inspection of a number of people assembled on the shore for that purpose, on the tenth day of their instruction. A twelve-oared boat attended the progress of the pupils, from motives of precaution. They swam so far out in the bay, that at length the heads of the young men could with difficulty be discerned with the naked eye; and the Major General of Marine, Forteguerri, for whose inspection the exhibition was intended, expressed serious apprehensions for their safety. Upon their return to the shore, the young men, however, assured him that they felt so little exhausted as to be willing immediately to repeat the exertion.” An official report on the subject has also been drawn up by commission (appointed by the Neapolitan government), after devoting a month to the investigation of Bernardi’s plan; and it states as follows: “1st. It has been established by the experience of more than a hundred persons of different bodily constitutions, that the human body is lighter than water, and consequently will float by nature; but that the art of swimming must be acquired, to render that privilege useful. “2dly. That Bernardi’s system is new, in so far as it is founded on the principle of husbanding the strength, and rendering the power of recruiting it easy. The speed, according to the new method, is no doubt diminished; but security is much more important than speed; and the new plan is not exclusive of the old, when occasions require great effort. “3dly. That the new method is sooner learnt than the old, to the extent of advancing a pupil in one day as far as a month’s instruction on the old plan.” _Treading Water._ This differs little from the system just described. As in it, the position is upright; but progression is obtained by the action of the legs alone. There is little power in this method of swimming: but it may be very useful in rescuing drowning persons.