good judge of rowing, and is capable of giving very good in- structions to others, is guilty of many faults in his own oars- manship. And yet it cannot be said of him that he ‘knows no better’ as regards those faults which he personally commits, On the contrary, if he were to see one of his own pupils rowing with any one of these same faults, he would promptly detect it, and would be able to explain to the pupil the why and the wherefore of the error, and of its cure. Nevertheless, he per- petrates in his own person the very fault which he discerns and corrects when he notes it in another! And the reason is this. His own carsmanship has become mechanical, and is reproduced stroke after stroke without a distinct volition. It became faulty at the time when it was becoming mechanical, because the brain was not sufficiently conscious of the orders which it was dictating, or was not duly informed, from some external source, what orders it should issue, So the brain gaye wrong orders, through carclessness or ignorance, or both, and continued to repeat them, until the muscles learnt to repeat their faulty functions spontaneously, and without the immediate cognisance of the brain,
This illustration, of which many a practical instance will be recalled by any rowing man of experience, seryes to show the importance of keeping the mind attentive, as far as possible, at all Gmes when rowing, and still more so while elementary row- ing is being learnt, and also of haying, if possible, a mentor to watch the endeavours of the student, and to inform him of any error of movement which he may perpetrate, before his mind and muscles become confirmed in an erroncous line of action.
The reader will therefore see from the above that it is important for any one who seeks to acquire really scientific oarsmanship, not only to pay all the mental attention that he can to the movements which he is executing,.but also to secure the presence of some experienced adviser who will watch the execution of each streke, and will point out at the time what moyements have been correctly and what have been incorrectly performed.
