MARINE GLUE,or Jeffrey's Glue. A well-known adhesive composition of great importance in ship carpentry, and in various nautical uses. The substance is said to consist of caoutchouc, gum, and mineral oil.
MARINE INSURANCE. A contract by which an individual or a company agree to indemnify the losses or damages happening to a ship or cargo during a voyage. For this agreement the ship-owner pays a sum in advance, called the premium, which falls to the insurer in case the ship arrives safe in a specified harbour. If the ship or cargo, however, be lost by default of the person insured, the insurer shall not be accountable. Among the Romans, the state made good losses by shipwreck, which occasioned many frauds. It is mentioned in the laws of Oleron, but was regulated under its present bearings in England in 1601.
MARINE LAGOON. A lake or inlet formed by the encroachments of the sea, and the deposits of fluviatile action.
MARINE OFFICER. An officer of the Royal Marines. Jocularly and witlessly applied to an empty bottle, as being "useless;" but better rendered as having "done its duty, and ready to do it again."
MARINER. One who obtains his living on the sea, in whatever rank. But with our old voyagers mariners were able seamen, and sailors onlyordinaryseamen. Thus, Middleton's ship sailed from Bantam in 1605, leaving 18 men behind, "of whom 5 were mariners, and 13 sailors."
MARINE RAILWAY. A term which has been applied to a slip for hauling vessels on to repair.
MARINER'S COMPASS.SeeCompass.
MARINER'S NEEDLE. The magnetized bar of a mariner's compass.
MARINES, THE ROYAL. A body of officers and soldiers raised to serve on board men-of-war, and trained to fight either at sea or on shore:their chosen body of artillery was esteemed one of the best under the crown. (SeeArtillery.) "Tell that to the marines" was a common rejoinder to any improbable assertion, when those fine fellows had not acquired their present high estimation.
MARINE STORES. A general term for the iron-work, cordage, sails, provisions, and other outfit, with which a vessel is supplied.
MARITIMA ANGLIÆ. The profit and emolument formerly arising to the king from the sea, but which was afterwards granted to the lord high admiral.
MARITIME. Pertaining to sea affairs: all but synonymous withmarine(which see.)
MARITIME COUNTRY. A country which has its shores washed by the sea.
MARITIME INTEREST.SeeBottomry.
MARITIME LAW. That branch of international law, or the law of nations, which consists of general principles, chiefly derived from ancient codes of law, and admitted by civilized nations, as to commercial intercourse with enemies and neutrals.
MARITIME LIEN. A privileged claim in respect of service done to, or injury caused by, a ship, to be carried into effect by legal process.
MARITIME POSITIONS. The intersection of the geographical co-ordinates of the latitudes and longitudes of places on the globe.
MARITIME POWERS. Those states which possess harbours, &c., on the coasts, and a powerful navy to defend them.
MARK. A certain regulated length for Spanish sword-blades, under penalty of fine, and the weapon to seizure. Also, any object serving for the guidance of ships, as sea-marks, land-marks, leading-marks, &c. Also, a piece of twine on a running rope, as a brace, &c., to show when, by being near the belaying pin or the bitts, it has been sufficiently hauled in. "Mark of the fore-brace down, sir;"—answer, "Belay, oh."
MARKAB. The lucida, or chief star, in the ancient constellationPegasus.
MARKSANDDEEPS. Marks are the measured notifications on the hand lead-line, with white, blue, and red bunting, leather, and knots; deeps are the estimated fathoms between these marks. They are thus noted: mark 2 leather; mark 3 blue; deep 4; mark 5 white; deep 6; mark 7 red; deep 8; deep 9; mark 10 leather; deep 11; deep 12; mark 13 blue; deep 14; mark 15 white; deep 16; mark 17 red; deep 18; deep 19; mark 20 two knots.
MARL,To. To souse fish in vinegar to be eaten cold.SeeSouse.
MARLE,To. To wind marline, spun-yarn, twine, &c., about a rope, so that every turn is secured by a kind of knot, and remains fixed, in case the rest should be cut through by friction. It is commonly used to fasten slips of canvas, called parsling, upon the surface of a rope, to prevent its being galled, or to attach the foot of a sail to its bolt-rope, &c., with marling hitches, instead of sewing it.
MARLINE.SeeLine.
MARLINE-HOLES. Holes made for marling, or lacing the foot-rope and clues in courses and top-sails.
MARLINE-SPIKE. An iron pin tapering to a point, and principally used to separate the strands of a rope, in order to introduce the ends of some other through the intervals in the act of knotting or splicing; it is also used as a lever in marling, fixing seizings, &c. (SeeFid.)
MARLINE-SPIKE HITCH. A peculiar hitch in marling, made by laying the marline-spike upon the seizing stuff, and then bringing the end of that seizing over the standing part, so as to form a jamming bight.
MARMIT. A pot fitted with a hook for hanging it to the bars of the galley-range.
MAROON. A name for a bright light of that colour used for signals; and also for an explosive ball of prepared paste-board.
MAROONING. A custom among former pirates, of putting an offender on shore on some desolate cape or island, with a gun, a few shot, a flask of powder, and a bottle of water.
MARQUE.SeeLetters of Marque.
MARQUEE. An officer's oblong tent; has two poles, and curtains all round; it is often assigned to various staff purposes.
MARROT. A name for the guillemot.
MARRY,To, the Ropes, Braces, or Falls. To hold both together, and by pressure haul in both equally. Also so to join the ends of two ropes, that they will pass through a block.
MARS. One of the ancient superior planets, the next to the earth in order of distance from the sun.
MARSH [Anglo-Saxonmersc, a fen]. Low land often under water, and producing aquatic vegetation. Those levels near the sea coast are usually saturated with salt water.
MARSILIANA. A Venetian ship of burden, square-sterned.
MART. A commercial market. Also a colloquialism for marque, as a letter ofmartormarque.
MARTELLO TOWER. So named from a tower in the Bay of Mortella, in Corsica, which, in 1794, maintained a very determined resistance against the English. A martello tower at the entrance of the bay of Gaeta beat off H.M.S.Pompée, of 80 guns. A martello is built circular, and thus difficult to hit, with walls of vast thickness, pierced by loop-holes, and the bomb-proof roof is armed with one heavy traversing gun. They are 30 to 40 feet high, surrounded by a dry fosse, and the entrance is by a ladder at a door several feet from the ground.
MARTIAL LAW. The law of war, obtaining between hostile forces, or proclaimed in rebellious districts; it rests mainly on necessity, custom in like cases, and the will of the commander of the forces; thus differing frommilitary law(which see). Martial law is proclaimed when the civil law is found to be insufficient to preserve the peace; in the case of insurrection, mutiny, &c., the will and judgment of the officer in command becomes law.
MARTIN. A cat-sized creature with a valuable fur imported from Hudson's Bay and Canada in prodigious numbers.—"My eye and Betty Martin," is a common expression implying disbelief; a corruption of the Romishmihi, beate Martine!
MARTINET. A rigid disciplinarian; but one who, in matters of inferior moment, harasses all under him.
MARTINGALE. A rope extending downwards from the jib-boom end to a kind of short gaff-shaped spar, fixed perpendicularly under the cap of the bowsprit; its use is to guy the jib-boom down in the same manner as the bobstays retain the bowsprit. The spar is usually termed thedolphin-striker, from its handy position whence to strike fish.
MARTNETS. The leech-lines of a sail—they were said to betoppedwhen the leech was hauled by them close to the yard.
MARYN [Anglo-Nor.] The sea-coast.
MARYNAL. An ancient term for mariner.
MASCARET. A peculiar movement of the sea near Bordeaux in summer, at low water.
MASK. A cruive or crib for catching fish. A battery is said to be masked when its external appearance misleads the enemy.
MAST [Anglo-Saxonmæst, also meant chief or greatest]. A long cylindrical piece of timber elevated perpendicularly upon the keel of a ship, to which are attached the yards, the rigging, and the sails. It is either formed of one piece, and called a pole-mast, or composed of several pieces joined together and termed a made mast. A lower mast is fixed in the ship bysheers(which see), and the foot or keel of it rests in a block of timber called the step, which is fixed upon the keelson.—Expending a mast, or carrying it away, is said, when it is broken by foul weather.—Fore-mast.That which stands near the stem, and is next in size to the main-mast.—Jury-mast.(SeeJury-mast.)—Main-mast.The largest mast in a ship.—Mizen-mast.The smallest mast, standing between the main-mast and the stern.—Over-masted, ortaunt-masted. The state of a ship whose masts are too tall or too heavy.—Rough-mast, orrough-tree. A spar fit for making a mast. (SeeBowspritandJib-boom.)—Springing a mast.When it is cracked horizontally in any place.—Top-mast.A top-mast is raised at the head or top of the lower-mast through a cap, and supported by the trestle-trees.—Topgallant-mast.A mast smaller than the preceding, raised and secured to its head in the same manner.—Royal-mast.A yet smaller mast, elevated through irons at the head of the topgallant-mast; but more generally the two are formed of one spar.—Under-mastedorlow-masted ships. Vessels whose masts are small and short for their size.—To mast a ship.The act of placing a ship's masts.
MAST-CARLINGS. Those large carlings which are placed at the sides of the masts from beam to beam, to frame the partners and give support.
MAST-COAT. A conical canvas fitted over the wedges round the mast, to prevent water oozing down from the decks.
MASTER. The epithet for the captain or commander of a merchantvessel. When England first became a maritime power, ships with sailors, and a master to navigate, were furnished by the Cinque Ports, &c., and the fighting part of the men was composed of soldiers sent on board, commanded by generals, &c. Among the early voyagers there was a distinction betweenmasterandmaister, the latter being the office; as, "we spoke theDragon, whereof Master Ivie was maister," in Welsh'sVoyage to Benin,A.D.1590. In most applications,masterdenotes chief; as master boat-builder, master caulker, master sail-maker, &c.
MASTERof a Ship-of-war. An officer appointed by the commissioners of the navy to attend to the navigating a ship under the direction of the captain, the working of a ship into her station in the order of battle, and in other circumstances of danger, but he reports to the first lieutenant, who carries out any necessary evolution. It is likewise his duty, in concert with lieutenants on surveys, to examine and report on the provisions. He is moreover charged with their stowage. For the performance of these services he is allowed several assistants, who are termed second-masters, master's assistants, &c. This officer's station has been termed the meridional altitude of the lower order of midshipmen, but it is requisite that he be both a good officer and a seaman. He ranks after lieutenants according to date, but is subordinate in command to all lieutenants.
MASTER AND COMMANDER. A title which, in 1814, was simplified to commander, the next degree above lieutenant; he ranks with, but after, a lieutenant-colonel.
MASTER-AT-ARMS. In former times was an officer appointed to command the police-duty of a ship, to teach the crew the exercise of small arms, to confine by order of superiors any prisoners, and to superintend their confinement. Also, to take care that fires and lights were put out at the proper hour, and no spirituous liquors brought on board. He was assisted byship's corporals, who also attended the gangway with the sentinels. Until 1816, the junior lieutenant was nominally lieutenant-at-arms, and drilled the seamen, assisted by the serjeant of marines.
MASTER-ATTENDANT. An officer in the royal dockyards appointed to assist in the fitting or dismantling, removing or securing vessels of war, &c., at the port where he resides; to inspect the moorings in the harbour, to visit all the ships in ordinary, and to attend at the general musters in the dockyard, taking care that all the individuals registered in the navy-book are present at their duty.
MASTER MARINER. Shipmaster or captain of a merchant vessel.
MASTER OF MISRULE. An officer of an hour or two, when the hands were piped "to mischief." The lord or abbot of misrule on shore has immemorially been a person selected to superintend the diversions of Christmas. In these larks, however, malicious mischief was unknown.
MASTER OF THE FLEET. A master on board the commander-in-chief's ship, who has a general superintendence of the stores issued to the fleet, and reports to the flag-captain any deviations from rule which he may observe.
MASTER-SHIPWRIGHT. The chief superintendent in the building and repairing of ships in the royal dockyards.
MAST-HEAD. The upper part of a mast above the rigging.
MAST-HEADING. A well-known marine punishment, said to give midshipmen the best time for reading. A court-martial, as a substitute, punishes the parents as well as the thoughtless youth.
MAST-HEAD MEN. The men stationed aloft to keep a look-out.
MAST-HEAD PENDANTS.SeePendant.
MAST-HIGH. A figurative expression of height.
MAST-HOLES. The apertures in the deck-partners for stepping the masts.
MAST-HOOPS. The iron hoops on made or built masts.
MAST-HOUSE. In dockyards, where masts are made.
MASTIC. An excellent cement latterly introduced into ship-building, instead of putty and other appliances, to protect the heads of bolts.
MAST-ROPE [Anglo-Saxonmæst-ràp]. That which is used for sending masts up or down.
MASULAHor Massoolah Boats. Madras boats, of which the planks are sewed together with coir yarn, crossing the stitches over a wadding of coir or straw, which presses on the joints, and prevents much leakage. The vessel is thus rendered pliable, and yields to the shock on taking the ground in the surf, which at times runs from 10 to 16 feet high. They are rowed by twelve men, in double banks, with oars formed by an oval piece of board lashed to the end of a rough piece of wood. They are guided by one man with a long steer-oar, who stamps and yells with excitement as he urges the men to pull when a rolling surf is coming up astern. These boats are from 30 to 35 feet in length, 10 to 11 feet in breadth, and 7 to 8 feet in depth.
MAT. To prevent chafing, a thick mat is woven from strands of old rope, spun yarn, or foxes, containing each a greater or lesser number of rope-yarns, in proportion to the intended mat to be made. The largest and strongest kinds are calledpaunch-mats. Thethrum-matis precisely similar to the present cocoa-nut fibre door-mats. Where it is possible, rounding is now used instead of mats, it being neater and holding less water.
MATCH. A wager of emulation by rowing, sailing, manœuvring, &c. (SeeQuick Match.)—Slow match, used by artillerymen, is a very loose rope steeped in a solution of nitre, and burns at the rate of about one inch an hour, and is either used alone, or for lighting the port-fires, by which guns are yet fired for salutes on shore.
MATCHLOCK. A musket fired with a match fixed on the cock opening the pan; long out of use, except in China and some parts of India.
MATCH-TUBS. Conical tubs about 18 inches in height, which have a sunken head perforated with holes, to admit the slow match to hang with the lighted end downwards.
MATE. Generally implies adjunct or assistant.
MATEof a Merchant-ship. The officer who commands in the absenceof the master, and shares the duty with him at sea. (SeeChief Mate or Officer.) There are first, second, third, and fourth mates.
MATEof a Watch. The senior or passed midshipman is responsible to the officer of the watch. He heaves the log, inserts on the log-board all incidents occurring during his watch, musters the men of the watch, and reports to the officer in charge, who, when he is relieved, writes his initials on the log-board.
MATEof the Lower-deck. An officer of considerable importance in former times in ships of the line; he was responsible for the state and condition of the lower deck, and the residents there.
MATEof the Main-deck. The officer appointed to superintend all the duties to be executed upon the main-deck during the day.
MATERIAL MEN. The persons who furnish all tackles and stores, &c., to repair or fit out ships. The high court of Admiralty allows material men to sue against remaining proceeds in the registry, notwithstanding past prohibitions.
MATERIEL. A French word that has been naturalized in speaking of naval or military stores.
MATHEMATICS. The science which treats of every kind of quantity that can be numbered or measured.
MATIES,or Mateys. Dockyard artificers, shipwrights, carpenters, &c.
MATO. A shell formerly of some commercial value on the west coast of Africa.
MATRASS. The square head of an arrow calledquarril. In chemistry it is the Florence oil flask used for evaporation. From its thinness it will stand great gradual heat.
MATROSS. Formerly an assistant gunner in the artillery.
MATTHEW WALKER. A knot, so termed from the originator. It is formed by a half hitch on each strand in the direction of the lay, so that the rope can be continued after the knot is formed, which shows as a transverse collar of three strands. It is the knot used on the end of the laniards of rigging, where dead-eyes are employed.
MAUD. A salmon-net fixed in a square form by four stakes.
MAUL. A heavy iron hammer, used for driving tree-nails or bolts; it has one end faced, and the opposite pointed, whence it is often called a pin-maul.—Top-maulis distinguished by having an iron handle, with an eye at the end, by which it is tied fast to the mast-head. It is kept aloft for driving the iron fid in or out of the top-mast.
MAUND. An Indian weight, which varies in amount depending on the part of the country. Also, a basket used by fishermen; a measure of small fish.
MAUNJEE. The native boatmen of the river Hooghly.
MAVIS-SKATE. The sharp-nosed ray. (SeeFriar-skate.)
MAW,or Sea-maw. The common gull,Larus canus.
MAY.SeeVendaval.
MAYHEM,or Mahim. The law-term for maim.
MAZE. In the herring trade, 500 fishes.
MAZOLET. An Indian bark boat, caulked with moss.
MEAKER. A west-country term for a minnow.
MEAKING IRON. The tool used by caulkers to run old oakum out of the seams before inserting new.
MEALED. Mixed or compounded.—Mealed powder, gunpowder pulverized by treating with spirits of wine.
MEALES,or Miols. Immense sand-banks thrown up by the sea on the coasts of Norfolk, Lancashire, &c.
MEAN. As a general term implies the medium, but a mean of bad observations can never make a good one.
MEAN ANOMALY.SeeAnomaly.
MEAN DISTANCE. The average distance of a planet from the sun; it is equal to half the longer axis of the ellipse, and hence is frequently termed the semi-axis major.
MEAN EQUINOX. The position of the equinox independent of the effects of nutation.
MEAN MOTION. The rate at which a body moving in an elliptic orbit would proceed at an equal velocity throughout.
MEAN NOON. The noon of a mean day supposing the year to be divided into days of equal length. It differs fromapparent noonby the amount of the equation of time for that date.
MEAN OBLIQUITY. The obliquity of the ecliptic, unaffected with nutation.
MEAN PLACE OF A STAR. Its position at a given time, independent of aberration and nutation.
MEAN SUN.SeeTime.
MEAN TIME.SeeTime.
MEASURE. A comprehensive term including length, surface, time, weight, solidity, capacity, and force of gravity.
MEASURING LINE. The old term for the first meridian reckoned off from a ship's longitude. Also, the five-fathom line used by the boatswain.
MECHANICS. The science which explains the properties of moving bodies, and of the machines from which they receive their impetus. The mechanical powers consist of six primary instruments, the lever, the balance, the pulley, the wheel, the screw, and the wedge: to which is sometimes added the inclined plane; and of some, or all of these, every compound machine consists.
MECK. A notched staff in a whale-boat on which the harpoon rests.
MEDICAL BOARD. A number of medical officers convened to examine sick and wounded officers and men, for invaliding or discharge.
MEDICINE-CHEST. A large chest containing the medical necessaries that may be required for 100 men during the cruize. Several chests are thus fitted and supplied in proportion to the ship's crew, ready for detached service.
MEDICINES. Merchantmen are legally bound to carry medicines in proportion to their crew, with instructions for their use if there be no surgeon on board.
MEDICO. A familiar appellation for the ship's surgeon.
MEDITERRANEANORINLAND SEA. A term applied to a sea surrounded on all sides, except its immediate entrance, by land; as the Mediterranean, so styledpar excellence; also, the Baltic, the Red Sea, &c.
MEDITERRANEAN PASS. A document formerly granted by the Lords of the Admiralty to registered vessels, which was valuable when the Barbary powers were unchecked. (SeePass.)
MEDIUM.SeeResisting Medium.
MEERMAID. A name given by our northern fishermen to theLophius piscatorius, or frog-fish, without reference to themermaid(which see).
MEER-SWINE. The porpoise [from the Germanmeerschwein].
MEET HER! The order to adjust the helm, so as to check any further movement of the ship's head in a given direction.
MEGANESE [Gr.] A large portion of land, inferior in extent to a continent, but which, though insular, is too large to be termed an island, as New Holland.
MEMORIAL. An official petition on account of services performed.
MEN. The ship's company in general.
MEND SAILS,To. To loose and skin them afresh on the yards.
MEND THE SERVICE. Put on more service to the cable, or any part of the rigging chafed.
MERCANTILE MARINE.SeeMarine.
MERCANTILE MARINE FUND. A public fund accumulated by fees payable to the Board of Trade on account of the merchant shipping.
MERCATOR'S CHARTor Projection. Introduced by Gerard Mercator,circa1556: it is a projection of the surface of the earth in the plane, with all the meridians made parallel with each other, consequently the degrees of longitude all equal, the degrees of latitude increasing in a corresponding ratio towards the poles. This is the chart most commonly used in navigation; and its use appears to have obtained quickly, for in 1576, among the items of Martin Frobisher's outfit, we find, "For a greate Mappe Universall of Mercator, in prente, £1, 6s.8d."
MERCATOR'S SAILING. Performed loxodromically, by means of Mercator's charts.
MERCHANTMAN. A trading vessel employed in importing and exporting goods to and from any quarter of the globe.
MERCHANT SERVICE. The mercantile marine.
MERCHANT-VENTURERS. A company of merchants who traded with Russia, Turkey, and other distant parts. In theAffectionate Shepheard, 1594, we find—
"Well is he tearm'd a merchant venturer,Since he doth venter lands, and goods, and all;When he doth travell for his traffique far,Little he knowes what fortune may befall."
MERCURIAL GAUGE. A curved tube partly filled with mercury, to show the pressure of steam in an engine.
MERCURY. One of the ancient inferior planets, and the nearest to the sun, as far as we yet know. (SeeTransit of.) Also, a name for quicksilver; the fluid metal so useful in the construction of the marine barometer, thermometer, and artificial horizon.
MERE. An Anglo-Saxon word still in use, sometimes meaning a lake, and generally the sea itself.
MERIDIAN,of the Earth. Is an imaginary great circle passing through the zenith and the poles, and cutting the equator at right angles. When the sun is on the meridian of any place, it is mid-day there, and at all places situated under the same meridian.—First meridianis that from which the longitude is reckoned. Magnetic meridian is not a great circle but a wavy line uniting those poles. In common acceptation, a meridian is any line supposed to be drawn from the north to the south pole; therefore a place being under the same meridian as another place, is either due north or south of it.—Plane of the meridianis the plane of this great circle, and its intersection with the sensible horizon is called themeridian line.—Themeridian transitof a heavenly body is the act of passing over the said plane, when it is either due north or south of the spectator.—Ante meridiem, or A.M., before noon.—Post meridiem, or P.M., after noon.
MERIDIAN ERROR. The deviation of a transit-instrument from the plane of the meridian at the horizon; it is also termed theazimuthal error.
MERLON. That part of the parapet of a battery between two adjacent embrasures, 15 or 20 feet long in general.
MERMAID. A fabulous sea-creature of which the upper half was said to resemble a woman, the lower half a fish.
MERMAID'S GLOVE. The name of a peculiar sponge,Spongia palmata, abundant at Bermuda.
MERMAID'S PURSE. The oblong horny cases with long filiform appendages developed from each of the four corners, found on the sea-shore, being the outer covering of the eggs of several species of rays and sharks. Also, the hollow root of the sea-weedFucus polyschides.
MERRY DANCERS. The glancings and coruscations of theaurora borealis, or northern lights.
MERRY MEN OF MAY. Dangerous currents formed by the ebb-tides.
MESON. A very old form of spellingmizen.
MESS. Any company of the officers or crew of a ship, who eat, drink, and associate together. (SeeNumber.) Also, the state of a ship in a sudden squall, when everything is let go and flying, and nothing hauled in.
MESS-DECK. The place where a ship's crew mess.
MESSENGER. A large cable-laid rope, used to unmoor or heave up the anchor of a ship, by the aid of the capstan. This is done by binding a part of the messenger to the cable by which the ship rides, in several places, with pliant nippers, and by winding another part of it about thecapstan. The messenger has an eye-splice at each end, through which several turns of a strong lashing are passed, forming an endless rope. So that by putting on fresh nippers forward, and taking them off as they are hove aft, the capstan may be kept constantly going, and the cable is walked in without stopping. (SeeViol.) A superior plan is now adopted, in which the messenger, consisting of a pitch chain which has a double and single link alternately, works in iron spurs fastened above the lower rim of the capstan. This avoids the trouble of shifting or fleeting the messenger while heaving in. Again, the cable itself is commonly brought to the capstan.—Light forward the messenger!is the order to pull the slack of it towards the hawse holes, on the slack or opposite side, so as to be ready to fasten upon the cable which is being hove in, as it comes off the manger-roller at the bows.
MESSENGERS. Boys appointed to carry orders from the quarter-deck. In some ships they wore winged caps of the Mercury type.
MESS-KID. A wooden tub for holding cooked victuals or cocoa.
MESSMATE. A companion of the same mess-table, hence comrades in many ways; whence thesaw: "Messmate before a shipmate, shipmate before a stranger, stranger before a dog."
MESS-TRAPS. The kids, crockery, bowls, spoons, and other articles of mess service.
META-CENTRE. That point in a ship where a vertical line drawn from the centre of cavity cuts a line perpendicular to the keel, passing through the centre of gravity. As this depends upon the situation of the centre of cavity, the meta-centre is often called theshifting-centre. Safety requires this point to be above the centre of gravity.
METAL. A word comprehending the great guns, or ordnance generally, of a ship or battery.
METEINGS. The measurement and estimate of timber.
METEOR.SeeCompasant,Water-spout, &c.
METEORITES. Meteoric stones which fall from the atmosphere, composed of earthy and metallic substances, in which iron, nickel, &c., enter largely.
METEOROLOGIC TELEGRAPHY. The sending of telegrams to various stations at home and abroad, with the object of improving the science of meteorology, and issuing storm warnings, &c.
METONIC CYCLE. A cycle of 19 years, which contains 235 lunations, and results in a correspondence of the solar and lunar years. The discovery of this astronomical period may be safely assigned to Meton in 432B.C.
MEW [Anglo-Saxonmæw]. A name for the sea-gull.
MIASMA. An impure effluvium in the air—proceeding from marshes or moist ground acted upon by solar heat—by which malaria fevers, particularly intermittents, are produced.
MICROMETER. An instrument used to measure small angles, diameters, and distances of heavenly bodies.
MID. The intermediate or middle part of anything. Also,per contractionem, a midshipman.
MID-CHANNEL. Implies half way across any river, channel, &c.
MIDDLE BAND. One of the bands of a sail, to give additional strength.
MIDDLE-LATITUDE SAILING. A method of converting departure in difference of longitude, andvice versâ, by using the middle latitude instead of the meridional parts, as in Mercator's sailing.
MIDDLE-TIMBER. That timber in the stern which is placed amidships.
MIDDLE-TOPSAIL. A deep-roached sail, set in some schooners and sloops on the heel of their top-masts between the top and the cap. A modification of this, under the name of a lower top-sail, is now very common in double-topsail-yarded ships. (Cunningham's top-sails.)
MIDDLE-WALES. The three or four thick strakes worked along each side between the lower and middle-deck-ports in three-deckers.
MIDDLE-WATCH. The portion of the crew on deck-duty from midnight to 4A.M.
MIDDLE-WATCHER. The slight meal snatched by officers of the middle-watch about five bells (or 2·30A.M.)
MIDDLING A SAIL. Arranging it for bending to the yard.
MIDDY. An abbreviation for the younger midshipmen, synonymous withmid.
MIDRIB. A narrow canal or culvert.
MIDSHIPMAN. A naval cadet appointed by the admiralty, with the exception of one in each ship appointed by the captain. No person can be appointed midshipman until he has served one year, and passed his examinations; nor a lieutenant without having previously served six years in the royal navy as midshipman, and having further passed two severe examinations—one in seamanship and one in gunnery. A midshipman is then the station in which a young volunteer is trained in the several exercises necessary to attain a knowledge of steam, machinery, discipline, the general movements and operations of a ship, and qualify him to command.
MIDSHIPMAN'S NUTS. Broken pieces of biscuit as dessert.
MIDSHIPMAN'S ROLL. A slovenly method of rolling up a hammock transversely, and lashing it endways by one clue.
MIDSHIPS. The middle part of the vessel, either with regard to her length or breadth. (SeeAmidships.)
MILDERNIX. A strong canvas of which courses were formerly made; it appears in old statutes.
MILE. The statute mile is 5280 feet; but that used at sea, termed the mean nautic mile, consists of 6075·6 feet, or 60 to a degree.
MILITARY EXECUTION. The levying contributions from a country by military occupation and force.
MILITARY LAW. That under which soldiers and sailors are governed, founded on the acts of parliament passed to that end.
MILITIA. A military force raised by ballot.
MILKY WAY.SeeVia Lactea.
MILL. A boxing match, whether standing up or nailed to a chest.
MILLAR'S SIGHT. General Millar's simple dispart—a sliding pillar bearing a scale graduated to tangents of degrees for setting the gun by.
MILLED LEAD. Sheet lead.
MILLER,To Drown the. To put an overdose of water to grog.
MILLER'S THUMB. A fresh-water fish, theCottus cataphractus.
MILT. The soft roe, or spermatic part, of the male fish.
MINE. A passage made under ground, with a chamber at the end, under the place intended to be blown up; it is entered by the shaft, which leads through the gallery to the chamber.
MINERAL OIL.SeePetroleum.
MINIE RIFLE. This has acquired a great name, though not yet in general use.
MINION. An old four-pounder gun about 7 feet long. Its point-blank range was 120 paces, with a random one of 1500. Bourne, in 1578, mentions the minion as requiring shot 3 inches in diameter.
MINISTER. A minister, though termed plenipotentiary, has no power to grant protection to vessels or cargoes otherwise subject to the operations and laws of hostilities.
MINNIS. An old British word for a rock or piece of rising ground.
MINNOW. A small fresh-water fish—theLeuciscus phoxinus. The term was used in contempt by Shakspeare and the elders.
MINOR AXIS. In a planetary orbit, signifies the line perpendicular to the major axis, and passing through the centre of the ellipse.
MINOR PLANETS.SeeAsteroids.
MINUTE MILE. The sixtieth part of a degree of longitude or latitude; in the latter case it is the sixtieth part of a degree of a great circle, in the former it decreases in length as the latitude increases.
MINUTEANDHALF-MINUTE GLASSES.SeeGlass.
MINUTE-GUNS. Fired at intervals of a minute each during the progress of important funerals.
MINUTES. Short notices taken in writing of any important proceedings.
MIRA. A remarkable variable star in Cetus.
MIRACH. One of the bright stars in Andromeda.
MIRAGE,or Loom. A word, which has crept into use since the French expedition to Egypt, to express the extraordinary refraction which light undergoes when strata of air, of different densities, extend above each other. The mirage, reflecting objects at a great height, inverts and doubles the image.
MIRE-BUMPERand Mire-Drum. North-country names of the bittern.
MIRKLES. The radicle leaves of theFucus esculentus, a sea-weed eaten on our northern coasts.
MIRROR. The speculum of a quadrant, or any silvered or polished reflecting surface.
MISCHIEF.SeeMaster of Misrule.
MISREPRESENTATIONto the Underwriters, of any fact or circumstance material to the risk of insuring, whether by the insured or his agent, and whether fraudulent or innocent, renders the contract null and void. (SeeRepresentation.)
MISSILES. Projectiles of every kind propelled by force.
MISSING. If a vessel is not heard of within six months after her departure (or after the last intelligence of her) from any port in Europe, and within twelve months from other parts of the world, she is deemed to be lost. Presumptive proof will suffice if none of her crew appear.
MISSING STAYS. To fail in going about from one tack to another; when, after a ship gets her head to the wind, she comes to a stand, and begins to fall off on the same tack.
MIST [Anglo-Saxon]. A thin vapour, between afogandhaze, and is generally wet.
MISTICO. Equivalent to ourhermaphrodite, being a small Mediterranean vessel, between a xebec and a felucca. (SeeXebec.)
MISTRAL. A cold N.W. wind experienced on the Mediterranean shores of France. [Corrupted frommaestrale.]
MITTS. A protection for the hand, covering the thumb in one space and the fingers in another, so that men wearing them can still handle ropes.
MIXED MATHEMATICS. Pure mathematics when applied to practical subjects, as astronomy, optics, hydrography, gunnery, engineering, and the like.
MIZAR. The star ζ in Ursa Major; the middle one in the tail.
MIZEN. The spanker or driver is often so named.
MIZEN-MAST. The aftermost mast of a ship (seeShrouds,Stay,Yard, &c.), observing only that the epithet of fore, main, or mizen, is added to each term, to distinguish them from each other. (SeeBonaventure.)
MIZEN MAST-HEAD. Rear-admirals carry their flag at their mizen.
MIZEN STAYSAIL. A fore-and-aft sail of various shapes set on the mizen stay.
MOAT. Synonymous withditch(which see).
MOBILIZATION. The organizing a body of men for active service. Also, a term in naval tactics, applied to the movement of fleets.
MOCCASIN. A slipper made of green hide, and worn in cases of necessity; a term derived from the North American Indians.
MODERATE BREEZE. When all the flying kites may be pleasantly carried.
MODERATE GALE. In which a ship carries double reefs in her top-sails.
MOHUR. A gold coin in the East Indies, value 30s.to 32s.
MOIDORE. A Portuguese gold coin, the sterling value of which is £1, 7s.
MOINEAU. A little flat bastion formerly raised before a curtain, otherwise too long.
MOIST DAUGHTERS. Spenser's term for the Hyades, a group of seven stars in the head of the Bull.
MOKES. The meshes of a fishing-net.
MOLE. A long pier of massy masonry, covering the entrance of a harbour. Also applied to the harbours formed by them, as those of Genoa, Marseilles, Naples, &c.
MOLLY-MAWK. A bird which follows in the wake of a ship rounding the Cape. It is a small kind of albatross.
MOMENTUM. Is the product of a weight multiplied by its velocity; that is, in marine dynamics, by its distance from a point determined as the centre of momentum; or from a line called the axis of the momentum.
MONERES,or Monocrata. Galleys with only one rank of oars.
MONEY-BOUND. A phrase expressive of such passengers as are detained on board till a remittance arrives for paying the passage made.
MONGER. A trader. (SeeMonkey.)
MONITION. Legal notice or warning.
MONITOR. A very shallow, semi-submerged, heavily-armoured steamer, carrying on her open deck either one or two plated revolving turrets, each containing either one or two enormous guns: originally designed by Ericson in the United States during the recent war, to combine the maximum of gun power with the minimum of exposure; they have been very formidable in sheltered and intricate waters, but it remains yet to be shown that they would be effective on the open sea.
MONKEY. A machine composed of a long pig of iron, traversing in a groove, which is raised by a pulley, and let fall suddenly on the head of large bolts for driving them. A larger kind is used inpile-driving. Also, a kind of wooden kid for grog. Also, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, a small trading vessel. Also, passion; as a man's "monkey is up." Also, a machine with which theherculesfacilitates the welding of anchors.
MONKEY-BLOCK. A small single block strapped with a swivel. Also, those nailed on the topsail-yards of some merchantmen, to lead the buntlines through.
MONKEY-BOAT. A half-decked boat above-bridge on the Thames.
MONKEY-JACKET. A warm jacket for night-watches, &c.
MONKEY-PUMP. Straws or quills for sucking the liquid from a cask, through a gimlet-hole made for the purpose—a practice as old as the time of Xenophon, who describes this mode of drinking from the prize jars of Armenia.
MONKEY-SPARS. Reduced masts and yards for a vessel devoted to the instruction and exercise of boys.
MONKEY-TAIL. A lever for training a carronade.
MONK-FISH. TheSquatina angelus. (SeeDevil-fish.)
MONK'S SEAM. That made after sewing the edges of sails together, one over the other, by stitching through the centre of the seam. Also, the fash left at the junction of the moulds when a ball is cast.
MONMOUTH CAP. A flat worsted cap formerly worn by soldiers and sailors. In the old playEastward Ho, it is said, "Hurl away a dozen of Monmouth caps or so, in sea ceremony to your bon voyage."
MONOXYLON [Gr.] Boats in the Ionian Isles propelled with one oar.
MONSOON [from the Persianmonsum, season]. The periodical winds in certain latitudes of India and the Indian Ocean. They continue five or six months from one direction, and then alter their course, and blow (after the tempestuous tumult of their shifting has subsided) during an equal space of time from an opposite point of the compass, with the same uniformity. They are caused by the unequal heating of land and water, and occur in the tropics, where the "trade" would constantly blow if it were not for the presence of land. (SeeWinds.) The south-west monsoon is called by the Arabskhumseen, denoting fifty, as they suppose it to precede the overflowing of the Nile by fifty days. (SeeKamsin.)
MONTE PAGNOTE. In former days an eminence out of cannon shot of operations, where spectators were not exposed to danger.
MONTERO. A military cap and hood formerly worn in camp.
MONTHLY ALLOWANCE. A sum paid monthly to warrant and petty officers not allowed to draw bills; and to seamen, marines, and boys serving on board. Wages are now paid regularly.
MONTHLY NOTES.SeeAllotment.
MOON. Our satellite; she performs her revolution in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes. (SeeFull MoonandNew Moon.) A hazy or pale colour of the moon, revealing the state of our atmosphere, is supposed to forebode rain, and a red or copper colour to forebode wind.
MOON-BLINK. A temporary evening blindness occasioned by sleeping in the moonshine in tropical climates; it is technically designatednyctalopia.
MOON-CULMINATORS. Certain stars near the same parallel of declination as the moon, and not differing greatly from her in right ascension, given in the Ephemeris as proper objects for comparison with her, to determine the longitudes of places.
MOONEY. Not quite intoxicated, but unfitted for duty.
MOON IN DISTANCE. When the angle between her and the sun, or a star, admits of measurement for lunar observation.
MOONISH. Variable, as with Shakspeare's Rosalind.
MOON-RAKERS. Sails above the skysails. They are usually designated moon-sails.
MOON-SHEERED. A ship the upper works of which rise very high, fore and aft.
MOONSHINE. Illicit hollands, schiedam, and indeed smuggling in general; excused as amatter of moonshine. A mere nothing.
MOON-STRUCK. An influence imputed to the moon in the tropics, by which fish, particularly of theScomberclass, though recently taken, become intenerated, and even spoiled; while some attribute poisonous qualities to them in this state. Human beings are also said to be injured by sleeping in the moon's rays.
MOOR. An upland swamp, boggy, with fresh water. Also, an open common.
MOOR,To. To secure a ship with anchors, or to confine her in a particular station by two chains or cables, either fastened to the mooring chains or to the bottom; a ship is moored when she rides by two anchors.
MOOR A CABLE EACH WAY,To. Is dropping one anchor, veering out two cables' lengths, and letting go another anchor from the opposite bow; the first is then hove in to one cable, or less according to circumstances, while the latter is veered out as much, whereby the ship rides between the two anchors, equally distant from both. This is usually practised in a tide-way, in such manner that the ship rides by one during the flood, and by the other during the ebb.
MOOR ACROSS,To. To lay out one of the anchors across stream.
MOOR ALONG,To. To anchor in a river with a hawser on shore to steady her.
MOOR-GALLOP. A west-country term for a sudden squall coming across the moors.
MOORING-BRIDLE. The fasts attached to moorings, one taken into each hawse-hole, or bridle-port.
MOORING-CHOCKS. Large pieces of hard wood with a hole in the centre, shod with iron collars, and fastened between two stanchions in large ships, for the moorings to pass through.
MOORING POSTS OR PALLS. Strong upright posts fixed into the ground, for securing vessels to the landing-place by hawsers or chains. Also, strong pieces of oak inserted into the deck of a large ship for fastening the moorings to when alongside a quay.
MOORING-RINGS. Iron swivel rings fixed on piers or buoys, &c., for securing vessels to.
MOORINGS. Indicated by buoys to which ships are fastened; they are attached by bridles to heavy anchors and cables laid down in the most convenient parts of rivers and harbours. They are termed "swinging," or "all fours," depending on whether the ship is secured by the bow only, or by bow and stern. By their means many more ships are secured in a certain space than would be possible if they used their own anchors.
MOOR QUARTER-SHOT,To. To moor quartering, between the two ways of across and along.
MOOR THE BOAT,To. To fasten her with two ropes, so that the one shall counteract the other, and keep her in a steady position.
MOOR WITH A SPRING ON THE CABLE,To.SeeSpring.
MOOTER. A spike, bolt, tree-nail.
MOOTING. In ship-building, making a tree-nail exactly cylindrical to a given size or diameter, called themoot.
MOP. A young whiting.
MOPPAT. An early name for the sponge of a cannon.
MOPUSSES. A cant term for money in general.
MORASS. Nearly the same thing as a marsh or swamp. In tropical regions they are often overflowed with salt water, yet covered with mangrove and many aquatic plants.
MORGLAY. A great sword, alluded to formerly.
MORION. An ancient steel casque or helmet, without beaver or visor. According to Chaucer it was of more uses than one:—