Chapter M (2)

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. (_See_ MONKEY.)

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 in _pile-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 the _hercules_ facilitates 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. The _Squatina angelus_. (_See_ DEVIL-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 play _Eastward 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 Persian _monsum_, 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. (_See_ WINDS.) The south-west monsoon is called by the Arabs _khumseen_, denoting fifty, as they suppose it to precede the overflowing of the Nile by fifty days. (_See_ KAMSIN.)

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. _See_ ALLOTMENT.

MOON. Our satellite; she performs her revolution in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes. (_See_ FULL MOON and NEW 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 designated _nyctalopia_.

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 a _matter of moonshine_. A mere nothing.

MOON-STRUCK. An influence imputed to the moon in the tropics, by which fish, particularly of the _Scomber_ class, 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. _See_ SPRING.

MOOTER. A spike, bolt, tree-nail.

MOOTING. In ship-building, making a tree-nail exactly cylindrical to a given size or diameter, called the _moot_.

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:--

"Their beef they often in their morion stewed."

MORNING GUN. The gun fired from the admiral's or senior officer's ship, to announce day-break, which is answered by the muskets of the sentries in the other ships.

MORNING STAR. An offensive weapon of the mediaeval times, consisting of a staff, to which was attached an iron ball covered with spikes. Also, the planet which is near the meridian at day-dawn.

MORNING WATCH. Those of the crew on watch from 4 to 8 A.M.

MORRA. An ancient game still played in Italy with extraordinary zest, by two persons raising the right hand, and suddenly and contemporaneously throwing it down with only some of the fingers extended, when the aim is to guess what they unitedly amount to. Also, a term for a headland or promontory on the coasts of Chili and Peru. Also, a round tower or fort, as at Havana [from the Spanish _morro_, round].

MORRIS-PIKE. A formidable Moorish weapon, the precursor of the boarding-pike.

MORSE. _See_ WALRUS.

MORSING POWDER. An old term for priming powder.

MORTAR. A short piece of ordnance used for throwing shells, so that they may fall nearly vertical; they thus acquire force for breaking through roofs, decks, &c. It is fired at a fixed angle of elevation, generally at 45 deg., the charge of powder varying according to the range required.

MORTAR-BED AND BED-BEAMS. _See_ BOMB-BEDS, &c.

MORTAR-VESSEL. _See_ BOMB-VESSEL.

MORTGAGE. A registered ship, or share therein, which has been made a security for a money-loan, or other valuable consideration, is termed a mortgage in the Merchant Shipping Act.

MORTICE. A morticed block is one made out of a single block of wood, chiselled for one or more sheaves; in distinction from a _made block_. The chisel used for morticing is peculiar to that purpose.

MORUACH. A peculiar seal, which has been frequently mistaken on our northern shores for a mermaid.

MOSES. A flat-bottomed boat used in the West Indies for bringing off hogsheads of sugar; it is termed single or double, according to its size.

MOSES' LAW. The term among pirates for inflicting thirty-nine lashes on the bare back--forty save one.

MOSQUITO. A term applied to a gnat-like species of stinging insects, found chiefly in low marshy places and the neighbourhood of rivers.

MOSQUITO FLEET. An assemblage of small craft.

MOSQUITO NET. A light curtain spread over a cot or bed in warm climates, to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes.

MOSS-BONKER. The name given by American fishermen to the _hard-head_ (which see).

MOTHER CARY'S CHICKEN. The stormy petrel, _Procellaria pelagica_.

MOTHER CARY'S GOOSE. The name given by Captain Cook's people to an oceanic brown bird, _Procellaria gigantea_, which Pernety calls _Quebranta huesos_ (bone-breaker).

MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The iridescent nacreous inner layer of several species of shells, especially the "pearl-oyster" (_Meleagrina margaritifera_).

MOTHERY [probably from the Dutch _m[oe]der_, mud]. Thick and mouldy; generally applied to decomposing liquors.

MOTION. Change of place; it is termed _direct_, in the sky, when it is in the direction of the earth's annual revolution; _retrograde_, when it proceeds contrary to these conditions; by _sidereal_ is meant the motion of a body with respect to the fixed stars.--_Tropical motion_ is the movement of a body in respect to the equinox or tropic, which has itself a slow motion among the stars, as shown under precession. (_See_ PROPER MOTION.)--_Motion_, in mechanics, is either simple or compound, as one or more powers are used. The momentum of a moving body, or quantity of motion, arises from its velocity multiplied into the quantity of matter it contains.

MOTION, CENTRE OF. That point of a body which remains at rest whilst all the other parts are in motion about it: as the mathematical centre of a revolving sphere.

MOTOR. The prime mover in machinery.

MOULDED. The size of the timber, the way the mould is laid; cut to the mould.

MOULDED BREADTH. The measure of beam from outside to outside of the timbers, without the thickness of the plank.

MOULDING DIMENSION. In ship-building, implies the depth or thickness of any piece of timber.

MOULDING EDGE. That edge of a timber to which, in shaping it, the mould is applied.

MOULDINGS OF A GUN. The several rings and ornaments.

MOULD-LOFT. A long building, on the floor of which the intended vessel is laid off from the several draughts in full dimensions.

MOULDS. In naval architecture, are thin flexible pieces of board used on the mould-loft floors as patterns.

MOUNT, OR MOUNTAIN. An Anglo-Saxon term still in use, usually held to mean eminences above 1000 feet in height. In a fort it means the _cavalier_ (which see).

MOUNT, TO. When said of a ship-of-war, implies the number of guns she carries.--_To mount_, in a military sense, is also to furnish with horses.

MOUNT A GUN, TO. To place it on its carriage.

MOUNT AREEVO! [Sp. _montar arriba_]. Mount aloft; jump up quickly.

MOUNTEBANK. The _Gammarus arcticus_, or arctic shrimp.

MOURNING. A ship is in mourning with her, ensign and pennant half-mast, her yards topped awry, or apeek, or alternately topped an-end. If the sides are painted blue instead of white, it denotes deep mourning; this latter, however, is only done on the ship where the admiral or captain was borne, and in the case of merchant ships on the death of the owner.

MOUSE. A kind of ball or knob, wrought on the collars of stays by means of spun-yarn, higher parcelling, &c. The mouse prevents the running eye from slipping. (_See_ PUDDENING.) Also, a match used in firing a mine. Also, a mark made upon braces and other ropes, to show their squaring or tallying home.--_To mouse a hook_, to put a turn or two of rope-yarn round the point of a tackle-hook and its neck to prevent its unhooking.--_To raise a mouse_, to strike a blow which produces a lump.

MOUTH [the Anglo-Saxon _muda_]. The embouchure opening of a port or outlet of a river, as Yarmouth, Tynemouth, Exmouth, &c.

MOVE OFF, TO. To defile.

MOVER. Synonymous with _motor_.

MOVING SANDS. Synonymous with _quicksands_.

MOWELL. The old English name for _mullet_.

MOYAN. A species of early artillery.

MOYLE, TO. To defile; an old term.

MUCK. _See_ AMOK.

MUD-DRAGS. Implements and machines for clearing rivers and docks.

MUD OR BALLAST DREDGER. A vessel of 300 tons or more, fitted with steam-engine beams and metal buckets. By this powerful machine for cutting or scraping, loose gravel banks, &c., are removed from the entrances to docks and rivers.

MUD-FISH. The _Lepidosiren_, a very remarkable fish of the Gambia and other African rivers.

MUD-HOLE. An orifice with steam-tight doors in a marine engine, through which the deposit is removed from the boilers.

'MUDIAN, 'MUGIAN, OR BERMUDIAN. A boat special to the Bermuda Islands, usually decked, with the exception of a hatch; from two to twenty tons burden; it is short, of good beam, and great draft of water abaft, the stem and keel forming a curved line. It carries an immense quantity of iron, or even lead, ballast. Besides a long main and short jib-boom, it has a long, tapering, raking mast, stepped just over the fore-foot, generally unsupported by shrouds or stays; on it a jib-headed main-sail is hoisted to a height of twice, and sometimes three times, the length of the keel. This sail is triangular, stretched at its foot by a long boom. The only other sail is a small fore-sail or jib. They claim to be the fastest craft in the world for working to windward in smooth water, it being recorded of one that she made five miles dead to windward in the hour during a race; and though they may be laid over until they fill with water, they will not capsize.

MUD-LANDS. The extensive marshes left dry by the retiring tide in estuaries and river mouths.

MUD-LARKS. People who grovel about bays and harbours at low water for anything they can find.

MUD-LIGHTER. Large heavy punts which receive the mud or other matter from a dredging vessel. It is the _Marie Salope_ of the French. (_See_ HOPPER-PUNT.)

MUD-PATTENS. Broad clogs used for crossing mud-lands in the south of England by those who take sea-fowl.

MUD-SHORES. Are not unfrequent on an open coast. The most remarkable instance, perhaps, is that of the Guiana; the mud brought down by the river being thrown up by the current, and silted, with belts of mangroves in patches.

MUFFLED DRUM. The sound is thus damped at funerals: passing the spare cord, which is made of drummer's plait (to carry the drum over the shoulder), twice through the snares or cords which cross the lower diameter of the drum.

MUFFLE THE OARS, TO. To put some matting or canvas round the loom when rowing, to prevent its making a noise against the tholes, or in the rowlocks. For this service thole-pins are best. In war time, rowing guard near the ships or batteries of the enemy, or cutting out, many a pea-jacket has been sacrificed for this purpose. Whale-boats have their oars muffled to prevent frightening the whales.

MUFTI. Plain clothes. The civilian dress of a naval or military officer when off duty. This, though not quite commendable, is better than the half and half system, for a good officer should be either in uniform or out of it.

MUGGY. Half intoxicated. A sheet in the wind. Also used to express damp, oppressive weather.

MULCT. A fine in money for some fault or misdemeanour. Also, fines formerly laid on ships by a trading company, to raise money for the maintenance of consuls, &c.

MULET. A Portuguese craft, with three lateen sails.

MULL. Derived from the Gaelic _mullach_, a promontory or island; as Mull of Galloway, Mull of Cantyre, Isle of Mull. Also, when things are mismanaged; "we have made a mull of it."

MULLET. A well-known fish, of which there are several species. The gray mullet, _Mugil capito_, and the red mullet, _Mullus surmuletus_, are the most common on the British coast.

MULLS. The nickname of the English in Madras, from mulligatawney having been a standard dish amongst them.

MULREIN. A name in the Firth of Forth for the frog-fish, _Lophius piscatorius_.

MULTIPLE STARS. When several stars appear in close proximity to each other, they are spoken of, collectively, as a multiple star.

MUMBO JUMBO. A strange minister of so-called justice on the Gold Coast, who is usually dressed up for the purpose of frightening women and children. He is the arbiter of domestic strife.

MUNDUC. A sailor employed at the pearl-fishery, to haul up the diver and oysters.

MUNDUNGUS [from the Spanish _mondongo_, refuse, offal]. Bad, rank, and dirty tobacco.

MUN-FISH. Rotten fish, used in Cornwall for manure.

MUNITION BREAD. Contract or commissariat bread; _Brown George_.

MUNITIONS. Provisions; naval and military stores.

MUNITION SHIPS. Those which carry the naval stores for a fleet, as distinguished from the victuallers.

MUNJAK. A kind of pitch used in the Bay of Honduras for vessels' bottoms.

MUNNIONS, OR MUNTINS. The divisional pieces of the stern-lights; the pieces that separate the lights in the galleries.

MURAENA. An eel-like fish, very highly esteemed by the ancient Romans.

MURDERER. The name formerly used for large blunderbusses, as well as for those small pieces of ordnance which were loaded by shifting metal chambers placed in the breech.

MURLOCH. The young pickled dog-fish.

MURRE. The Cornish name for the razor-bill, _Alca torda_.

MURROCH. A term for shell-fish in general on the west coast of Scotland.

MUSKET. The regulation fire-arm for infantry and small-arm men. That of the English service, when a smooth bore, threw its bullet of about an ounce 250 yards with good effect; now, rifling has trebled its range, whilst breech-loading has done at least as much by its rapidity of fire.

MUSKET-ARROWS. Used in our early fleets, and for conveying notices in 1815.

MUSKETEERS. An early name for those soldiers who were armed with muskets.

MUSKETOON. A short kind of blunderbuss with a large bore, to carry several musket or pistol bullets; it was much used on boat service. They were mounted on swivel crutches, and termed top-pieces; quarter pieces in barges and pinnaces, where timbers were especially fitted for them.

MUSKET-PROOF. Any bulk-head, parapet, or substance which effectually resists the force of a musket-ball.

MUSKET-SHOT. Was the computed distance of 400 yards, now undergoing change.

MUSLIN, OR DIMITY. The flying kites of a ship. "Give her the muslin," or "Spare not the dimity," frequently used in tropical chase of slavers.

MUSTER, TO. To assemble in order that the state and condition of the men may be seen, and also at times to inspect their arms and clothing.

MUSTER-BOOK. A copy of a ship of war's open list, drawn up for the use of the clerk of the check, in calling over the crew. A copy of the muster-book is to be transmitted every two months to the admiralty.

MUSTER-PAPER. A description of paper supplied from the dockyards, ruled and headed, for making ships' books.

MUSTER-ROLL. A document kept by the master of every British vessel, specifying the name, age, quality, and country of every person of the ship's company; even neutrals are compelled to produce such a paper in time of war.

MUSTER THE WATCH. A duty performed nightly at 8 P.M., and repeated when the watch is relieved up to 4 A.M.

MUTCHKIN. A pint measure.

MUTILATION. The crime of self-maiming to avoid serving.

MUTINOUS. Showing symptoms of sedition.

MUTINY. Revolt or determined disobedience of regular authority by soldiers or sailors, and punishable with death. Shakspeare makes Hamlet sleep

"Worse than the _mutines_ in the bilboes."

MUTINY-ACT. On this document the Articles of War are founded.

MUTTON-SNAPPER. A large fish of the _Mesoprion_ genus, frequenting tropical seas, and prized in the Jamaica markets. (_See_ SNAPPER.)

MUZZLE OF A PIECE OF ORDNANCE. The forward extremity of the cylinder, and the metal which surrounds it, extending back to the neck, where it meets the chase, marked by a moulded ring in old guns.

MUZZLE-LASHINGS. The ropes which confine the muzzles of lower-deck guns to the housing bolts.

MUZZLE-RING. That which encompassed and strengthened the muzzle or mouth of a cannon; now disused.

MUZZLE TO THE RIGHT, OR MUZZLE TO THE LEFT! The order given to trim the gun to the object.

MUZZY. Half-drunk.

MYLKERE. The old English name for the milt of a fish.

MYOPARA. An ancient corsair's vessel.

MYRMIDON [from _mur-medon_, a sea-captain]. The Myrmidons were a people of Thessaly, said to have first constructed ships.

MYSERECORD. A thin-bladed dagger with which a grievously wounded warrior was despatched as an act of mercy.

MYTH. Obelisk, tower, land, or anything for directing the course by sight.

N.

NAB. The bolt-toe, or cock of a gun-lock.

NABB. A cant term for the head. Also, a protuberance on the rocky summit of a hill; a rocky ledge below water.

NACA, OR NACELLE. A French boat without mast or sail, used as early as the twelfth century.

NACRE. The mother-of-pearl which lines some shells, both univalve and bivalve.

NACTA. A small transport vessel of early times.

NADIR. The lower pole of the rational horizon, the other being the zenith.

NAID. A northern term for a lamprey, or large eel.

NAIL, TO. Is colloquially used for binding a person to a bargain. In weighing articles of food, a nail is 8 lbs.

NAILING A GUN. Synonymous with _cloying_ or _spiking_. When necessary to abandon cannon, or when the enemy's artillery, though seized, cannot be taken away, it is proper to spike it, which is done by driving a steel or other spike into the vent. The best method sometimes to render a gun serviceable again is to drill a new vent. (_See_ SPIKING.)

NAILS OF SORTS. Nails used in carpentry under the denominations of 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, 30, and 40 penny-nails, all of different lengths.

NAKE! The old word to unsheath swords, or make them naked.

NAKED. State of a ship's bottom without sheathing. Also, a place without means of defence.

NAKHADAH, OR NACODAH. An Arab sea-captain.

NAME. The name of a merchant ship, as well as the port to which she belongs, must be painted in a conspicuous manner on her stern. If changed, she must be registered _de novo_, and the old certificate cancelled.

NAME-BOARD. The arch-board, or part whereon the ship's name and port are painted.

NAME-BOOK. The Anglo-Saxon _nom-boc_, a mustering list.

NANCY. An east-country term for a small lobster.

NANCY DAWSON. A popular air by which seamen were summoned to grog.

NANKIN. A light fawn-coloured or white cotton cloth, almost exclusively worn at one time in our ships on the India station. It was supplied from China, but is now manufactured in England, Malta, and the United States.

NANT. A brook, or small river, on the coasts of Wales.

NAPHTHA. A very inflammable, fiercely burning fluid, which oozes from the ground or rock in many different localities, and may be obtained by the distillation of coal, cannel, and other substances. It is nearly related to _petroleum_ (which see), and is used for lighting, combustible, and various other purposes.

NAPIER'S BONES. Small rods, arranged by Lord Napier to expedite arithmetical calculations. In _Hudibras_:

"A moon-dial, with Napier's bones,
And several constellation stones."

NARKE. A ray of very wonderful electric powers.

NARROWING OF THE FLOOR-SWEEP. For this peculiar curve, _see_ HALF-BREADTH OF THE RISING.

NARROWS. The most confined part of a channel between two lands, or any contracted part of a navigable river.

NARWHAL. The _Monodon monoceros_, an animal of the cetacean order, found in the Arctic seas, and distinguished by the single long pointed tusk projecting straight forward from its upper jaw, whence it is also termed sea-unicorn.

NATURAL FORTIFICATION. Those obstacles, in the form or nature of the country, which impede the approaches of an enemy.

NATURAL MOTION. A term applied to the descending parabolic curve of a shot or shell in falling.

NAUFRAGIATE, TO. An old expression, meaning to suffer shipwreck. It occurs in Lithgow's _Pilgrime's Farewell_, 1618.

NAULAGE. A freight or fare.

NAUMACHIA. An artificial piece of water whereon the ancient Romans represented a sea-fight, supposed to have originated in the first Punic war.

NAUROPOMETER. An instrument for measuring the amount of a ship's heel or inclination at sea.

NAUSCOPY. The tact of discovering ships or land at considerable distances.

NAUTICAL. Relating to navigation, sailors, or maritime affairs in general.

NAUTICAL ALMANAC. A book of the first necessity to navigators. (_See_ EPHEMERIS.)

NAUTICAL ASSESSORS. Persons of nautical experience appointed to assist the judge of the admiralty and other courts in technical difficulties.

NAUTICAL ASTRONOMY. That part of the celestial science which treats of the planets and stars so far as relates to the purposes of navigation.

NAUTICAL DAY. This day commences at noon, twelve hours before the civil day, and ends at noon of the day following. (_See_ DAY.)

NAUTICAL MILE (MEAN) = 6075.6 feet.

NAUTICAL STARS. About 72 of the brightest, which have been selected for determining the latitude or the longitude, by lunar distances, and inserted, corrected to the year, in the Nautical Ephemeris.

NAUTICAL TABLES. Those especially computed for resolution of matters dependent on nautical astronomy, and navigation generally.

NAUTICUM F[OE]NUS. Marine usury; bottomry.

NAUTILUS. The pearly nautilus, _N. pompilius_, is a marine animal, belonging to the same class (_Cephalopoda_) as the cuttle-fish, but protected by a beautiful, chambered, discoid shell. The paper-nautilus (_Argonauta argo_) belongs to a different family of the same class, and has a simple, delicate, boat-like shell.

NAVAL. Of or belonging to a ship, or, as now commonly adopted, to the royal navy; hence, naval stores, naval officers, &c.

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. The construction, or art and science, of building ships.

NAVAL ARMAMENT. A fleet or squadron of ships of war, fitted out for a particular service.

NAVAL CADET. _See_ CADET.

NAVAL HOSPITALS. Greenwich is styled by eminence _the Royal Hospital_, yet the naval medical establishments in England and the colonies are all royal. At home they are Haslar, Plymouth, Yarmouth, Haulbowline, Chatham, and Woolwich; abroad, Malta, Jamaica, Halifax, Bermuda, Cape of Good Hope, and Hong Kong. Besides these useful hospitals, there are other stations of relief around the coasts.

NAVAL OFFICER. One belonging to the royal navy. Also, the person in charge of the stores in a royal dockyard abroad.

NAVAL RESERVE. A body of volunteers, consisting of coasters and able merchant seamen, who are drilled for serving on board our ships of war in case of need. They receive a fixed rate of compensation, become entitled to a pension, and enjoy other privileges. They are largely officered from their own body.

NAVAL SCIENCE. A knowledge of the theory of ship-building, seamanship, navigation, nautical astronomy, and tactics.

NAVAL STORES. All those particulars which are made use of, not only in the royal navy, but in every other kind of navigation. There are various statutes against stealing or embezzling them.

NAVAL STORE-SHIP. A government vessel, appropriated to carrying stores and munitions of war to different stations.

NAVAL TACTICS. The warlike evolutions of fleets, including such man[oe]uvres as may be judged most suitable for attack, defence, or retreat, with precision. The science of tactics happens never to have proceeded from naval men. Thus Pere la Hoste among the French, and a lawyer among the English, are the prime authorities. Moreover, it is a fact well known to those who served half a century back, when Lord Keith, Sir P. Durham, Sir P. Malcolm, and B. Hallowell practised their squadrons, that questions remained in dispute and undecided for at least sixteen years.

NAVE-HOLE. The hole in the centre of a gun-truck for receiving the end of the axle-tree.

NAVEL HOODS. Those hoods wrought above and below the hawse-holes, outside a ship, where there are no cheeks to support a bolster.

NAVEL LAVER. The sea-weed _Ulva umbilicus_.

NAVEL LINE. _See_ LINE.

NAVIGABLE. Any channel capable of being passed by ships or boats.

NAVIGANT. An old word for sailor.

NAVIGATION. The art of conducting vessels on the sea, not only by the peculiar knowledge of seamanship in all its intricate details, but also by such a knowledge of the higher branches of nautical astronomy as enables the commander to hit his port, after a long succession of bad weather, and an absence of three or four months from all land. Any man without science may navigate the entire canals of Great Britain, but may be unable to pass from Plymouth to Guernsey.

NAVIGATION ACTS. Various statutes by which the legislature of Great Britain has in a certain degree restricted the intercourse of foreign vessels with her own ports, or those of her dependent possessions; the object being to promote the increase of British shipping.

NAVIGATOR. A person skilled in the art of navigation. In old times, the ship's _artist_. Also, one who plies merely on canals. Also, the _navvy_ who works on embankments, cuttings, &c.

NAVITHALAMUS. A word in Law-Latin signifying a yacht.

NAVVIES. The vigorous labourers employed in cutting canals, railroads, or river works in temporary gangs.

NAVY. Any assembly of ships, whether for commerce or war. More particularly the vessels of war which, belonging to the government of any state, constitute its maritime force. The Royal Navy of Great Britain is conducted under the direction of the lords-commissioners for executing the office of lord high-admiral, and by the following principal officers under them:--the controller of the navy, controlling dockyards, building, &c., with his staff; the accountant-general, store-keeper general, and controller of victualling. These several lords meet as a board at Somerset House on special days to give the affairs the force of the board of admiralty.

NAVY AGENTS. Selected mercantile houses, about fourteen, who manage the affairs of officers' pay, prizes, &c., for which the law authorizes a certain percentage. They hold powers of attorney to watch the interests of their clients.

NAVY BILLS. Bills of removal, transfer, &c., are not negotiable, nor can they be made other use of.

NAVY BOARD. The commissioners of the navy collectively considered, but long since abolished.

NAVY TRANSPORT. _See_ TRANSPORT.

NAVY-YARD. A royal arsenal for the navy.

NAY-WORD. The old term for the watch-word, parole, or countersign.

NAZE. _See_ NESS.

NEALED. _See_ ARMING.

NEALED-TO. A shore, with deep soundings close in.

NEAPED. The situation of a ship which, within a bar-harbour, is left aground on the spring-tides so that she cannot go to sea or be floated off till the return of the next spring-tides.

NEAP-TIDES. A term from the Ang.-Sax. _nepflods_. They are but medium tides, in respect to their opposites, the springs, being neither so high, so low, nor so rapid. The phenomenon is owing to the attractions of the sun and moon then partly counteracting each other.

NEAR, AND NO NEAR. Synonymous terms used as a warning to the helmsman when too near the wind, not to come closer to it, but to keep the weather-helm in hand.

NEAT. _See_ NET, as commercial weight.

NEB. This word, the Ang.-Sax. _nebb_, face as well as nose, is sometimes used for _ness_ (which see). Also, a bird's beak.

NEBULA. An old term for a cluster of stars looking like a cloudy spot till separated by telescopic power; but the term is also now correctly applied to masses of nebulous matter only.

NECESSARIES. Minor articles of clothing or equipment, prescribed by regulation, but provided by the men out of their own pay.

NECESSARY MONEY. An extra allowance formerly allowed to pursers for the coals, wood, turnery-ware, candles, and other necessaries provided by them.

NECESSITY. If a ship be compelled by necessity to change the order of the places to which she is insured, this is not deemed deviation, and the underwriters are still liable.

NECK. The elbow or part connecting the blade and socket of a bayonet. _Goose-neck_, at the ends of booms, to connect them with the sides, or at the yard-arm for the studding-sail boom-iron.

NECK OF A GUN. The narrow part where the chase meets the swell of the muzzle.

NECKED. Tree-nails are said to be necked where they are cracked, bent, or nipped between the outside skin and the timbers of a vessel, whether from bad driving or severe straining.

NECKING. A small neat moulding at the foot of the taffrail over the light.

NECKLACE. A ring of wads placed round a gun, as sometimes practised, for readiness and stowage. Also, a strop round a lower mast carrying leading-blocks. Also, the chain necklace, to which the futtock-shrouds are secured in some vessels.

NECK OF LAND. Dividing two portions of water, or it may be the neck of a peninsula.

NECK OF THE CASCABLE. The part between the swell of the breech of a gun and the button. Its narrowest part within the button.

NECKUR. A Scandinavian sea-sprite, whence some derive our "Old Nick" in preference to St. Nicholas, the modern patron of sailors.

NEEDLE. The Ang.-Sax. _naedl_. (_See also_ MAGNETIC NEEDLE.)

NEEDLE-FISH. The shorter pipe-fish, stang, or sting, _Sygnathus acus_.

NEEDLE-GUN. One wherein the ignition for the cartridge is produced by the penetration of the detonating priming by a steel spike working in the lock. It is the Prussian musket.

NEEDLES. Used by sail-makers, are _seaming_, _bolt-rope_, or _roping_ needles, all three-sided, and of very fine steel.--The _Needles_ of the Isle of Wight are the result of cracks in the rocks, through which the sea has worn its way, as also at Old Harry, Swanage Bay. As the chalk formation stretches westward, the structure changes in hardness until at Portland we meet with Portland stone. In California many of the needle rocks are of volcanic origin; others again are basaltic columns.

NEGLECT. A charge not exceeding L3, from the wages of a seaman, in the Complete Book, for any part of the ship's stores lost overboard, or damaged, from his gross carelessness.

NEGLIGENCE. If agent or broker engages to do an act for another, and he either wholly neglects it, or does it unskilfully, an action on the case will lie against him.

NEGOTIATE, TO. The duty of a diplomatist; the last resource and best argument being now 12-ton guns.

NEGRO-BOAT. _See_ ALMADIA.

NEGROHEAD. Hard-rolled tobacco.

NEGRO-HEADS. The brown loaves issued to ships in ordinary.

NELLY. _Diomedea spadicea_, a sea-bird of the family _Procellaridae_, which follows in the wake of a ship when rounding the Cape of Good Hope: it is very voracious of fat blubber.

NEPTUNE. A superior planet, recently discovered; it is the most distant member of the solar system yet known, and was revealed by the effect which its attraction had produced upon the movements of Uranus; this was one of the most admirable solutions in modern mathematical science. Neptune, so far as is yet known, has no satellites.

NEPTUNES. Large brass pans used in the Bight of Biafra for obtaining salt.

NEPTUNE'S GOBLETS. The large cup-shaped sponges found in the eastern seas; _Raphyrus patera_.

NEPTUNE'S SHEEP. Waves breaking into foam, called white horses.

NESS [Ang.-Sax. _naes_]. A projection of land, as Dungeness, Sheerness, &c. It is common in other European languages, as the French _nez_, Italian _naso_, Russian _noss_, Norwegian _naze_, &c. Our Dunnose is an example.

NEST. _See_ CROW'S NEST.

NET. In commerce, is the weight of a commodity alone, without the package.

NET AND COBLE. The means by which sasses or flood-gates are allowed in fishings on navigable rivers.

NETTING. Network of rope or small line for the purpose of securing hammocks, sails, &c.--_Boarding netting._ A stout netting formerly extended fore and aft from the gunwale to a proper height up the rigging. Its use was to prevent an enemy from jumping on board.--_Splinter netting._ Is stretched from the main-mast aft to the mizen-mast, in a horizontal position, about 12 feet above the quarter-deck. It secures those engaged there from injury by the fall of any objects from the mast-heads during an action:

"And has saved the lives of many men
Who have fallen from aloft."

NETTLES. Small line used for seizings, and for hammock-clues. (_See_ KNITTLE.)--_To nettle_, is to provoke.

NEUTRALS. Those who do not by treaty owe anything to either party in war; for if they do they are confederates. They are not to interfere between contending powers; and the right of security justifies a belligerent in enforcing the conditions. They are not allowed to trade from one port of the enemy to another, nor to be habitually employed in his coasting trade. Indeed the simple conveyance of any article to the opponent of the blockading squadron, at once settles the non-admission, or even hovering.

NEVER SAY DIE! An expressive phrase, meaning do not despair, there is hope yet.--_Nil desperandum!_ As Cowper says,

"Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Wait till to-morrow, will have passed away."

NEW ACT. The going on shore without leave, and which though thus termed new, is an old trick.

NEWCOME. An officer commencing his career. Any stranger or fresh hand newly arrived.

NEWELL. An upright piece of timber to receive the tenon of the rails that lead from the breast-hook to the gangway.

NEWGATE BIRDS. The men sent on board ship from prisons; but the term has also been immemorially used, as applied to some of the _Dragon's_ men in the voyage of Sir Thomas Roe to Surat, 1615.

NEW MOON. The moon is said to be new when she is in conjunction with the sun, or between that luminary and the earth.

NEWS. "Do you hear the news?" A formula used in turning up the relief watch.

NICE STEERAGE. That which is required in tide-ways and intricate channels, chasing or chased.

NIDGET. A coward. A term used in old times for those who refused to join the royal standard.

NIGHT-CAP. Warm grog taken just before turning in.

NIGHTINGALES. _See_ SPITHEAD NIGHTINGALES.

NIGHT ORDER-BOOK. A document of some moment, as it contains the captain's behests about change of course, &c., and ought to be legibly written.

NIGHT-WALKER. A fish of a reddish colour, about the size of a haddock, so named by Cook's people from the greatest number being caught in the night; probably red-snapper.

NIGHT WARD. The night-watch.

NILL. Scales of hot iron at the armourer's forge. Also, the stars of rockets.

NIMBUS. Ragged and hanging clouds resolving into rain. (_See_ CUMULO-CIRRO-STRATUS.)

NINE-PIN BLOCK. A block in that form, mostly used for a _fair-leader_ under the cross-pieces of the forecastle and quarter-deck bitts.

NINES, TO THE. An expression to denote complete.

NINGIM. A corruption of _ginseng_ (which see).

NIP. A short turn in a rope. Also, a fishing term for a bite. In Arctic parlance, a nip is when two floes in motion crush by their opposite edges a vessel unhappily entrapped. Also, the parts of a rope at the place bound by the seizing, or caught by jambing. Also, _Nip in the hawse_; hence "freshen the nip," by veering a few feet of the service into the hawse.

NIPCHEESE. The sailor's name for a purser's steward.

NIPPER. The armourer's pincers or tongs. Also, a hammock with so little bedding as to be unfit for stowing in the nettings.

NIPPERING. Fastening nippers by taking turns crosswise between the parts to jam them; and sometimes with a round turn before each cross. These are called racking-turns.

NIPPER-MEN. Foretop-men employed to bind the nippers about the cables and messenger, and to whom the boys return them when they are taken off.

NIPPERS. Are formed of clean, unchafed yarns, drawn from condemned rope, unlaid. The yarns are stretched either over two bolts, or cleats, and a fair strain brought on each part. They are then "marled" from end to end, and used in various ways, viz. to bind the messenger to the cable, and to form slings for wet spars, &c. The nipper is passed at the manger-board, the fore-end pressing itself against the cable; after passing it round cable and messenger spirally, the end is passed twice round the messenger, and a foretop-man holds the end until it reaches the fore-hatchway, when a maintop-man takes it up, and at the main-hatchway it is taken off, a boy carrying it forward ready coiled for further use.--_Selvagee nippers_ are used when from a very great strain the common nippers are not found sufficiently secure; selvagees are then put on, and held fast by means of tree-nails. (_See_ SELVAGEE and TREE-NAILS.)--_Buoy and nipper._ Burt's patent for sounding. By this contrivance any amount of line is loosely veered. So long as the lead descends, the line runs through the nipper attached to a canvas inflated buoy. The instant it is checked or the lead touches bottom, the back strain nips the line, and indicates the vertical depth that the lead has descended.

NIPPLE. In ship-building. Another name for _knuckle_ (which see). Also, the nipple of a gun or musket lock; the perforated projection which receives the percussion-cap.

NISSAK. The Shetland name for a small porpoise.

NITRE. _Potassae nitras_, a salt formed by the union of nitric acid with potash; the main agent in gunpowder.

NITTY. A troublesome noise; a squabble.

NOAH'S ARK. Certain clouds elliptically parted, considered a sign of fine weather after rain.

NOB. The head; therefore applied to a person in a high station of life. (_See_ KNOB.)

NOCK. The forward upper end of a sail that sets with a boom. Also, a term used for _notch_.

NOCTURNAL, NOCTURLABIUM. An instrument chiefly used at sea, to take the altitude or depression of some of the stars about the pole, in order to find the latitude and the hour of the night.

NOCTURNAL ARC. That part of a circle, parallel to the equator, which is described by a celestial object, between its setting and rising.

NODDY. The _Sterna solida_, a dark web-footed sea-bird, common about the West Indies. Also, a simpleton; so used by Shakspeare in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_.

NODES. Those points in the orbit of a planet or comet where it intersects the ecliptic. The ascending node is the point where it passes from the south to the north side of the ecliptic; the descending node is the opposite point, where the latitude changes from north to south. (_See_ LINE OF NODES.)

NOG. A tree-nail driven through the heels of the shores, to secure them.

NOGGIN. A small cup or spirit-measure, holding about 1/4 of a pint.

NOGGING. The act of securing the shores by tree-nails. Also, warming beer at the galley-fire.

NO HIGHER! _See_ NEAR.

NO-HOWISH. Qualmy; feeling an approaching ailment without being able to describe the symptoms.

NO-MAN'S LAND. A space in midships between the after-part of the belfry and the fore-part of a boat when it is stowed upon the booms, as is often done in a deep-waisted vessel; this space is used to contain any blocks, ropes, tackles, &c., which may be necessary on the forecastle, and probably derives its name from being neither on the starboard nor port side, neither in the waist, nor on the forecastle.

NONAGESIMAL DEGREE. The point of the ecliptic which is at the greatest altitude above the horizon.

NON-COMBATANTS. A term applied erroneously to the purser, master surgeon, &c., of a man-of-war, for all men on board may be called on, more or less, to fight.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. In familiar parlance, _non-coms._ are the sergeants, corporals, and others, appointed under special regulations, by the orders of the commanding officer.

NON-CONDENSING ENGINE. A high-pressure steam-engine.

NONIUS SCALE, OR VERNIER. That fixed to the oblong opening near the lower end of the index-bar of a sextant or quadrant; it divides degrees into minutes, and these again into parts of seconds.

NO! NO! The answer to the night-hail by which it is known that a midshipman or warrant officer is in the boat hailed.

NON-RECOIL. This was effected by securing the breeching while the gun was run out: often practised in small vessels.

NOOK. A small indentation of the land; a little cove in the inner parts of bays and harbours.

NOOK-SHOTTEN. A Shakspearian expression for a coast indented with bays; as in _Henry V._ Bourbon speaks contemptuously of "that nook-shotten isle of Albion."

NOON. Mid-day.

NOOSE. A slip or running knot.

NORE. The old word for north. Also, a canal or channel.

NORIE'S EPITOME. A treatise on navigation not to be easily cast aside.

NORLAND. Of, or belonging to, the north land.

NORMAL LEVEL OF A BAROMETER. A term reckoned synonymous with _par-line_ (which see).

NORMAN. A short wooden bar thrust into one of the holes of the windlass or capstan in a merchantman, whereon to veer a rope or fasten the cable, if there be little strain upon it. Also fixed through the head of the rudder, in some ships, to prevent the loss of the rudder. Also, a pin placed in the bitt-cross-piece to confine the cable from falling off.

NORRIE, AND TAMMIE NORRIE. The Scotch name for the puffin.

NORTH. From the Anglo-Saxon _nord_.

NORTH-AWAY YAWL. The old term for _Norway yawl_ (which see).

NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. To the Pacific, or round the north of Europe, has been divided into three parts, thus: 1. From Archangel to the river Lena; 2. from the Lena, round Tschukotskoi-ness to Kamtschatka; and 3. from Kamtschatka to Japan. They have been accomplished at various times, but not successively.

NORTHERN DIVER. The _Colymbus glacialis_, a large diving-bird.

NORTHERN-GLANCE. The old sea-name of the _aurora borealis_ (which see).

NORTHERN LIGHTS. _See_ NORTHERN-GLANCE.

NORTHERS. Those winds so well known to all seamen who have frequented the West Indies, and which are preceded by the appearance of a vast quantity of fine cobwebs or gossamer in the atmosphere, which clings to all parts of a vessel's rigging, thus serving as a warning of an approaching gale. Northers alternate with the seasons in the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Channel, Jamaica, Cuba, &c. Their cold is intense.

NORTH FOLLOWING. For this and _north preceding_, _see_ QUADRANT.

NORTH PASSAGE TO THE INDIES. The grand object of our maritime expeditions at a remote period, prosecuted with a boldness, dexterity, and perseverance which, although since equalled in the same pursuit, have not yet been surpassed:--

"I will undertake
To find the north passage to the Indies sooner,
Than plough with your proud heifer."--_Massinger._

NORTH SEA. The Jamaica name for the north swell. (_See_ GROUND-SEA.)

NORTH-WESTER. This wind in India usually commences or terminates with a violent gust from that quarter, with loud thunder and vivid lightning. Also, gales which blow from the eastern coast of North America in the Atlantic during the autumn and winter.

NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. By Hudson's Bay into the Pacific Ocean has been more than once attempted of late years, but hitherto without success. Some greatly doubted the practicability of such an enterprise; but the north-west passage, as far as relates to the flow of the sea beneath the ice, was satisfactorily solved by H.M.S. _Investigator_, Sir R. Maclure, reaching the western end of Barrow's Straits. The former question, up to Melville Island, which Sir R. Maclure reached and left his notice at in 1852, having been already thoroughly established by Sir E. Parry in 1820.

NORTH WIND. This wind in the British seas is dry and cold, and generally ushers in fair weather and clear skies. The barometer rises with the wind at north, and is highest at N.N.E.; the air forming this wind comes from colder latitudes, and has therefore lost most of its moisture.

NORWAY SKIFF. A particularly light and buoyant boat, which is both swift and safe in the worst weather.

NORWAY YAWL. This, of all small boats, is said to be the best calculated for a high sea; it is often met with at a distance from land, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail. The parent of the _peter-boat_.

NOSE. Often used to denote the stem of a ship. Also, a neck of land: _naes_, or _ness_.

NOTARY. The person legally empowered to attest deeds, protests, or other documents, in order to render them binding.

NOTCH. The gaffle of a cross-bow.

NOTCH-BLOCK. _See_ SNATCH-BLOCK.

NOTCH-SIGHT OF A GUN. A sight having a V-shaped notch, wherein the eye easily finds the lowest or central point.

NOTHING OFF! A term used by the man at the conn to the steersman, directing him to keep her close to the wind; or "nothing off, and very well thus!" (_See_ THUS.)

NOTIONS. An American sea-term for a cargo in sorts; thus a notion-vessel on the west coast of America is a perfect bazaar; but one, which sold a mixture--logwood, bad claret, and sugar--to the priests for sacrament wine had to run for it.

NOUD. A term in the north for fishes that are accounted of little value.

NOUP. A round-headed eminence.

NOUS. An old and very general term for intelligent perception, evidently from the Greek.

NOUST. A landing-place or indent into the shore for a boat to be moored in; a term of the Orkney Isles.

NOZZLE-FACES. Square plates of brass raised upon the cylinder; one round each of the steam-ports, for the valve-plates to slide upon.

NOZZLES. In steamers, the same as steam-ports; they are oblong passages from the nozzle-faces to the inside of the cylinder; by them the steam enters and returns above and below the piston. Also pump nozzles.

NUBECULAE, MAJOR AND MINOR. The _Magellanic clouds_ (which see).

NUCLEUS OF A COMET. The condensed or star-like part of the head.

NUDDEE. A Hindostanee word for a river.

NUGGAR. A term in the East Indies for a fort, and also for an alligator.

NULLAH. A ravine or creek of a stream in India.

NUMBER. The number on the ship's books is marked on the clothing of seamen; that on a man's hammock or bag corresponds with his number on the watch and station bill. The ships of the royal navy are denoted by flags expressing letters, and when passing or nearing each other the names are exchanged by signals.--_Losing the number of the mess_, is a phrase for dying suddenly; being killed or drowned.

NUMERARY OR MARRYAT'S SIGNALS. A useful code used by the mercantile marine, by an arrangement of flags from a cypher to units, and thence to thousands. (_See_ SIGNALS.)

NUN-BUOY. A buoy made of staves, somewhat in the form of a double cone; large in the middle, and tapering rapidly to the ends; the slinging of which is a good specimen of practical rigging tact.

NURAVEE YAWL. A corruption of _Norway yawl_ (which see).

NURSE. An able first lieutenant, who in former times had charge of a young boy-captain of interest, but possessing no knowledge for command. Also, a small kind of shark with a very rough skin; a dog-fish.

NUT. A small piece of iron with a female screw cut through the middle of it, for screwing on to the end of a bolt.

NUTATION. An oscillatory motion of the earth's axis, due chiefly to the action of the moon upon the spheroidal figure of our globe.

NUTS OF AN ANCHOR. Two projections either raised or welded on the square part of the shank, for securing the stock to its place.

NYCTALOPIA. _See_ MOON-BLINK.

O.

O. The fourth class of rating on Lloyd's books for the comparative excellence of merchant ships. But insured vessels are rarely so low. (_See_ A.)

O! OR HO! An interjection commanding attention or possibly the cessation of any action.

OAK. _Quercus_, the valuable monarch of the woods. "Hearts of oak are our ships," as the old song says.

OAKUM [from the Anglo-Saxon _aecumbe_]. The state into which old ropes are reduced when they are untwisted and picked to pieces. It is principally used in caulking the seams, for stopping leaks, and for making into twice-laid ropes. Very well known in workhouses.--_White Oakum._ That which is formed from untarred ropes.

OAKUM-BOY. The caulker's apprentice, who attends to bring oakum, pitch, &c.