32 ANIMAL MECHANICS 



is distributed over four bones of that column, 

 instead of the whole force being concentrated 

 upon the joining of any two, as at A. 



If the column stood upright, as indicated at 

 C D, it would be jarred at the lowest point of con- 

 tact with its base. But by forming a semicircle 

 A B, the motion which, in the direction E F, would 

 produce a jar on the very lowest part of the col- 

 umn is distributed over a considerable portion of 

 the column A B ; and in point of fact, this part 

 of the spine never gives way. Indeed, we should 

 be inclined to offer this mode to the consideration 

 of nautical men, as fruitful in hints for improv- 

 ing naval architecture. 



Every one who has seen a ship pitching in a 

 heavy sea must have asked himself why the masts 

 are not upright, or rather, why the foremast 

 stands upright, whilst the main and mizzen masts 

 stand oblique to the deck, or, as the phrase is, 

 rake aft or towards the stern of the ship. 



The main and mizzen masts incline backwards, 

 because the strain is greatest in the forward pitch 

 of the vessel; for the mast having received an 

 impulse forwards, it is suddenly checked as the 

 head of the ship rises ; but the mast being set 

 with an inclination backwards, the motion falls 

 more in the perpendicular line from the head to 

 the heel. This advantage is lost in the upright 

 position of the foremast, but it is sacrificed to a 



