308 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [14] 



with salt water; rub the mixtiire upon their sails with a sponge, and 

 let the coatiug dry in the sun. That is to say, they paint the sails with 

 water colors, and as soon as the paint wears thin they smear on a new 

 coating of it. . 



Ai)parently, the purpose of this application, nowadays, is purely dec- 

 orative. At all events, the practise calls to mind certain historical in- 

 stances, such as Ihe purple sail of Cleopatra's galley, already alluded 

 to; the fact that Alexander had sails of various colors, to distinguish 

 the several divisions of his fleet; and that the English Kiug Henry, in 

 1416, had a sail of purple silk on his particular ship. But as regards 

 the Italians, it seems not improbable that there may have been some 

 use formerly in making the sails daik-colored, in order the more readily 

 to escape the observation of the pirates which infested the Mediterra- 

 nean until a comparatively recent date. It is hardly probable that 

 earthy pigments ajjplied in the manner above stated can be of much, 

 if any, use for preserving the sails. On the contrary, the question nat 

 urally arises, may not the earths sometimes actually injure the canvas 

 in the same way that iron-rust is known to corrode sails, as well as 

 other vegetable matters, by continually giving up oxygen to them while 

 it takes up new oxygen from the air. I remember to have myself met, 

 many years ago, with American fishermen who were very averse to hav- 

 ing any kind of "dirt" get on their sails "because it rotted them." 



It has been suggested to me that the Italian fishermen may possibly 

 use the pigments in order to close the pores of the canvas so that the 

 sails may hold the wind better. But if this be so why do they employ 

 a process of application that requires to be frequently repeated? why 

 do they not put on the pigments in such manner that they may stay ? — 

 F. H. Stoker. 



BussEY Institution (of Harvard University), 



August, 1883. 



