325 



ANCHOR. 



ANCHUSIC ACID. 



356 



the ground (c) ; and the anchor, if pulled in the direction of the shank, 

 has a tendency to fix itself more firmly in the ground, by keeping the 



-r- -7 



Inner fluke almost perpendicular in the ground. Captain Denham, of 

 the Marine Surveyor's Department at Fleetwood, gave a report of some 

 experiments which he had tried in 1840 on the new swivel anchor, and 

 states the following as the results to which he had arrived : " It is 

 almost impossible to foul it ; it bites quickly into the most stubborn 

 ground ; it holds on to the shortest stay-peak ; it cannot lodge on its 

 stock end ; it presents no upper fluke to injure the vessel herself, or 

 others, in shoal water ; it cannot injure vessels' bows when hanging 

 acock-bill, as merchant-vessels find a convenient practice ; it is not so 

 likely to break off an arm, or part in the shank, as anchors with fixed 

 flukes do, because the construction of these arms can be of continuous 

 rod-iron, and the fulcrum of leverage is BO much nearer the ring, 

 owing to the pea of the] upper fluke closing upon the shank ; it 

 is a most convenient anchor for stowing inboard on a voyage, as the 

 flukes can be easily separated and passed into the hold ; it can as easily 

 be transported by two boats when one would be distressed by the 

 whole weight ; it produces the desired effect of ground-tackle at one- 

 twentieth less weight." (' Unit. Serv. Journ.,' March 1840.) 



Mr. Porter's anchor has been the basis on which improved forms 

 have been introduced by Trotman, Honiball, and other inventors. 

 Trotman's construction, patented in 1852, differs from Porter's chiefly 

 in these points that the palms are fixed intermediately on the breadth 

 of the arm, instead of in front ; and that the horn is of greater width 

 than the arm, for a different shape is also given by Trotman to the 

 upper part of the palm, in order that, as the tension of the cable 

 buries the palm deeper into the ground, the upper flap of the palm 

 being turned over so as to form the spur or horn, admits of the 

 clay or sand, or mud being easily 'delivered' like the soil from a 

 ploughshare. Hence it is often seen at anchorages which dry at low 

 water, that Trotman's anchor buries itself totally some feet below the 

 surface (a valuable consideration when a ship is riding heavily on a 

 tee-horc ! ) while its shape insures ready extrication when the cable 

 is hove full '*t"i/ a peak:' for its /,/,.//,/,/</ i/niil(tl'-ii/i<n> M nrni/iili/n 

 in an// ilirrriiun. As regards originality, a notable legal decision 

 was arrived at in 1855. Mr. Porter took out his patent in 1838; 

 nml an extension of the patent right was obtained in 1852 ; but 

 this extension underwent a sudden check. During an action for 

 infringement of patent, in 1855, it was proved that Porter's anchor was 

 not a new one within the terms of the letters patent. Many years 

 antecedent to 1838, Mr. James Logan had invented and made public 

 the contrivance of a swivel anchor ; he exhibited drawings and miulrls; 

 nay, he made such an anchor in 1 826 for a steamer named the ' William 

 Huskisson.' These facts were not known to Mr. Porter in 1838 ; but 

 they vitiated his patent. Accordingly, in 1855, Mr. Pemberton Leigh, 

 on the part of the Judicial Committee nf the Privy Council, pro- 



nounced Porter's patent to be null and void, and the invention therefore 

 open to the free use of any one. 



In July, 1852, a trial of anchors was made at Sheerness, by order of 

 ihe Admiralty. Those selected were to be bower anchors of 25 cwt. ; 

 and they were to be tested with regard to the following qualities ; 

 " strength ; holding, particularly when at a short stay, and being 

 obliged to make sail ; weight, and facility for stowing ; quick holding ; 

 sweeping ; tripping ; fouling," Ac. There were four modes of testing 

 devised, in relation to the kind of ground chosen. The anchorsuiiths of 

 all nations were invited to compete, and several competitors appeared. 

 The experiments occupied many days, and two or three of the anchors 

 performed admirably. The most efficient appeared to be Porter's under 

 the improved form introduced by Trotman. 



Many patents for anchors have been obtained within the last few 

 years such as Firmin's in 1854 ; Scott's in 1855, and Hunter's in 

 1856 ; but they related chiefly to slight modifications of constructions 

 already in use. 



The number of anchors carried at both the bows and stern of a ship 

 have been finally reduced to four principal, and these all at the 

 bows. The anchors supplied to men-ot-war are the best and small 

 bowers,' the ' sheet,' and the ' spare : ' these are of the largest size ; to 

 which are added, the 'stream' and the 'kedge,' which are used for 

 particular or for temporary purposes, and are usually carried ' in board.' 

 Since there is but small difference in the form of anchors of different 

 weights, the stream of a large vessel serves for the bower of a smaller. 

 Various rules have been given for the dimensions of anchors. The 

 rough rule in the navy is, 1 cwt. to a gun ; thus, an 80-guu ship will 

 have an anchor of 80 cwt. ; and a merchantman of 200 tons having an 

 anchor 10 cwt., 6 cwt. is added afterwards for every 100 tons : thus 

 300 tons would give 15 cwt., and so on. The principal dimensions of 

 the anchors in the navy may be stated shortly thus : calling the shank 

 10, the arm is about 3, the breadth and depth of the palm about hal 

 this, the thickness or depth at the small, '42, at the throat '6, which 

 are nearly the dimensions of the arms also, and the breadths about 

 | of these, the edges being rounded. The weight of an anchor of 

 10 feet in length is, according to Pering, about 11'4 cwt., and since, if 

 the forms of all anchors were alike, the weights would be as the cubes 

 of the lengths, the weight of any anchor might be found (nearly) by 

 multiplying the cube of its length by -0114. The recent improvements 

 in anchors are however likely to derange the old rules hi respect both to 

 the dimensions and weights of the several parts. 



The largest anchors ever yet employed were those adopted by Mr. 

 Brunei in the launching of the ' Great Eastern,' or ' Leviathan,' in the 

 winter of 1857-8. They were required, for the enormous strain incident 

 to that operation, to bear a breaking test of 110 cwt. each ; and the 

 chain cables for them, by Messrs. Brown and Lenox, were the largest 

 ever made. 



In the technical employment of anchors on board ship, an anchor is 

 said to be ' foul ' when the cable is any way entangled with it ; to 

 ' come home,' when the ship drags it ; to be ' a-wash," when the stock 

 is hove up to the surface of the water ; to be ' acock-bill ' when 

 hanging vertically ; and to be ' stay a peak ' when just ready to lift 

 from the ground. 



A'NCHORET, sometimes written, and more correctly, Anachoret, 

 a Greek word (ii-axojplT^i), signifying a person who has retired from the 

 world. Under Christianity they sprung up about the middle of the 3rd 

 century in Egypt and Syria, where many believers went to hide them- 

 selves in caves and solitary wilds, from the fury of the persecution 

 which arose under the Emperor Decius. Paul, commonly called the 

 hermit, has the credit of having been the first regular anchoret. A 

 distinction, however, came afterwards to be drawn between anchorets 

 and hermits : the former name being given only to those who rigidly 

 confined themselves to their caves or cells ; and the latter to those who, 

 although they had broken off all commerce with the world, still wan- 

 dered about at large in the wilds to which they had retired. Both 

 descriptions of recluse were entirely distinguished from the Coenobites, 

 or those living in communities. Many of the anchorets were laymen ; 

 and there were also female as well as male anchorets. From nearly 

 the commencement of the 7th century, the Church assumed a juris- 

 diction over anchorets ; and persons were not allowed to enter upon 

 the mode of life in question, except by permission of their ecclesiastical 

 superiors, and after an appointed ceremony had been performed, at 

 which the bishop presided. Churches and religious houses in the 

 middle ages would sometimes keep an anchoret shut up in. a cell, 

 which was usually attached to the choir of the church. Such an 

 attraction brought great crowds of the devout and the curious to the 

 holy pLice, which benefited much by their offerings. It was even- 

 tually found necessary, in our own as well as in other co\mtries, to lay 

 down certain regulations with a view of discouraging the adoption of 

 this solitary life. The most singular species of anchorets recorded in 

 the history of the Church, is that which arose in Syria in the 5th 

 century, and of which Simeon Stylites was the founder. This zealot and 

 his followers, instead of resorting, according to the customary fashion, 

 to caves, elevated themselves into the air, on lofty pillars of stone, on 

 the tops of which they passed their livea. They have hence received 

 the names of pillar saints, holy birds, and aerial martyrs. 



ANCHUSIC ACID (Cj.H^O, ?). (Anchusin.) A resinoid colouring 

 matter obtained from Alkanet root (Anchusa Tintlaria). It is inso- 



