BUOYS. 



BURETTE. 



438 



strond the right of " making, erecting, setting up, placing, or laying 

 out, all buoys, beacons, marks, and signs for the sea or sea-shore, to 

 hold the same with all profits and emoluments thereunto belonging, as 

 of the manor of East Greenwich, in free and common soccage." On 

 laying down any public buoy, the officers of the Trinity-house corpo- 

 ration give notice to the public of its form, colour, and exact situa- 

 tion, and of the reason for its being laid down ; and notifications are 

 also made upon their removal, whether the same arises from design or 

 through accident. By the acts 6 Geo. IV. c. 125, and 17 & 18 Viet. 

 c. 104, it is provided, " that every person who shall ride by, make fast 

 to, or remove, or wilfully run down or run foul of any vessel placed to 

 exhibit lights, or any buoy or beacon belonging to, or placed by, any 

 corporation or society having lawful authority to place the same, shall, 

 besides being liable to the expense of replacing or making good any 

 damage occasioned thereby, forfeit for every such offence any sum not 

 exceeding 501. nor less than 101." The amount of revenue annually 

 collected for the use of buoys by the Trinity-house corporation is 

 according to the tonnage of the vessels frequenting the ports in or 

 leading to which buoys are placed ; the rates vary according to circum- 

 stances. 



Protection is given to private buoys by the 1st and 2nd Geo. IV. 

 c. 75, in which it is enacted, that " if any person shall wilfully cut 

 away, cast adrift, remove, alter, deface, sink, or destroy, or in any way 

 injure or conceal any buoy, buoy-rope, or mark, belonging to any ship 

 or vessel, or which may be attached to any anchor or cable belonging 

 to any ship or vessel, whether in distress or otherwise, such person so 

 offending shall, upon conviction, be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall 

 be liable to be transported for any term not exceeding seven years, 

 or to be imprisoned for any number of years, at the discretion of the 

 court." 



Buoys are either hollow, floating, water-tight bodies, formed of 

 various substances, or they are masses of wood, reeds, &c., which are 

 specifically lighter than water. A well-regulated system of buoys is of 

 the utmost consideration ; for on coasts where accumulations of sand 

 and silt are continually forming and changing their positions, dangers 

 are detected only by the vigilance of authorities, whose special duties 

 are to watch over the navigation of shipping in the channels and entrances 

 to our ports. 



Buoys are anchored or " moored " in the neighbourhood of dangers, 

 and usually have the name of the sand, or shoal, or spit of rocks painted 

 on them. They are coloured red, white, black, or often chequered in 

 these colours. Their chief use may be familiarly illustrated thus : 

 Suppose a channel or coast to abound so much in reefs or sands that a 

 safe passage among them could only be made by sailing in various 

 directions (and many parts of our shores, such as the Thames, the 

 Mersey, Spithead, Ac., are beset with these difficulties) ; safe passages 

 among these are so " buoyed off," that buoys of certain colours line, 

 iniple, the right-hand side of the passages, while buoys of a 

 different colour maik the left-liand side of the passage or channel. 

 Buoys are also attached to ships' anchors, and mark their position when 

 these are let go. A large saving of property is thus effected, as the 

 buoy facilitates the recovery of the anchor in cases where the cable has 

 been broken, or when it has been cut in order to provide, on emergency, 

 for the safety of the ship, and when time or other circumstances did 

 not permit of the anchor being icei;,'hed, or lifted into the ship. Those 

 used for shojls are generally called " Can Buoys" (fig. 1), and fre- 

 quently have balls or beacons attached ; those for ships' anchors are 

 termed " Nun Buoys " (fig. 2 and 3), and are of wood or iron. Another 

 fig. 1. Fig. 2. fig. 3. 



kind is used for mooring ships in harbours or sheltered roadsteads ; 



thriw are generally cylindrical (jig. 4 and 5) and have a large iron ring 



Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 



mariners, was a desideratum which only nature itself could satisfy, 

 jike the naval architect, who in his extremity availed himself of the 

 ines of the fish as a criterion of form for ' speed," so did the mechanic 



and engineer look to nature for hints on true principles in mooring ; 



and an excellent method of confining a floating body to the ground 

 jeneath was observed in several water-plants, and particularly in the 

 otus, and the gorgeous Victoria Regia. It was for Mr. George Herbert 

 ,o perceive from these that the cable or confining apparatus should not, 



as before, be attached to the lowest point of the substance immersed, 

 )ut should as nearly as practicable be made to hinge on to a point in the 



'ine of floatation. Mr. Herbert appears to have succeeded in the 

 'orming of iron buoys, of admirable qualifications, as proved to the 



satisfaction of the Trinity Board. 



His mode of construction (fig. 6) gives the following advantages 



Fig. 6. 



attached to the part above water. Buoys are also used to mark the 

 position of a submerged wreck, and are usually painted green, anc 

 have the word "Wreck" in white letters. In 1 8 53, special attention was 

 given t<> the construction of buoys. Thi' form of a floating body which 

 fljould offer the least resistance to rushing water, (such flouting body 

 being confined to the ground by a chain and anchor,) and be capable o: 

 mounting the very crest of a wave, and thus be unifuiinly visible to 



namely : the tendency to pitch and roll is greatly reduced, the weight 

 of the mooring chain is suspended from near the centre of gravity of 

 the mass, and this, together with the resistance of the body of water 

 filling the conical hollow of the bottom of the buoy, imparts great 

 stability to the whole, as all leverage acting upon the centre of gravity 

 is avoided. Thus, the body will be always borne upon the top of a 

 wave, rather than dragged through it ; its shape offering little resistance 

 to the waters, and therefore the tide has very little power to force it 

 from its floating perpendicular. They have been adopted by the 

 Trinity-house accordingly. 



From the mere buoy, Mr. Herbert was led to the consideration of 

 floating light-vessels (LjonT, FLOATING), and safety buoys (LIFE BUOYS). 

 The following is a sketch of his proposed "Fairway" Lighthouse for 

 the British Channel ; but this interesting subject will be more conve- 

 niently explaijied under the word COLLISIONS AT SEA. 



On board ship, the order to " stream the buoy and cockbill tha 

 anchor," is given when the anchor is required to be placed in such 

 position (that is, suspended by its ring only to the cathead) as to be 

 easily let no at a moment's notice ; the i/reaminij of the buoy meaning 

 the throwing it into the water all clear of the ship, attached by its 

 buoy rope to the crown of the anchor over which it is said to watch. 



(See Nautical Magazine ; Herbert, On the Construction of Floating 

 Rndifx, &c.) 



BURETTE, an instrument in chemistry, invented by M. Gay- 

 Lussac, for the purpose of dividing a given portion of any liquid into 



