NAUTICAL. 



CHAPTER III. 



SUBSIDIARY APPLIANCES. PART I. 



General Sketch of the Subject. The Mast of Wood and Iron. Analogy between 

 the Iron Mast and the Porcupine Quill. The Iron Yard and its Shape pre- 

 figured by the same Quill. Beams of the Steam-engine. Principle of the 

 Hollow Tube in place of the Solid Bar. Quills and Bones of Birds. Wheat 

 Straws and Bamboos. Structure of the Boat. The Coracle, the Esquimaux 

 Boat, and the Bark Canoe. Framework of the Ship and Skeleton of the Fish. 

 Compartments of Iron Ship and Skull of Elephant. The Rush, the Cane, 

 and the Sugar-cane. " Stellate" Tissue and its Varieties. 



HAVING now treated of the raft, the boat, the ship, and 

 their various modes of propulsion and guidance, we 

 come to the subsidiary appliances to navigation, if they may 

 be so called in lack of a better name. 



First in importance is necessarily the mast ; and the yards, 

 which support the sails, are naturally the next in order. Then 

 there come the various improvements in the building of vessels ; 

 namely, the substitution of planks fastened on a skeleton of 

 beams for a mere hollowed log, and the subsequent invention 

 of iron vessels with their numerous compartments, giving 

 enormous strength and size, with very great comparative 

 lightness. 



Then we come to the various developments of the ropes or 

 cables, by which a vessel is kept in its place when within reach 

 of ground, whether on shore or at the water-bed. Next come 

 the different forms of anchors which fasten a vessel to the bed 

 of the ocean, of grapnels by which she can be made fast to 

 the shore, or of " drags," which at a pinch can perform either 

 office, and can besides be utilised in searching for and hauling 

 up objects that are lying at the bottom of the sea. 



