B O T 



Bottom is alfo ufcd for what rcmnins at the bottom of a 

 vefi'el. In this, ftnfe, Paracelfus calls the ftdimont of urine, 

 fundui tJririiC. 



JioTTOMjlone, a kind of iron-Hone, or ore, in the Staf- 

 fordlhire mines. 



Bottom riai/s. See Nail. 



BOTTOMRY, in Navigation and Ccmwi'rce, is a con- 

 traft, in the nature of a mortgage of a fliip, on which the 

 owner borrows money, to ennhle him to lit out the rtiip, 

 or to purchaf." a carjjo for a voyage propofed ;. and pledges 

 the keel or bollom of the fliip (f<iir!em pro tolo), as a fe- 

 cnrity for thj re-payment. It is moreover flipulated, that 

 if the fliip be h;ft, in the courle of the voyage, by any of 

 th; perils enumerated in the contrad, the lender alfo ihall 

 lofe his money ; bnt if the fliip fliould arrive in fafety, then 

 he flia'l receive back his principal, and alfo the intereil 

 agreed upon, generally called the " Marine luteieft," how- 

 ever this may exceed the legal rate of intercft. The perfon 

 of the boi rower, as well as the fhip and tackle, if they ar- 

 rive fafe, are anfwerable for the money lent, and the ma- 

 rine intercft. But if the loan is not upon the (V.ip, but 

 upon the goods and merchandize, which mull neceflarily 

 be fold or exchanged, in the courle of the voyage, then 

 only the borrower, perlonally, is bound to anfwer the con- 

 trait ; who is therefore, in this cafe, laid to take up money 

 at " Refpondentia." Bottomry is a loan upon the (hip, and 

 refpondentia upon the goods. However, in the latter cafe, 

 the perfonal refponlibility of the borrower is not always 

 the only lecurity of the lender. 1£ the money be lent for 

 the outward and homeward voyage, the goods of the bor- 

 rower on board, and the returns- for them, either in money, 

 or in other goods, purchafed with the proceeds of thtni, 

 are liable to the lender. The money is to be repaid to the 

 lender, with the marine intereil, upon the fafe arrival of the 

 fliip, in the one cafe, and of the goods, in the other. Such 

 are the leading circumftanccs that difcriminate thefe two 

 contrads ; in all other refpeds, they are nearly tiic fame, 

 and are governed by the fam; principles. 



This kind of contraft by bottomiy, or rather refponden- 

 tia, was known to the Romans ; they denominated it, 

 " nauticum foenus," or " ontradus trajeditiae pecuniss ;" 

 and it is treated of, both in the Digtll, and the Code, 

 " De nautico foenere." They called the lum lent, " pecu- 

 nia trajeditia," perhaps, btca\ift the borrower was accnl- 

 tomed to take the money on board witb^ him in fpecic, in 

 order to employ it in trade, in the courfe of the voyage ; 

 which money was to be repaid, after a fortunate voyage, 

 with a ftipulated intereil, called " periculi prelium ;" and 

 fometimes, " ufura maritima," or " ufura nautica ;" but it 

 was lent on this condition, that if the (hip (liould be loll, 

 by the perils of the fea, in the courfe of the voyage, tlie 

 lender fliould lofe both principal and intereil.. 



Bottomry cfTentially differs from a fimple loan : becaufe, 

 in a loan, the money is at the rifle of the borrower, and 

 mud be paid at all events ; but in bottomry, it is at the 

 riflv of the lender during the voyage. Accordingly, upon 

 a loan, the legal, intereil only can be referved ; whereas, 

 upon bottomry, any intereil may be legally referved, which 

 is agreed upon between the parties. 



The contrads of bottomry and infurance refemble one 

 another in feveral particulars ; the lender and the infurer 

 are alike liable to the perils of the fea ; the former receives 

 the marine intereil, and the latter the premium, as the 

 price of the riik, which of courfe varies, according to the 

 length, and danger of the vofage. The perils to which 

 both are cxpofed, commence and terminate together. The 

 marine, and alfo the premium of infurance, are not due, if 



B O T 



no rid: be run, ttiou(rh this be prevented by the vol.intary 

 ad of the borrower. Thefe contrads, however, materi- 

 ally differ in a vaiiety of refpeds. In bottonny, the lender 

 iupplies the borrowrr w^h. money, to purchafc the goods 

 that are rifleed ; but an mfnrer fnrnilhts no part of the pro- 

 perty infured. The lender, in taking on himfelf the riflt of 

 the goods, does not contrad any obligation to the bor- 

 rower ; a lofs by the perils of the fea does not make him 

 a debtor to the borrower, but only prevents the borrower 

 from becoming his debtor ; whereas, in cafe of lofs, the 

 infurer becomes a debtor to the infuicd, to the amount of 

 fuch lofs, not exceeding the funi infured. In cafe of fliip. 

 wreck, the lender^ by the geneial law, has a I'tcn on the 

 ffi"cds Caved, to the extent of the fum lent, and the marine 

 interefl, to the exclufion of the borrower; whereas, an in- 

 fured perfon has an intereil in the cfi'eds favcd, incommofi 

 with the infnrer, fo far as he was uninfured. The lender 

 is not li.ible for particular average ; but the infurer is 

 liable for this, unlefs he be exempt by exprefs llipnlation. 

 By the claufe, " free of average," infurers may be ex- 

 emptcd from genera! average ; but, in a cafe where the 

 lender is liable by law to general average, fuch a claufe 

 would be illegal and void If the voyage be divilible into 

 ievcral diilincl ri(!<s, the premium of infuranci; may be ap- 

 portioned to each, and there may be a return f<\r fuch as 

 have not been begun ; but in bottomry, if the rifles be once 

 commenced, and no lofs happen, the marine intereil mu(t 

 be paid entire. 



This contrad is eminently ufeful in a country, where per- 

 fons in trade have not capital fuflicitnt to carry on their 

 foreign commerce; and by means of it a kind of partnerlhip 

 is formed between the lender and the borrower, in whicU 

 one fupplits money, and the other flcill, experience, and a 

 fpirit of adventure ; in which one rifles the perils of the fea, 

 and the other compenfates him by a fliare of the profits of 

 the adventure. But in other refpeds this contrad bears no 

 refemblance to a parcnerfliip, as it has ro community of ca- 

 pital nor any community of lofs. 



Formerly contradr of tins kind were more common in this 

 country tlian they are iiow ; becaufe the immenfe capitals 

 engaged in every branch of commerce fnperfedt the neeelFity 

 of Inch loans. On this account money is now iVldom bor- 

 rowed in this manner, unlels it be by the mailers of foreign 

 (hips, who, being in. our ports, need pecuniary affillance to 

 refit, to pay their men, to purchafe provifioi.s, &c. or by 

 officers and others belonging to ^lips engaged in long 

 voyages, who are allowed to trade to a cerf^in extent with 

 tlie profped of great profit, but without capitals of their 

 own ; in this cafe, though it now ftldom occurs in this coun- 

 try, they take up money on refpondentia to make their in- 

 vellments. 



This c(uitraft, required to be always in writing, is fome- 

 times made in the form of a deed poll, called a " bill of bot- 

 tomry," executed by the borrower ; fometimes in the form 

 of a bond or obligation, v.'ith a penalty. But whatever may 

 be its form, it mull contain the names of the lender and the 

 borrower, thofe of the (hip and mailer; the fum lent, with 

 the flipulated marine intereil ; the voyage propofed, with 

 the duration of the rifle : and it muft alio fpecily, whether 

 the money be lent on the fliij*, or on the goods on board, or 

 on both ; together with any other (lipulation agreed by the 

 parties to be introduced into the contrad. It is alfo elTential to 

 this contrad, that the marine intereft be exprefsly referved 

 in it. 



Concerning the parties ii this contrad we obferve, that 

 any perfon, who is capable of contrad, may lend money 

 on bottomry. Any perfon, who has a veiled afTignablc pro- 

 perty 



