TOP 



Thi« is very ftriking in hathrta Squair.ar'ta, whofe roots are 

 furniftied with fmooth white fcales, very accurately imitating, 

 escept m hardnefs, the dmlts ir.cifnns, or fore-teeth. This 

 refeaiblance is perceptible alfo, though lei's exact, in the 

 roots of th; various fpecies of Dextaria ; fee that article, 

 Ophrys Corellcrrhiza of Linnaus has, for a finular reafon, 

 been fometimes called Daitaria ; which name, or DentUla- 

 ria, has alfo been given by Rondeletius to the Plxrmbago, 

 becaufe of the teeth of its corolla ; a charafter found in 

 many other genera. De?;tella, fee that article, owes its 

 name to the laft-mentioaed circumilance. It is hardly ne- 

 ceJTary to advert to the reputed qualities of the above tooth- 

 rooted plants, which were founded on the refemblance in 

 queftion. On this fubjeft more may be faid when we come 

 to fpeak of the ViRTUia of Plants. ' 



TOOTHED, in Botany and VegHahh Phjjiology , dm- 

 tattu, is properly applied to the margin of any leaf, petal, 

 &c. when fiimifhsd with direcUy prominent teeth, which 

 fcarcely point either towards the bafe or the point of fuch 

 leaf or petal, or of their fegmtnts. Yet this term is not 

 always fo ftriclly limited as it ought, being fometimes negli- 

 gfently ufed, when ferraied would be more proper. Stamens 

 however are faid to be toothed, when they have any lateral 

 prominence, or notch whatever, as in Aljjfum. 



TOOTOOCH, in Geography, a fmall ifland in Nootka 

 found, with an Indian village. 



TOOTOONA. See Erroxax. 



TOP, or Tope, in Commsrcf, a wine-meafure at Breflau, 

 and in other places of Germany. At Breflau, an eimer of 

 wine contains 20 tops, 80 qoaits, or 320 quartiers, and is 

 equal to 14I Enghfti gallons. 



Top, in G:ograpby, a lake of RuIIia, in the govermnent 

 of Olonetz, about 44 miles in length, and 8 in breadth ; 

 256 miles N.N.W. of Petrovodflc. N. lat. 6r. E. long. 

 30^ 14'. 



Top of a Ship, a fort of platform, furrounding the lower 

 maft-head, from which it projects on all fides like a fcaffold. 

 Its principal intention is to extend the topmaft-fhrouds, fo 

 as to form a greater angle with the maft, and thereby give 

 additional fupport to the latter. It is fuitained by the 

 treflel-trees and crofs-trees. The top is alfo convenient for 

 coHtaining the materials neceffary for estending the ffnall 

 fails, and for fixing or repairing the rigging machinery. In 

 Ihips of war it ferves as a kind of redoubt, and is accord- 

 ingly fortified for attack and defence, being funiilhed with 

 fwiveb, mufquetry, and other fire-arms, and guarded by a 

 thick fence of corded hammocks. It is aHb ufed as a place 

 for looking out, either in the day or night. The frame of 

 the top is either clofe-planked like a platform, or open Uke a 

 grating. In all rtiips of war, and in the largeil merchant- 

 men, the top is fenced oa the aft-fide by a rail about three 

 feet high, itretching acrofs and fupported by ftanchions, 

 between which a netting is ufually conitruded. 



The outiide of this netting is generally covered with red 

 bays, or red painted canvas, extended from the rail down to 

 the edge of the top, and called the tcp-armcur. By this name 

 it feems to have been confidered as a fort of blind, behind 

 which the men may conceal themfelves from the aims of the 

 enemy's fire-arms in time of aSJon, whilft they are charging 

 their own muikets, carbines, or fwivels. The dimenfions 

 of tops in the royal navy are as follow : the breadth of the 

 top athwart-lhips is one-third of the length of its correfpond- 

 ing top-mail : the length of all tops, from the foremoft to 

 the after-edge, is equal to three-fourths of their breadth 

 iUhwart ; and the fquai>e hole in the middle b five inches to 



8 



TOP 



a foot of thofe dimenfions. The treflel-trees and crofs- 

 trees extend nearly to the edge of the tops. 



The aft-fide of the top is itraight, and the fore and aft 

 fides fquare from thence to the aft-fide of the foremoft crofs- 

 tree ; from thence the fore-part breaks in with an elliptical 

 cuj-ve. Tops in th.e navy are feparated in the middle by a 

 fore and aft line, which makes them much more convenient 

 to be gotten over head. 



By a late order in the navy, the under Gdes of tops are to 

 be planed, and the after-part of the fore and main tops is to 

 be eighteen inches wider, and the after-part of the mizen 

 top, one foot wider than at the chain-plate for the foremoft- 

 ftiroud : the infide of the tops on each fide bv the part 

 called lubbrr's-hoie, is to have a flap and hinges, fo that a 

 top-gallant yard, maft, or a top-fail, may pafs infide of it. 



Tops, to lay ropes from a fix-thread ratline to the 

 largeft cables, are conical pieces of wood, with three or 

 four grooves, or fcores, from the butt to the end, for the 

 ftracds to lie in, and form a triangle. If too broad at the 

 butt, the rope will not clofe well, nor the ftrands work fo 

 clofe as they (hould. A hole is nnade through the centre 

 of the top, one-third the length from the butt-end, for the 

 ftaff or bolt to go through, round which are put pieces of 

 old rope, called tails, for the layers to clofe the rope with, 

 and lay it hard or flack, according to the ufe it is for. A 

 hole is likewife made through the middle of the top length- 

 ways, for laying ropes with a heart. A collar-is put on to 

 alfiil the layer when the work is too heavy, and to enable 

 him to hold the tails, and clofe the rope well. 



Tops, to lay ropes of tluree inches asd upwards, have a 

 ftaff under them, with a truck-wheel at the lower end. An 

 iron bolt goes through the centre of the top, and is lalhed 

 down to the ftaff, on which the tails are put and rounded otct 

 the rope, being too heavy to be laid with the collar. A 

 ftrap is put round the tails, with a woolder for the layer to 

 clofe the rope with. 



Tops, to lay cables, have a leg to fupport them, with a 

 truck-wheel at the end to run on, befides the ftaff which the 

 tails go over. 



Tops, for laying lines of all fizes, are of bos or hard 

 wood, tapered at the after-part, that the line may clofe 

 (harp. Thofe for fafhJines have four grooves, and for orumi 

 lines eight grooves. 



Top atid Butt, in Ship-BuilJing, a method of working 

 EngHlh plank, fo as to make good converfion. As the plank 

 runs very narrow at the top, clear of fap, this is done by 

 difpofing the top-end of every plank within fix feet of the 

 butt-end of the plank above or below it, letting every plank 

 work as broad as it wiU hold clear of fap, by which method 

 only can every other feam produce a fair edge. 



"Tov-Armour, in a Skip of War, See Top, fupra. 



Top-Bloti. See Biock. 



Top-Brim, a fpace in the middle of the foot of a top- 

 fail, containing one-fifth of the number of it« cloths. It is 

 fo called from its fituation, being near the fore-part of the 

 top when the fail is extended. 



Tov-Cham, a chain to fling the fail-yards in the time of 

 battle, in order to prevent them from falling down, when 

 the ropes by which they are hung happen to be fliot away, 

 or rendered incapable of fervice. Falconer. 



Top-Hamper, any unneceiTary weight aloft, either on the 

 top-ude of a (hip, or about its tops and rigging. 



Top-Lanthorn, a receptacle to hold three or more lights, 

 made of tin and glafs, placed in the aft -part of the top, in 

 any (hip where an admiral or coimnodore leads the van of a 

 fleet. 



Top, 



