NAUTICAL. 



CHAPTER IV. 



SUBSIDIARY APPLIANCES.— Part II. 



The Cable and its Variations. — Material of Cables.— Hempen and Iron Cables, 

 and Elasticity of the latter. — Natural Cables. — The " Byssus" of the Pinna 

 and the common Mussel. — The Water-snail and its Cable. — A similar Cable 

 produced by the common White Slug. — The Principle of Elasticity. — 

 Elastic Cable of the Garden Spider. — Tendrilous Cables of the Pea and the 

 Bryony. — The Vallisneria, and its Development through the Elastic Cable. 

 — Proposed Submarine Telegraph Cable. — The Anchor, Grapnel, and their 

 Varieties. — Natural Anchors. — Spicule of Synapta. — The Grapnel, natural 

 and artificial. — Ice-anchor and Walrus Tusks. — The Mushroom Kedge. — 

 The Flesh-hook. — Eagle-claw. — The Grapple-plant of South Africa. — The 

 Drag. 



A MONG the most important accessories to a ship are the 

 -£*■ Cable, by which she can be anchored to the bed of the sea, 

 and the ropes called " warps," by which she can be fastened to 

 the land. 



Perhaps my readers may not know the old riddle — " How 

 many ropes are there on board a man-of-war ? " The non- 

 nautical individual cannot answer, but the initiated replies 

 that there are only three, namely, the man-rope, the tiller- 

 rope, and the rope's-end, all the others being " tacks," "sheets," 

 " haulyards," " stays," " braces," &c. 



Formerly cables were always made of hemp, enormously 

 thick, and most carefully twisted by hand. Now, even in 

 small vessels, the hempen cable has been superseded by the 

 iron chain, and this for several reasons. 



In the first place, it is much smaller in bulk, and therefore 

 does not occupy so much room. In the next place, it is even 

 lighter than the hempen cable of corresponding strength ; and, 

 in the third, its specific gravity — i.e. its weight when coA- 



