The Sailor's Word-Book Part 163

MATE OF THE MAIN-DECK. The officer appointed to superintend all the duties to be executed upon the main-deck during the day.

MATERIAL MEN. The persons who furnish all tackles and stores, &c., to repair or fit out ships. The high court of Admiralty allows material men to sue against remaining proceeds in the registry, notwithstanding past prohibitions.

MATERIEL. A French word that has been naturalized in speaking of naval or military stores.

MATHEMATICS. The science which treats of every kind of quant.i.ty that can be numbered or measured.

MATIES, OR MATEYS. Dockyard artificers, shipwrights, carpenters, &c.

MATO. A sh.e.l.l formerly of some commercial value on the west coast of Africa.

MATRa.s.s. The square head of an arrow called _quarril_. In chemistry it is the Florence oil flask used for evaporation. From its thinness it will stand great gradual heat.

MATROSS. Formerly an a.s.sistant gunner in the artillery.

MATTHEW WALKER. A knot, so termed from the originator. It is formed by a half hitch on each strand in the direction of the lay, so that the rope can be continued after the knot is formed, which shows as a transverse collar of three strands. It is the knot used on the end of the laniards of rigging, where dead-eyes are employed.

MAUD. A salmon-net fixed in a square form by four stakes.

MAUL. A heavy iron hammer, used for driving tree-nails or bolts; it has one end faced, and the opposite pointed, whence it is often called a pin-maul.--_Top-maul_ is distinguished by having an iron handle, with an eye at the end, by which it is tied fast to the mast-head. It is kept aloft for driving the iron fid in or out of the top-mast.

MAUND. An Indian weight, which varies in amount depending on the part of the country. Also, a basket used by fishermen; a measure of small fish.

MAUNJEE. The native boatmen of the river Hooghly.

MAVIS-SKATE. The sharp-nosed ray. (_See_ FRIAR-SKATE.)

MAW, OR SEA-MAW. The common gull, _Larus ca.n.u.s_.

MAY. _See_ VENDAVAL.

MAYHEM, OR MAHIM. The law-term for maim.

MAZE. In the herring trade, 500 fishes.

MAZOLET. An Indian bark boat, caulked with moss.

MEAKER. A west-country term for a minnow.

MEAKING IRON. The tool used by caulkers to run old oak.u.m out of the seams before inserting new.

MEALED. Mixed or compounded.--_Mealed powder_, gunpowder pulverized by treating with spirits of wine.

MEALES, OR MIOLS. Immense sand-banks thrown up by the sea on the coasts of Norfolk, Lancashire, &c.

MEAN. As a general term implies the medium, but a mean of bad observations can never make a good one.

MEAN ANOMALY. _See_ ANOMALY.

MEAN DISTANCE. The average distance of a planet from the sun; it is equal to half the longer axis of the ellipse, and hence is frequently termed the semi-axis major.

MEAN EQUINOX. The position of the equinox independent of the effects of nutation.

MEAN MOTION. The rate at which a body moving in an elliptic orbit would proceed at an equal velocity throughout.

MEAN NOON. The noon of a mean day supposing the year to be divided into days of equal length. It differs from _apparent noon_ by the amount of the equation of time for that date.

MEAN OBLIQUITY. The obliquity of the ecliptic, unaffected with nutation.

MEAN PLACE OF A STAR. Its position at a given time, independent of aberration and nutation.

MEAN SUN. _See_ TIME.

MEAN TIME. _See_ TIME.

MEASURE. A comprehensive term including length, surface, time, weight, solidity, capacity, and force of gravity.

MEASURING LINE. The old term for the first meridian reckoned off from a ship's longitude. Also, the five-fathom line used by the boatswain.

MECHANICS. The science which explains the properties of moving bodies, and of the machines from which they receive their impetus. The mechanical powers consist of six primary instruments, the lever, the balance, the pulley, the wheel, the screw, and the wedge: to which is sometimes added the inclined plane; and of some, or all of these, every compound machine consists.

MECK. A notched staff in a whale-boat on which the harpoon rests.

MEDICAL BOARD. A number of medical officers convened to examine sick and wounded officers and men, for invaliding or discharge.

MEDICINE-CHEST. A large chest containing the medical necessaries that may be required for 100 men during the cruize. Several chests are thus fitted and supplied in proportion to the ship's crew, ready for detached service.

MEDICINES. Merchantmen are legally bound to carry medicines in proportion to their crew, with instructions for their use if there be no surgeon on board.

MEDICO. A familiar appellation for the ship's surgeon.

MEDITERRANEAN OR INLAND SEA. A term applied to a sea surrounded on all sides, except its immediate entrance, by land; as the Mediterranean, so styled _par excellence_; also, the Baltic, the Red Sea, &c.

MEDITERRANEAN Pa.s.s. A doc.u.ment formerly granted by the Lords of the Admiralty to registered vessels, which was valuable when the Barbary powers were unchecked. (_See_ Pa.s.s.)

MEDIUM. _See_ RESISTING MEDIUM.

MEERMAID. A name given by our northern fishermen to the _Lophius piscatorius_, or frog-fish, without reference to the _mermaid_ (which see).

MEER-SWINE. The porpoise [from the German _meerschwein_].

MEET HER! The order to adjust the helm, so as to check any further movement of the ship's head in a given direction.

MEGANESE [Gr.] A large portion of land, inferior in extent to a continent, but which, though insular, is too large to be termed an island, as New Holland.

MEMORIAL. An official pet.i.tion on account of services performed.

MEN. The ship's company in general.