The Sailor's Word-Book Part 165

MIDDY. An abbreviation for the younger midshipmen, synonymous with _mid_.

MIDRIB. A narrow ca.n.a.l or culvert.

MIDSHIPMAN. A naval cadet appointed by the admiralty, with the exception of one in each ship appointed by the captain. No person can be appointed midshipman until he has served one year, and pa.s.sed his examinations; nor a lieutenant without having previously served six years in the royal navy as midshipman, and having further pa.s.sed two severe examinations--one in seamanship and one in gunnery. A midshipman is then the station in which a young volunteer is trained in the several exercises necessary to attain a knowledge of steam, machinery, discipline, the general movements and operations of a ship, and qualify him to command.

MIDSHIPMAN'S NUTS. Broken pieces of biscuit as dessert.

MIDSHIPMAN'S ROLL. A slovenly method of rolling up a hammock transversely, and lashing it endways by one clue.

MIDSHIPS. The middle part of the vessel, either with regard to her length or breadth. (_See_ AMIDSHIPS.)

MILDERNIX. A strong canvas of which courses were formerly made; it appears in old statutes.

MILE. The statute mile is 5280 feet; but that used at sea, termed the mean nautic mile, consists of 60756 feet, or 60 to a degree.

MILITARY EXECUTION. The levying contributions from a country by military occupation and force.

MILITARY LAW. That under which soldiers and sailors are governed, founded on the acts of parliament pa.s.sed to that end.

MILITIA. A military force raised by ballot.

MILKY WAY. _See_ VIA LACTEA.

MILL. A boxing match, whether standing up or nailed to a chest.

MILLAR'S SIGHT. General Millar's simple dispart--a sliding pillar bearing a scale graduated to tangents of degrees for setting the gun by.

MILLED LEAD. Sheet lead.

MILLER, TO DROWN THE. To put an overdose of water to grog.

MILLER'S THUMB. A fresh-water fish, the _Cottus cataphractus_.

MILT. The soft roe, or spermatic part, of the male fish.

MINE. A pa.s.sage made under ground, with a chamber at the end, under the place intended to be blown up; it is entered by the shaft, which leads through the gallery to the chamber.

MINERAL OIL. _See_ PETROLEUM.

MINIE RIFLE. This has acquired a great name, though not yet in general use.

MINION. An old four-pounder gun about 7 feet long. Its point-blank range was 120 paces, with a random one of 1500. Bourne, in 1578, mentions the minion as requiring shot 3 inches in diameter.

MINISTER. A minister, though termed plenipotentiary, has no power to grant protection to vessels or cargoes otherwise subject to the operations and laws of hostilities.

MINNIS. An old British word for a rock or piece of rising ground.

MINNOW. A small fresh-water fish--the _Leuciscus phoxinus_. The term was used in contempt by Shakspeare and the elders.

MINOR AXIS. In a planetary orbit, signifies the line perpendicular to the major axis, and pa.s.sing through the centre of the ellipse.

MINOR PLANETS. _See_ ASTEROIDS.

MINUTE MILE. The sixtieth part of a degree of longitude or lat.i.tude; in the latter case it is the sixtieth part of a degree of a great circle, in the former it decreases in length as the lat.i.tude increases.

MINUTE AND HALF-MINUTE GLa.s.sES. _See_ GLa.s.s.

MINUTE-GUNS. Fired at intervals of a minute each during the progress of important funerals.

MINUTES. Short notices taken in writing of any important proceedings.

MIRA. A remarkable variable star in Cetus.

MIRACH. One of the bright stars in Andromeda.

MIRAGE, OR LOOM. A word, which has crept into use since the French expedition to Egypt, to express the extraordinary refraction which light undergoes when strata of air, of different densities, extend above each other. The mirage, reflecting objects at a great height, inverts and doubles the image.

MIRE-b.u.mPER AND MIRE-DRUM. North-country names of the bittern.

MIRKLES. The radicle leaves of the _Fucus esculentus_, a sea-weed eaten on our northern coasts.

MIRROR. The speculum of a quadrant, or any silvered or polished reflecting surface.

MISCHIEF. _See_ MASTER OF MISRULE.

MISREPRESENTATION TO THE UNDERWRITERS, of any fact or circ.u.mstance material to the risk of insuring, whether by the insured or his agent, and whether fraudulent or innocent, renders the contract null and void.

(_See_ REPRESENTATION.)

MISSILES. Projectiles of every kind propelled by force.

MISSING. If a vessel is not heard of within six months after her departure (or after the last intelligence of her) from any port in Europe, and within twelve months from other parts of the world, she is deemed to be lost. Presumptive proof will suffice if none of her crew appear.

MISSING STAYS. To fail in going about from one tack to another; when, after a ship gets her head to the wind, she comes to a stand, and begins to fall off on the same tack.

MIST [Anglo-Saxon]. A thin vapour, between a _fog_ and _haze_, and is generally wet.

MISTICO. Equivalent to our _hermaphrodite_, being a small Mediterranean vessel, between a xebec and a felucca. (_See_ XEBEC.)

MISTRAL. A cold N.W. wind experienced on the Mediterranean sh.o.r.es of France. [Corrupted from _maestrale_.]

MITTS. A protection for the hand, covering the thumb in one s.p.a.ce and the fingers in another, so that men wearing them can still handle ropes.

MIXED MATHEMATICS. Pure mathematics when applied to practical subjects, as astronomy, optics, hydrography, gunnery, engineering, and the like.

MIZAR. The star ? in Ursa Major; the middle one in the tail.

MIZEN. The spanker or driver is often so named.

MIZEN-MAST. The aftermost mast of a ship (_see_ SHROUDS, STAY, YARD, &c.), observing only that the epithet of fore, main, or mizen, is added to each term, to distinguish them from each other. (_See_ BONAVENTURE.)