The Sailor's Word-Book Part 186

PIT. In the dockyards. _See_ SAW-PIT.

PITCH. Tar and coa.r.s.e resin boiled to a fluid yet tenacious consistence.

It is used in a hot state with oak.u.m in caulking the ship to fill the c.h.i.n.ks or intervals between her planks. Also, in steam navigation, the distance between two contiguous threads of the screw-propeller, is termed the _pitch_. Also, in gunnery, the throw of the shot.--_To pitch_, to plant or set, as tents, pavements, pitched battles, &c.

PITCH-BOAT. A vessel fitted for boiling pitch in, which should be veered astern of the one being caulked.

PITCHED. A word formerly used for _stepped_, as of a mast, and also for _thrown_.

PITCH-HOUSE. A place set apart for the boiling of pitch for the seams and bottoms of vessels.

PITCH IN, TO. To set to work earnestly; to beat a person violently. (A colloquialism.)

PITCHING. The plunging of a ship's head in a sea-way; the vertical vibration which her length makes about her centre of gravity; a very straining motion.

PITCH-KETTLE. That in which the pitch is heated, or in which it is carried from the _pitch-pot_.

PITCH-LADLE. Is used for paying decks and horizontal work.

PITCH-MOP. The implement with which the hot pitch is laid on to ships'

sides and perpendicular work.

PITCH-PINE. _Pinus resinosa_, commonly called Norway or red pine. (_See_ PINE.)

PITH. Well known as the medullary part of the stem of a plant; but figuratively, it is used to express strength and courage.

PIT-PAN. A flat-bottomed, trough-like canoe, used in the Spanish Main and in the West Indies.

PIT-POWDER. That made with charcoal which has been burned in pits, not in cylinders.

PIVOT. A cylinder of iron or other metal, that may turn easily in a socket. Also, in a column of troops, that flank by which the dressing and distance are regulated; in a line, that on which it wheels.

PIVOT-GUN. Mounted on a frame carriage which can be turned radially, so as to point the piece in any direction.

PIVOT-SHIP. In certain fleet evolutions, the sternmost ship remains stationary, as a pivot upon which the other vessels are to form the line anew.

PLACE. A fortress, especially its main body.

PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE. One of the golden maxims of propriety on board ship.

PLACE OF ARMS. In fortification, a s.p.a.ce contrived for the convenient a.s.sembling of troops for ulterior purposes; the most usual are those at the salient and re-entering angles of the covered-way.

PLACER. A Spanish nautical term for shoal or deposit. Also, for deposits of precious minerals.

PLACES OF CALL. Merchantmen must here attend to two general rules:--If these places of call are enumerated in the charter-party, then such must be taken in the order laid down; but if leave be given to call at all, or any, then they must be taken in their geographical sequence.

PLAGES [Lat.] An old word for the divisions of the globe; as, _plages of the north_, the northern regions.

PLAIN. A term used in contradistinction to mountain, though far from implying a level surface, and it may be either elevated or low.

PLAN. The area or imaginary surface defined by, or within any described lines. In ship-building, the _plan of elevation_, commonly called the _sheer-draught_, is a side-plan of the ship. (_See_ HORIZONTAL PLAN and BODY-PLAN, or plan of projection.)

PLANE. In a general sense, a perfectly level surface; but it is a term used by shipwrights, implying the area or imaginary surface contained within any particular outlines, as the plane of elevation, or sheer-draught, &c.

PLANE-CHART. One constructed on the supposition of the earth's being an extended plane, and therefore but little in request.

PLANE OF THE MERIDIAN. _See_ MERIDIAN.

PLANE-SAILING. That part of navigation which treats a ship's course as an angle, and the distance, difference of lat.i.tude, and easting or westing, as the sides of a right-angled triangle. The easting or westing is called departure. To convert this into difference of longitude, parallel, middle lat.i.tude, or Mercator's sailing is needed, depending on circ.u.mstances. Plane-sailing is so simple that it is colloquially used to express anything so easy that it is impossible to make a mistake.

PLANE TRIANGLE. One contained by three right lines.

PLANETS, PRIMARY. Those beautiful opaque bodies which revolve about the sun as a centre, in nearly circular orbits. (_See_ INFERIOR, MINOR, and SUPERIOR.)

PLANETS, SECONDARY. The satellites, or moons, revolving about some of the primary planets--the moon being our satellite.

PLANIMETRY. The mensuration of plane surfaces.

PLANK. Thick boards, 18 feet long at least, from 1-1/2 to 4 inches thick, and 9 or 10 inches broad; of less dimensions, it is called _board_ or _deal_ (which see), the latter being 8 or 9 inches wide, by 14 feet long.

PLANKING. The outside and inside casing of the vessel.

PLANK IT, TO. To sleep on the bare decks, choosing, as the galley saying has it, the softest plank.

PLANK-SHEER. Pieces of plank covering the timber-heads round the ship; also, the gunwale or covering-board. The s.p.a.ce between this and the line of flotation has latterly been termed the free-board.

PLAN OF THE TRANSOMS. The horizontal appearance of them, to which the moulds are made, and the bevellings taken.

PLANT. A stock of tools, &c. Also, the fixtures, machinery, &c., required to carry on a business.

PLANTER. In Newfoundland it means a person engaged in the fishery; and in the United States the naked trunk of a tree, which, imbedded in a river, becomes one of the very dangerous snag tribe.

PLASH, TO. To wattle or interweave branches.

PLASTRON. A pad used by fencers. Also, the shield on the under surface of a turtle.

PLATE. In marine law, refers to jewels, plate, or treasure, for which freight is due. Thus, _plate-ship_ is a galleon so laden.

PLATE. _Backstay-plate._ A piece of iron used instead of a chain to confine the dead-eye of the backstay to the after-channel.--_Foot-hook or futtock plates._ Iron bands fitted to the lower dead-eyes of the topmast-shrouds, which, pa.s.sing through holes in the rim of the top, are attached to the upper ends of the futtock-shrouds.

PLATE-ARMOUR. Thick coverings or coatings for ships on the new principle, to render them impervious to shot and sh.e.l.l, if kept just outside of _breaking-plate_ distance.

PLATEAU. An upland flat-topped elevation.

PLATFORM. A kind of deck for any temporary or particular purpose: the orlop-deck, having store-rooms and cabins forward and aft, and the middle part allotted to the stowage of cables. Also, the flooring elevation of stone or timber on which the carriage of a gun is placed for action. Hence, in early voyages, a fort or battery, with well-mounted ordnance, is called "the platform."

PLATOON. Originally a small square body or subdivision of musketeers; hence, _platoon exercise_, that which relates to the loading and firing of muskets in the ranks; and _platoon firing_, _i.e._ by subdivisions.

PLAY. Motion in the frame, masts, &c. Also said of the marine steam-engine when it is in action or in play. Also, in long voyages or tedious blockades, play-acting may be encouraged with benefit; for the excitement and employment thus afforded are not only good anti-s...o...b..tics, but also promoters of content and good fellowship: in such--