The Sailor's Word-Book Part 188

POLANS. Knee-pieces in armour.

POLAR CIRCLES. The Arctic and the Antarctic; 23 28' from either pole.

POLAR COMPRESSION. _See_ COMPRESSION OF THE POLES.

POLAR DISTANCE. The complement of the _declination_. The angular distance of a heavenly body from one of the poles, counted on from 0 to 180.

POLARIS. _See_ POLE-STAR.

POLAR REGIONS. Those parts of the world which lie within the Arctic and Antarctic circles.

POLDAVIS, OR POLDAVY. A canvas from Dantzic, formerly much used in our navy. A kind of sail-cloth thus named was also manufactured in Lancas.h.i.+re from about the year 1500, and regulated by statute 1 Jac.

cap. 24.

POLE. The upper end of the highest masts, when they rise above the rigging.

POLEAXE, OR POLLAX. A sort of hatchet, resembling a battle-axe, which was used on board s.h.i.+p to cut away the rigging of an adversary. Also in boarding an enemy whose hull was more lofty than that of the boarders, by driving the points of several into her side, one above another, and thus forming a kind of scaling-ladder; hence were called boarding-axes.

POLEMARCH. The commander-in-chief of an ancient Greek army.

POLE-MASTS. Single spar masts, also applied where the top-gallant and royal masts are in one. (_See_ MAST.)

POLES. Two points on the surface of the earth, each 90 distant from all parts of the equator, forming the extremities of the imaginary line called the earth's axis. The term applies also to those points in the heavens towards which the terrestrial axis is always directed.--_Under bare poles._ The situation of a s.h.i.+p at sea when all her sails are furled. (_See_ SCUD and TRY.)

POLE-STAR. a _Ursae minoris_. This most useful star is the lucida of the Little Bear, round which the other components of the constellation and the rest of the heavens appear to revolve in the course of the astronomical day.

POLICY. A written contract, by which the insurers oblige themselves to indemnify sea-risks under various conditions. An _interest_ policy, is where the insurer has a real a.s.signable interest in the thing insured; a _wager_ policy, is where the insurer has no substantial interest in the thing insured; an _open_ policy, is where the amount of interest is not fixed, but left to be ascertained in case of loss; a _valued_ policy, is where an actual value has been set on the s.h.i.+p or goods.

POLLACK. The _Merlangus pollachius_, a well-known member of the cod family.

POLLUX. _Geminorum_. A bright and well-known star in the ancient constellation Gemini, of which it is the second in brightness.

POLRON. That part of the armour which covered the neck and shoulders.

POLTROON. Not known in the navy.

POLYGON. A geometrical figure of any number of sides more than four; regular or irregular. In fortification the term is applied to the plan of a piece of ground fortified or about to be fortified; and hence, in some countries, to a fort appropriated as an artillery and engineering school.

POLYMETER. An instrument for measuring angles.

POLYNESIA. A group of islands: a name generally applied to the islands of the Pacific Ocean collectively, whether in cl.u.s.ters or straggling.

POMELO, OR PUMELO. _Citrus dec.u.mana._ A large fruit known by this name in the East Indies, but in the West by that of shaddock, after Captain Shaddock, who introduced it there.

POMFRET. A delicate sea-fish, taken in great quant.i.ties in Bombay and Madras.

POMMELION. A name given by seamen to the cascable or hindmost k.n.o.b on the breech of a cannon.

PONCHES. Small bulk-heads made in the hold to stow corn, goods, &c.

PONCHO. A blanket with a hole in the centre, large enough for the head to pa.s.s through, worn by natives of South and Western America.

POND. A word often used for a small lagoon, but improperly, for ponds are formed exclusively from springs and surface-drainage, and have no affluent. Also, a cant name for the Mediterranean. Also, the summit-level of a ca.n.a.l.

PONENT. Western.

PONIARD. A short dagger with a sharp edge.

PONTAGE. A duty or toll collected for the repair and keeping of bridges.

PONTONES. Ancient square-built ferry-boats for pa.s.sing rivers, as described by Caesar and Aulus Gellius.

PONTOON. A large low flat vessel resembling a barge of burden, and furnished with cranes, capstans, tackles, and other machinery necessary for careening s.h.i.+ps; they are princ.i.p.ally used in the Mediterranean.

Also, a kind of portable boat specially adapted for the formation of the floating bridges required by armies: they are constructed of various figures, and of wood, metal, or prepared canvas (the latter being most in favour at present), and have the necessary superstructure and gear packed with them for transport.

POO. A small crab on the Scottish coast.

POOD. A Russian commercial weight, equal to 36 lbs. English.

POODLE. An old Cornish name for the English Channel. Also, a slang term for the aide-de-camp of a garrison general.

POOL. Is distinguished from a _pond_, in being filled by springs or running water. Also, a _pwll_ or port.

p.o.o.p. [From the Latin _puppis_.] The aftermost and highest part of a large s.h.i.+p's hull. Also, a deck raised over the after-part of a spar-deck, sometimes called the _round-house_. A frigate has no p.o.o.p, but is said to be p.o.o.ped when a wave strikes the stern and washes on board.

p.o.o.pING, OR BEING p.o.o.pED. The breaking of a heavy sea over the stern or quarter of a boat or vessel when she scuds before the wind in a gale, which is extremely dangerous, especially if deeply laden.

p.o.o.p-LANTERN. A light carried by admirals to denote the flag-s.h.i.+p by night.

p.o.o.p-NETTING. _See_ HAMMOCK-NETTINGS.

p.o.o.p-RAILS. The stanchions and rail-work in front of the p.o.o.p. (_See_ BREAST-WORK and FIFE-RAILS.)

p.o.o.p-ROYAL. A short deck or platform placed over the aftmost part of the p.o.o.p in the largest of the French and Spanish men-of-war, and serving as a cabin for their masters and pilots. This is the topgallant-p.o.o.p of our s.h.i.+pwrights, and the former round-house cabin of our merchant vessels.

POOR JOHN. Hake-fish salted and dried, as well as dried stock-fish, and bad _bacalao_, or cod, equally cheap and coa.r.s.e. Shakspeare mentions it in _Romeo and Juliet_.

POPLAR. The tree which furnishes charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder.

POPLER. An old name for a sea-gull.

POPPETS. Upright pieces of stout square timber, mostly fir, between the bottom and bilge-ways, at the run and entrance of a s.h.i.+p about to be launched, for giving her further support. Also, poppets on the gunwale of a boat support the wash-strake, and form the rowlocks.

POPPLING SEA. Waves in irregular agitation.

PORBEAGLE. A kind of shark.

PORPESSE, PORPOISE, OR PORPUSS. The _Phocna communis_. One of the smallest of the cetacean or whale order, common in the British seas.