hich is fastened to the stem and is supported by the main knee.
Latterly, to meet steam propulsion, the whole of this is enlarged,
strengthened, and armed with iron plates, and thus the armed stem
revives the ancient strategy in sea-fights. Shakspeare makes Ariel thus
allude to the beak in the "Tempest:"--

"I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak,
Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
I flam'd amazement."

BEAKER. A flat drinking tumbler or cup, from the German _becher_. (_See_
BICKER.)

BEAK-HEAD BEAM. For this important timber _see_ CAT-BEAM.

BEAK-HEAD BULK-HEAD. The old termination aft of the space called
_beak-head_, which inclosed the fore part of the ship.

BEAL. A word of Gaelic derivation for an opening or narrow pass between
two hills.

BEAM. A long double stratum of murky clouds generally observed over the
surface of the Mediterranean previous to a violent storm or an
earthquake. The French call it _trave_.

BEAM. (_See_ ABEAM.)--_Before the beam_ is an arc of the horizon,
comprehended between a line that crosses the ship's length at right
angles and some object at a distance before it; or between the line of
the beam and that point of the compass which she stems. On the _weather_
or _lee_ beam is in a direction to windward or leeward at right angles
with the keel.

BEAM-ARM. Synonymous with _crow-foot_ (which see).

BEAM-ENDS. A ship is said to be on her beam-ends when she has heeled
over so much on one side that her beams approach to a vertical position;
hence also a person lying down is metaphorically said to be on his
beam-ends.

BEAM-FILLINGS. Short lengths of wood cut to fit in between the beams to
complete the cargo of a timber ship.

BEAM-LINE. A line raised along the inside of the ship fore and aft,
showing the upper sides of the beams at her side.

BEAM OF THE ANCHOR. Synonymous with _anchor-stock_.

BEAMS. Strong transverse pieces of timber stretching across the ship
from one side to the other, to support the decks and retain the sides at
their proper distance, with which they are firmly connected by means of
strong knees, and sometimes of standards. They are sustained at each end
by thick stringers on the ship's side, called shelf-pieces, upon which
they rest. The main-beam is next abaft the main-mast, which is stepped
between two beams with transverse supports termed partners; the foremost
of these is generally termed the main-beam, or the after-beam of the