urpose by the seamen of that nation. The binnacle is a wooden
case or box, which contains the compass, and a light to illuminate the
compass at night; there are usually three binnacles on the deck of a
ship-of-war, two near the helm being designed for the man who steers,
weather and lee, and the other amidships, 10 or 12 feet before these,
where the quarter-master, who conns the ship, stands when _steering_, or
going with a free wind. (_See_ CONN.)

BINNACLE-LIGHT. The lamp throwing light upon the compass-card.

BINOCLE. A small binocular or two-eyed telescope.

BIOR-LINN. Perhaps the oldest of our terms for boat. (_See_ BIRLIN.)

BIRD-BOLT. A species of arrow, short and thick, used to kill birds
without piercing their skins.

BIRD'S-FOOT SEA-STAR. The _Palmipes membranaceus_, one of the
_Asterinidae_, with a flat thin pentagonal body, of a bright scarlet
colour.

BIRD'S NEST. A round top at a mast-head for a look-out station. A
smaller crow's nest. Chiefly used in whalers, where a constant look-out
is kept for whales. (_See_ EDIBLE BIRD'S NEST.)

BIREMIS. In Roman antiquity, a vessel with two rows of oars.

BIRLIN. A sort of small vessel or galley-boat of the Hebrides; it is
fitted with four to eight long oars, but is seldom furnished with sails.

BIRT. A kind of turbot.

BIRTH-MARKS. A ship must not be loaded above her birth-marks, for, says
a maritime proverb, a master must know the capacity of his vessel, as
well as a rider the strength of his horse.

BISCUIT [_i.e._ _bis coctus_, or Fr. _bis-cuit_]. Bread intended for
naval or military expeditions is now simply flour well kneaded, with the
least possible quantity of water, into flat cakes, and slowly baked.
Pliny calls it _panis nauticus_; and of the _panis militaris_, he says
that it was heavier by one-third than the grain from which it was made.

BISHOP. A name of the great northern diver (_Colymbus glacialis_).

BISMER. A name of the stickleback (_Gasterosteus spinachia_).

BIT. A West Indian silver coin, varying from 4_d._ to 6_d._ In America
it is 12-1/2 cents, and in the Spanish settlements is equal with the
real, or one-eighth of a dollar. It was, in fact, Spanish money cut into
bits, and known as "cut-money."

BITE. Is said of the anchor when it holds fast in the ground on reaching
it. Also, the hold which the short end of a lever has upon the thing to
be lifted. Also, to bite off the top of small-arm cartridges.

BITTER. Any turn of a cab