and of some, or all of these, every
compound machine consists.

MECK. A notched staff in a whale-boat on which the harpoon rests.

MEDICAL BOARD. A number of medical officers convened to examine sick and
wounded officers and men, for invaliding or discharge.

MEDICINE-CHEST. A large chest containing the medical necessaries that
may be required for 100 men during the cruize. Several chests are thus
fitted and supplied in proportion to the ship's crew, ready for detached
service.

MEDICINES. Merchantmen are legally bound to carry medicines in
proportion to their crew, with instructions for their use if there be no
surgeon on board.

MEDICO. A familiar appellation for the ship's surgeon.

MEDITERRANEAN OR INLAND SEA. A term applied to a sea surrounded on all
sides, except its immediate entrance, by land; as the Mediterranean, so
styled _par excellence_; also, the Baltic, the Red Sea, &c.

MEDITERRANEAN PASS. A document formerly granted by the Lords of the
Admiralty to registered vessels, which was valuable when the Barbary
powers were unchecked. (_See_ PASS.)

MEDIUM. _See_ RESISTING MEDIUM.

MEERMAID. A name given by our northern fishermen to the _Lophius
piscatorius_, or frog-fish, without reference to the _mermaid_ (which
see).

MEER-SWINE. The porpoise [from the German _meerschwein_].

MEET HER! The order to adjust the helm, so as to check any further
movement of the ship's head in a given direction.

MEGANESE [Gr.] A large portion of land, inferior in extent to a
continent, but which, though insular, is too large to be termed an
island, as New Holland.

MEMORIAL. An official petition on account of services performed.

MEN. The ship's company in general.

MEND SAILS, TO. To loose and skin them afresh on the yards.

MEND THE SERVICE. Put on more service to the cable, or any part of the
rigging chafed.

MERCANTILE MARINE. _See_ MARINE.

MERCANTILE MARINE FUND. A public fund accumulated by fees payable to the
Board of Trade on account of the merchant shipping.

MERCATOR'S CHART OR PROJECTION. Introduced by Gerard Mercator, _circa_
1556: it is a projection of the surface of the earth in the plane, with
all the meridians made parallel with each other, consequently the
degrees of longitude all equal, the degrees of latitude increasing in a
corresponding ratio towards the poles. This is the chart most commonly
used in navigation; and its use appears to have obtained quickly, for in
1576, among the ite