ated
damages, to save the necessity of proving it, in case of a total loss.

VALVES. See under their respective particular names.

VAMBRACE. Armour for the front of the arm.

VAN [formerly _vant_, contracted from _avant_]. That part of a fleet,
army, or body of men, which is advanced in the first line or
front.--_Vanguard._ The advanced division.

VANE. A piece of buntin extended on a wooden stock, which turns upon a
spindle at the mast-head; it shows the direction of the wind.--_A
distinguishing vane_, denotes the division of a fleet to which a ship of
the line belongs, according to the mast on which it is borne.--_Dog-vane._
A small light vane, formed of thin slips of cork, stuck round with
feathers, and strung upon a piece of twine. It is usually fastened to
the top of a half-pike, and placed on the weather side of the
quarter-deck, in order to show the helmsman the direction of the wind.

VANES. The sights of cross-staffs, fore-staffs, quadrants, &c., are
pieces of brass standing perpendicularly to the plane of the instrument;
the one opposite to the fore horizon-glass is the foresight-vane, the
other the backsight-vane.

VANE-SPINDLE. The pivot on which the mast-head-vane turns; it should
never be made of metal, lest it attract lightning, unless the masts be
fitted with Sir W. Snow Harris's conductors.

VANFOSSE. A wet ditch at the outer foot of the glacis.

VANG. A rope leading from the end of the gaff to the rail, one on each
side, so that the two form guys attached to the outer ends of the gaffs
to steady them, and when the sails are not set keep them amidships.

VANGEE. A contrivance for working the pumps of a vessel by means of a
barrel and crank-breaks.

VAPOUR, OR SMOKE. In polar parlance, a peculiar but natural result of
the conversion of water into ice, which is too often supposed to
indicate open water.

VARIABLES. Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected.

VARIABLE STARS. Those which are found to exhibit periodical fluctuations
of brightness; of which Algol and Mira Ceti are notable examples.

VARIATION. A term applied to the deviation of the magnetic needle or
compass, from the true north point towards either east or west; called
also the _declination_. The variation of the needle is properly defined
as the angle which a magnetic needle suspended at liberty makes with the
meridian line on a horizontal plane; or an arc of the horizon,
comprehended between the true and the