HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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CHAPTER THE EIGHTH.

The Construction and Pro/iortions adopted by the Ancients in building the NavesOner aria, or Commercial Vessels—the Difference which existed between themand Gallies intended for JVar—the Model found at Rome tn the SixteenthCentury, a Copy of which is now preserved in the Hall at Greenwich Hospital,proved to have been that of a Vessel intended for Commercial, and not IVarlikePurposes—Comparison between the Rates of Rowing Ancient and Modern Gallies—Account of the Rostrum, or Beak—its Construction—the Materials of which it( . was formed, and the Effects it was intended to produce—various Examples ofits Shape selected from the Coins of different Countries—of the various Methodspractised both by the Greeks and Romans in Decoration of their Vessels—theirMode of painting them, together with an Account of the different Colours usedby them—the Corymbus, or Anfvsov, together with the Anserculus—the Customof sumptuously gilding, and otherwise ornamenting ancient Gallies — Sails, theirMaterials and different Colours—the Practice of using gilt Oars taken Noticeof—the Adoption of painted or parti-coloured Rigging—Account of the variousJVeapons and Engines of Offence used on board Gallies—the Asser, or Lever,the Ke (>cucc of the Greeks—an Account of the Corvus, which has been frequentlvconfounded with other Engines, as it is given by Polybius, and his Commentatorthe Chevalier Folard—Description of the a,^Trayij and <rlor^ov—the Purposes

to which they were severally applied—Account of the Corvus of Demetrius,Calhus, and Archimedes—its Use and Application not merely Naval—the Flar-pago of Curtius described—the Difference between the %Eit> <n7r;cov and the a^-rroLy^pointed out—the Use of the former from Cccsar and Livy—the Invention of theFireship, and destructive Effects of the Greek Fire—different Inventions andContrivances to set the Ships of an Enemy on Fire, or annoy the Crews.

TTHILE ingenuity and invention were exercised to produce an impulsive* * power in its highest extent, by the use of the greatest number of oarsthat could be ranged in a given space, the ancient artists were no less attentiveto the contour of the bottom, so that it might meet with what was supposed tobe the least possible resistance in passing through the water.

The total absence of any scientific treatise on the construction of’vessels, eitherRoman, Carthaginian, or Grecian, has, as already observed, rendered it extremelydifficult to state, with precision, those principles which the ancients supposed mostVol. I. Q conducive