whole adjacent region being tainted with the pestilential effluvia 'proceeding from its remains, and the waters with its blood: the Roman army was obliged to remove its station. The skin of the monster was 120 feet long, and was sent to Rome as a trophy." Another account says, that "it caused so much trouble to Regulus that he found it necessary to contest the possession of the river with it, by employing the whole force of the army, during which a considerable number of soldiers were lost; while the serpent could neither be vanquished nor wounded: the strong armour of its scales easily repelling the force of all the weapons that were directed against it; upon which recourse was had to battering engines, with which the animal was attacked in the manner of a fortified tower, and was thus at length overpowered. Several discharges were made against it without success, till its back being broken by an immense stone, the monster began to lose its powers, and was with difficulty destroyed; after having diffused such a horror among the army that they confessed they would rather attack Carthage itself than such another monster.' The flesh of the serpent is eaten by the Indians and Negroes of Africa, and they make its skin into garments. BOA scytale, or spotted. The spotted boa is sometimes scarcely inferior in size to the constrictor, and is of similar manners, destroying, like that animal, goats, sheep, deer, &c. It is described as being generally of a grey or glaucous colour, marked with large orbicular black spots on the back; and with smaller ones of similar form, but with white centres on the sides; while on the abdomen are scattered several oblong spots and marks, interspersed with smaller specks and variegations. It is a native of several parts of South America, and like other large snakes is occasionally eaten by the Indians. BOA canina, a highly beautiful snake, measuring about four feet in length, and being of moderate size or thickness in proportion: the head is large, and shaped like that of a dog; the colour of the whole animal on the upper parts is a most beautiful Saxon-green, with several short, undulating, transverse white bars down the back, the edges of which are of a deeper or stronger green than the ground colour of the body: the under or abdominal part is white. This species is a native of South America. In the British Museum is an elegant specimen. See Plate Serpentes, fig. 3. BOA phrygia. Among the whole serpent tribe it may be doubted whether there exists a species more truly elegant than the present. Its general size seems to be nearly that of the boa canina, but its length is rather greater in proportion: the ground colour of the whole animal is white, with a very slight cast of yellowish brown on the back, while along the whole upper part is disposed a continued series of black varigations, so conducted as to bear a striking resemblance to an embroidery in needlework the head is of the same form with that of the boa canina, and marked by three narrow black streaks, which, running along the top of the head and the cheeks, join with the embroidered pattern of the back. Boa hortulana is of moderate size, measuring only a few feet in length, and being of a slender form; has obtained its Linnæan title from the singular variegations on the head, which are of a blackish brown, on a pale ferruginous or yellowish ground, and in some degree represent the form of a parterre in an old-fashioned garden: the variegations on the body are of similar colour, and are disposed into large circular, and sometimes angular patches on the sides. BOA fasciata. It is to Dr. Patrick Russel that we owe the knowledge of this remarkable species, which is a native of India, and is said to be most frequent in the country of Bengal. It is of a yellow colour, marked with pretty numerous dusky-blue transver-e bands, continued at equal distances: the head is rather small, and covered in front with large scales: the body is of a trigonal form, the sides sloping very considerably: the whole length of the animal is something more than five feet; the diameter, in the thickest part being nearly five inches: the length of the tail five inches only, and its termination rather obtuse. This snake is among the number of poisonous species, and its bite is considered by the Indians as inevitably fatal. A specimen was brought to Dr. Russel in the month of November, 1788, in an apparently weak and languid state, having been bruised in taking. Being set at liberty iu a room, it crept slowly towards an obscure corner, where a chicken being presented to him, he took no particular notice of it, and even suffered the bird to stand on his back. As he shewed no disposition to bite, his jaws were forcibly opened, and the thigh of the chicken being placed between them, the mouth was so closed over it as to oblige the fangs to act. The bird, when disengaged, shewed immediately symptoms of poison; and after several ineffectual efforts to rise, rested with the beak on the ground, the head being seized with trembling. In the space of 20 minutes it lay down on one side, and convulsions soon supervening, it expired within 26 minutes from the bite. BOAR. See Sus. BOARD, among seamen. To go abroad, signifies to go into the ship. To slip by the board, is to slip down by the ship's side. Board and board, is when two ships come so near as to touch one another, or when they lie side by side. To make a board is to turn to windward; and the longer your boards are, the more you work into the wind. To board it up, is to beat it up sometimes upon one tack, and sometimes upon another. She makes a good board, that is, the ship advances much at one tack. The weather board, is that side of the ship which is to windward. BOARDING a ship, is entering an enemy's ship in a fight. In boarding a ship, it is best to bear up directly with him, and to cause all your ports to leeward to be beat open; then bring as many guns from your weather side, as you have ports for; and laying the enemy's ship on board, loof for loof, order your tops and yards to be manned, and furnished with necessaries; and let all your small shot be in readiness; then charge at once, with both small and great, and at the same time, enter your men under cover of the smoke, either on the bow of your enemy's ship, or bring your midship close up with her quarter, and so enter your men by the shrouds: or if you would use your ordnance, it is best to board your enemy's ship athwart her hawse; for, in that case, you may use most of your great guns, and she only those of her prow. Let some of your men eadeavour to cut down the enemy's yards and tackle, whilst others clear the decks, and beat the enemy from aloft. Then let the scuttles and hatches be broke open with all possible speed to avoid trains, and the danger of being blown up by barrels of powder placed under the decks. Another method is described in Falconer's Marine Dictionary, which is as follows: the assailant having previously selected his men armed with pistols and cutlasses, A number of powder flasks, fitted with a fuzes, are provided, to be thrown upon the enemy's deck immediately before the as sault. Besides this, the boarder is gene rally furnished with an earthen shell, called a stink-pot, which, on that occasion, is sus pended from his yard-arms or bowsprit end. This machine is also charged with powder, mixed with other inflammable and suffocating materials, with a lighted fuze at the aperture. Thus prepared, and having grappled his adversary, the boarder displays his signal to begin the assault. The fuzes of the stink-pot and powder-flasks being lighted, they are immediately thrown upon the deck of the enemy, where they burst and catch fire, producing an intolerable stench and smoke, and filling the deck with tumult and distraction. Amidst the confusion occasioned by this infernal apparatus, the detachment provided, rush aboard, sword in hand, under cover of the smoke, on their antagonist, who is in the same predicament with a citadel stormed by besiegers, and generally overpowered, unless he is furnished with extraordinary means of defence, or equipped with places of retreat, furnished with small arms, &c. which may be fired at any time upon the boarders, and frequently with success. BOAT, is a small open vessel worked by oars or sails. The construction and naines of boats are different, according to the purposes for which they are intended. The boats or wherries plying on the Thames about London are either scullers, wrought by a single person with oars; or oars, wrought by two persons each with an oar. BOAT, life, a boat invented by Mr. Henry Greathead, of South Shields, for the purpose of preserving the lives of shipwrecked persons. In the year 1802, the Society of Arts rewarded the inventor with their gold medal and fifty guineas for his invention. The length of the boat is 30 feet, and both ends are made exactly similar, so that she may be rowed in either direction; and she is steered by an oar at each end, in the place of a rudder. These oars are one third longer than the rowing oars, and afford a great power to set the boat straight to meet the waves in a proper manner; she is generally rowed by ten oars, and will carry a great number af passengers, though she should be full of water. This is owing to a considerable quantity of cork made fast to her gunwale, which at the same time renders her very buoyant, and guards her against being stowed by running foul of a ship's side, &c. The particular construction of this boat will be best understood by referring to Plate LIFE BOAT, &c. in which Fig. 1. A cross section of the Life Boat. H, H. The outside planks of the boat. N, N. The timber-heads. P. The thwarts, or rowers' seats. R. One of the stanchions under the thwarts, each being thus firmly supported. S. A section of the gang-board, which crosses the thwarts, and forms the passage from one end of the boat to the other. T. The floor-heads, or platform for the rowers' feet. V, V. The two bilge pieces, nearly level with the keel. W, W. The gunwales. X. A ring bolt for the head-fast, there being another also at the other end. Y. Platform for the steersman. This boat went off on the 30th of January, 1790; and so well has it answered, and even exceeded, every expectation, in the most tremendous sea, that during the last eighteen years, not fewer than between two and three hundred lives have been saved at the entrance of the Tyne alone, which otherwise must have been lost; and in no instance has it ever failed. This useful, and, to a maritime nation, highly important invention, was occasioned by the following circumstance: In September, 1789, the ship Adventure, of Newcastle, was stranded on the south-side of Tynemouth Haven, in the midst of the most tremendous breakers, and all the crew dropped from the rigging one by one, in the presence of thousands of spectators; not one of whom could be prevailed upon by any reward to venture out to her assistance, in any boat of the common construction. On this melancholy occasion the gentlemen of South Shields called a meeting of the inhabitants, and premiums were instantly offered for plans of a boat which should be the best calcu Fig. 2. A longitudinal section of the Life lated to brave the dangers of the sea, par a. An oblong frame of wood consisting of two long pieces, hollowed a little to admit the body of the boat, and secured by the cross pieces b,b. c, c, c, c. Four low wheels, each sunk or hollowed in the middle to run better upon a rail-way or timber-road. d, d. Two indents made in the side timbers, that the bottom of the boat may be firm therein. e, e. Two small rollers moveable in the cross timbers for the keel of the boat to slide upon. ff. Two long rollers, one at each end of the frame, to assist in raising the boat upon, or sliding it off the truck or carriage. ticularly of broken water. Many persons laid claim to the reward, but the preference was given unanimously to Mr. Greathead's. The principle of this boat appears to have been suggested to the inventor by the following simple fact :-Take a spheroid, and divide it into quarters; each quarter is elliptical, and nearly resembles the half of a wooden bowl, having a curvature with projecting ends; this, thrown into the sea or broken water, cannot be upset, or lie with the bottom upwards. The length of the boat is, as we have seen, thirty feet; the of the gunwale to the lower part of the breadth ten feet; the depth, from the top keel in midships, three feet three inches; from the gunwale to the platform (within), two feet four inches; from the top of the stems (both ends being similar) to the horizontal line of the bottom of the keel, five feet nine inches. The keel is a plank of three inches thick, of a proportionate breadth in midships, narrowing gradually towards the ends, to the breadth of the stems at the bottom, and forming a great convexity downwards. The ends of the bottom section form that fine kind of entrance observable in the lower part of the bow of the fishing-boat, called a coble, much used in the north. From this part to the top of the stem it is more elliptical, forming a considerable projec Fig. 1. LIFE BOAT &c. Sections of M. Greathead's Life Boat and a plan of the Carriage for moving the Boat on Land. |