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Knight's Mechanical Encyclopedia (ed. Knight), H. (search)
am′mer-tail spring. （Horology.) A long and stiff spring in a clock which gives the effective impulse to the striking hammer, when the latter is retracted for a blow and then released. Ham′mock. （Nautical.) From hamac; the suspended bed of the Bahama-Islanders when discovered by Columbus. A swinging sea-bed, common in South American countries and elsewhere, and made of manilla, seagrass, and other fiber, often ornamented and of delicate material. The undisputed invention of Alcibiades (Admiral Smyth). It is a piece of canvas, 6 by 4 feet, the end gathered by knittles and a grommet, forming the head and foot clews, to which is attached the lanyard by which it is suspended from rings in the deck beams. The illustration is rather a swinging cot. The orders on board ship are, Down all hammocks! Up all hammocks! Lash hammocks! Their respective meanings are, to carry below and sling; to unsling and stow away; to brail up to allow a clear passage between decks. H