SIGNING OFFICERS. The captain, senior lieutenant, master, and purser (now paymaster); but where the document relates to the stores in charge of any stated officer, that officer is to sign it instead of the purser.
SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. The emblems of the twelve divisions, into which the ancients divided the zodiac.
SILL. A northern term for the young of a herring.
SILLOCK. The podling, or young of the coal-fish, affording food and oil on the Scottish coasts; they are grayish, and are taken when somewhat less than a herring.
SILL OF A DOCK. The timber at the base against which the gates shut; and the depth of water which will float a vessel in or out of it, is measured from it to the surface.
SILLON. An old word for envelope. In fortification, formerly, a counterguard.
SILLS. The upper and lower parts of the framing of the ports. The bottom pieces of any ports, docks, scuttles, or hatches.
SILT. Sediment; ooze in a harbour, or at a lock-gate.
SILT-GROUNDS. Deep-water banks off Jamaica, where silt-snappers are fished for.
SILT-UP, To. To be choked with mud or sand, so as to obstruct vessels.