COGGS. The same with _coaks_ or _dowels_ (which see). COGS OF A WHEEL; applies to all wheel machinery now used at sea or on shore: thus _windlass-cogs_, _capstan-cogs_, &c. COGUING THE NOSE. Making comfortable over hot negus or grog. COIGN. _See_ QUOIN. COIL. A certain quantity of rope laid up in ring fashion. The manner in which all ropes are disposed of on board ship for convenience of stowage. They are laid up round, one fake over another, or by concentric turns, termed _Flemish coil_, forming but one tier, and lying flat on the deck, the end being in the middle of it, as a snake or worm coils itself. COILING. A sort of serpentine winding of a cable or other rope, that it may occupy a small space in the ship. Each of the windings of this sort is called a _fake_, and one range of _fakes_ upon the same line is called a _tier_. There are generally from five to seven fakes in a tier, and three or four tiers in the whole length of the cable. The smaller ropes employed about the sails are coiled upon cleats at sea, to prevent their being entangled. COIR. Cordage made from the fibrous husks of the cocoa-nut; though cables made of it are disagreeable to handle and coil away, they have the advantage of floating in water, so that vessels ride easily by them; they are still used by the Calcutta pilot-brigs. True coir is from the _Borassus gomutus_, the long fibrous black cloth-like covering of the stem. It is from this that the black cables in the East are made; the cocoa-nut fibre being of a reddish hue. It is used for strong brushes, being cylindrical and smooth, with a natural gloss. COKERS. The old name for cocoa-nut trees. CO-LATITUDE. The abbreviation for complement of latitude, or what it is short of 90°. COLD-CHISEL. A stout chisel made of steel, used for cutting iron when it is cold. COLD-EEL. The _Gymnotus electricus_. COLE [from the German _kohl_]. Colewort or sea-kale; a plant in its wild state peculiar to the sea-coast. COLE-GOOSE. A name for the cormorant (_Phalacrocorax carbo_). COLLAR. An eye in the end or bight of a shroud or stay, to go over the mast-head. The upper part of a stay. Also, a rope formed into a wreath, with a heart or dead-eye seized in the bight, to which the stay is confined at the lower part. Also, the neck of a bolt. COLLAR-BEAM. The beam upon which the stanchions of the beak-head bulk-head stand. COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS. An officer who takes the general superintendence of the customs at any port. COLLIERS. Vessels employed exclusively to carry coals from the northern ports of England. This trade has immemorially been an excellent nursery for seamen. But Shakspeare, in _Twelfth Night_, makes Sir Toby exclaim, "Hang him, foul collier!" The evil genius has lately introduced steam screw-vessels into this invaluable school. COLLIMATION, LINE OF. The optical axis of a telescope, or an imaginary line passing through the centre of the tube.