Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/90

Monte Solara, and accessible by a stair of 552 steps cut in

the rock.

First inhabited, according to Virgil and Tacitus, by the Teleboae, Capri afterwards became a naval station of the Etruscans ; and in the 5th century B.C. passed under the power of the Greeks of Neapolis. From that city it was purchased by Augustus, who occasionally retired to its grateful seclusion in the latter part of his life. It is chiefly celebrated, however, as the retreat of Tiberius, where he spent the last ten years of his reign. He erected twelve villas in different parts of the island, the most famous of which was the Villa Jovis, built on the summit of the eastern cliffs 1500 feet above the sea. Large parts of the building, which combined the strength of a fortress with the luxury of a palace, still remain to bear witness to the power and wealth of the empire. The whole island, indeed, is full of Roman remains, and has yielded to the archaeologist a rich harvest of mosaics, bas-reliefs, coins, and inscrip tions. Of the last one of the most remarkable is the strange lamentation of Hypatus, which was discovered in the Mithraic temple at Metromania. On the fall of the Roman empire, Capri Eassed to the see of Rome, and it formed part of the bishopric of orrento till the 10th century, when it received a bishop of ita own. Of its mediaeval history the principal remains are the castles of Castiglione and Anacapri. In 1803 it was captured by Sir Sidney Smith, and defended by new fortifications ; but in 1808, while Sir Hudson Lowe was in command, it was recaptured by Murat.

See Hadrava, Lettere suit isola di Capri, Dresden, 1794 ; Hans Andersen, Improvisatore ; and three articles (reprinted from the Saturday Review, 1873) in J. R. Green s Stray Studies, 1876.

CAPSICUM. See Cayenne Pepper.

CAPSTAN, an appliance used on board ship and else where for heaving up the anchor or any heavy weight. Fig. 1 represents one of Har field & Co. s patent wrought- iron capstans as used in the Royal Navy. It has a ver tical spindle D, passing through sockets firmly secured in the deck, a drumhead E being keyed on to the spindle, and the capstan is turned round by means of bars inserted in holes made to receive them all round the edge of the drumhead. A capstan of the kind shown would have about twenty holes for bars, and each bar would be about 15 feet in length. The capstan bars are made of tough wood, such as American ash or rock elm. Three or four men can stand to each bar, so that when the capstan is fully manned at least sixty men are employed. When a hempen cable or a hawser is brought to the capstan, three turns are taken round the barrel GG, and men are stationed to haul on the end of the rope to prevent it from slipping, and to coil it up as it comes in. When a chain cable is brought to the capstan it is passed round the " whelps " at H, and is kept upon them by the rollers a, a, a, a, as shown in the plan (fig. 2), so that the cable assumes the position shown at ABC, A being towards its outer and C towards its inner end.

Fia. 1. Vertical Section of Capstan.

Capstans in their primitive form were merely blocks of wood wrought to the required shape and made to traverse on an iron spindle, and improvements have been gradually effected in them, some important ones being introduced by Captain Phillips, R.N. In all these capstans the cable was brought in by means of a " messenger " (see article Cable) ; but in 1857 Mr Thomas Brown took out a patent for dispensing with the messenger, and working the cable itself on the capstan by fitting a grooved pulley with guide rollers for securing the requisite amount of turn of ths chain, as before described, at ABC. Subsequently important improvements were introduced into the details of this invention, particularly in making the stops or whelps b, b which hold the links movable, so that they may be adjusted to fit the links of the cable exactly, and also admitting of their renewal when worn.

Fid. 2. Plan of Capstan.

The capstan shown in figs. 1, 2, and 3 is constructed of wrought iron, no cast-iron or wood being used. It is fitted with treble purchase gear, which is a simplification of Captain Phillips s original power capstan, and has the advantage of the toothed gearing remaining at rest with respect to the capstan, when the single purchase only is required. The treble power is obtained by withdrawing the connecting bolts c, c from the capstan barrel, and locking the plate d, which carries the intermediate pinions e, e to a fixed point in the deck, by sliding the horizontal paul / into one of the recesses g, g provided for the pur pose. The action then is as follows : The drumhead E, which is keyed to the spindle D, drives the centre pinion k ; this drives the intermediate pinions e, e, which rotate around their centres, as the pinion plate d is fixed to the deck by the paul/; these pinions in their turn drive the annular wheel I, which forms part of the capstan proper.

Fia 3. Section showing Pinions.

In large ships the spindle D is frequently continued down to the deck below, and another capstan is worked on it. In such cases the two capstans are so arranged that they may be worked either separately or together ; thus, if required, the power applied by the men on both capstans may be brought to bear on a chain or hawser attached tc either. In large ships of the navy and in many merchant vessels steam power is employed to drive the forward capstan, which is the one most used. Small engines specially constructed for this purpose, and secured to the under side of the deck beams at K are generally used. All capstans are provided with pauls to prevent them from running back.

Figs.l and 4 show a new form of "cable-holder," which has been recently introduced by Mr W. H. Harfield of Lon-