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NAVAL ACADEMY. 293 NAVAL OBSERVATORY. mechanical liiawing, ul},'ebia, geometry, descrip- tive geometry, trigonometry, English studies, French, Spanish, and hygiene, and practical ex- ercises and instruction in seamansliip, Iroats, ordnance, target practice, infantry, artillery, battery drill, fencing, gynniastics, dancing, and swimming. The course for the second year ( third class) includes trigonometry, conic sections, dif- ferential and integral calculus, mechanical draw- ing, physics, chemistry, naval history, French and Spanish, and i)racti(al exercises and in- struction in seamansliip, boats, signals, ordnance, target practice, infantry, artillei'jt, battery drill, fencing, and steam engineering. The course for the third year (second class) includes seamanship, principles of mechanism, mechanical processes, mechanical drawing, marine engines and boilers, integral calculus anil mechanics, physics, chemis- try, and electricity, and practical exercises and instruction in seamanship, boats. stea7n tactics, signals, ordnance, infantrj-, artillery, battery drill, target practice, fencing, and steam engi- neering. The course for the fourth year (first class) includes seamanship and naval tactics, gun and tor])edo drills, naval ordnance and gun- nery, navigation, theory of compass deviations, marine surveying, boilers, naval construction, engineering materials and designing, physics, electricity, and Spanish, and practical exercises and instruction in seamanship, boats, steam tac- tics, battery drill, target practice, torpedo prac- tice, ordnance, artillery, infantry, fencing, com- pass correction, navigation, surveying, steam engineering, practical electricity, turret drill, etc. From tiie first of June until the first of September the cadets are embarked on practice vessels for the summer cruise, when they are instructed practically in the various duties of their profession. For several j'ears since the Spanish-American War one of the practice ves- sels has been a battleship temporarily detached from the fleet, the upper classes spending half the summer on her and half on the sailing training- ship Chesapeake. Until 1808 most of the build- ings of the Academy were very old. many of them dating from the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury, and the accommodations for the cadets inadeqiiate as well as unsuitable. The neces- sary expansion of the institution was brought to the attention of Congress by the war. and a very liberal plan of rebuilding the Academy was adopted. The expenditure authorized was $8,- 000.000. and the result will be the finest naval institution of learning in the world. About one- half till' bnililings wei'e under construction in 1902. Consult : Soley, Hiatory of the Vaval Acad- emij (Washington. 1876) : Benjamin, The United Ktatex fiial Aeadenn/ (New York. 1000). NAVAL APPRENTICE. See section on ynnil A /ijiri nlirr. under .|'I'REXTICE. NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS, The Society of. An association incorporated under the laws of New York State, with headquarters in New York City. The object of the association is the promotion of the art of shipbiiilding. The society holds annual meetings, and ha- a uienit«'rslii|> of over five hundred. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. See Shipbotld- ixr,. NAVAL CADET. See C.det. N.a^v.vl. NAVAL CONSTRUCTORS. Officers of the United States Xavy charged with the design, building, and repair of ships. Tlu' corps of naval constructors is tilled by appointment of gradu- ates of the Naval Academy who are sent (after graduation) to special technical schools for an additional course in shipbuilding, in 1902 there were twenty-one naval constructors and twenty assistant constructors. The constructors are not allowed a free hand in designs, as the general features are prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy upon the recommendation of the Construc- tion Hoard, which consists of the chiefs of the bureaus of the Navy Department. The working out of the design, however, is left wholly to the construction corps, NAVAL CROWN. In heraldry, a rim of gold around which are placed alternately prows of galleys and square .sails. NAVAL INSTITUTE, UxiTEn States. An organization founded at Annapolis in 1873 by the oltieers then on duty at the United States Naval Academy. It has for its object the promulgation of knowledge concerning naval affairs among the otticers of the naval service. During the first years of its existence it issued occasional num- bers of its Proceedinys, but in a short time the publication was made quarterly, and this has since continued. In addition to papers sub- mitted by otiicers, the Proceedings contain a quarterly review of the naval work of the world in the "Professional Notes, which aim to give all available information concerning new ships, guns, torpedoes, etc., which has become available during the [last quarter. Each year the Insti- tute otTers a gold medal, a life membership, and a prize of $100 for the best essay on any subject of int'crest to the service, reserving the right to withhold the offer if no worthy essay is presented. All officers of the Navy and persons holding positions under the Navy Department are eligible to membership, and other persons interested in naval affairs may be elected as associate or hon- orary members. The present membership of the Institute includes about two-thirds of all the officers in the navy and is rapidly increasing. NAVAL LAW. See Military Law. NAVAL OBSERVATORY. A Government institution situated at Washington, D, C, a di- vision of the Bureau of Equipment in the Navy Department. Its functions are "to determine accurately the positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars for use in preparing the Nautical Al- manac: to test chronometers; to issue correct standard time daily; ... to distribute to vessels of the Navy instruments of precision for navigating purposes; to conduct astronomical in- vestigations of general and special scientific in- terest; and, since 1894. to publish the Nautical Ahnnnar." It had its origin in a depot of charts and instruments established by the Navy Depart- ment under the charge of Lieut. L. M. Golds- borough in 1830. At this depot, "in a small cir- cular building, on a brick pier with a foundation 20 feet below the surface, he moinited a 3inch transit instrument made bv E. Patten of New Y'ork City." In 1833 Lieutenant Wilkes, U. S. N.. moved the depot to another site on Capitol Hill, and at his own expense built an observatory con- taining a transit instrument of 3'!j inches aper- ture and 63 inches focal length; a Borda's circle; a SV.-foot achromatic portable telescope; a port- able transit instrument; and a sidereal clock. In the summer of 1838 the Secretary of the Navy