On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 17:47:03 GMT, Peggie Hall
wrote:

Brian Whatcott wrote:
Lacking a stronger source, I speculate:
a wooden bucket or small barrel was formerly used for the sanitary
purpose.
The top surface of a barrel is called the head.


Nice try, Brian and Ansley, but no cigar for either of you this
time...Roger's answer is the correct one--the head takes its name from
its original location at the head/bow of the vessel. And since waste
went directly overboard--no hoses or fixtures where sea water or waste
could collect--there was no odor. But since sailors of that era rarely
bathed, they wouldn't have noticed any odor from the head anyway.


This is certainly the explanation most often cited: but it lacks one
feature for full credibility: on ships of the line, there were
heads, and these often were placed at the bows.
While the bows is plural, the head (of a ship) is always singular.

Still, never mind!

Brian W