Apsides
Apsides, The Plural Of Apse Or Apsis ; In Astronomy, The Two Points In The El Liptic Orbit Of A Planet Where It Is At The Greatest And The Least Distance Respec Tively From The Body Around Which It Re Volves. The Moon Moving In An Elliptic Orbit Around The ...
Aquatic Animals
Aquatic Animals, Animals Living In Or About Water. It Is Worth Noting That The Home Of Almost All The Simpler Animals Is Distinctly And Necessarily Aquatic. While A Few Of The Protozoa, Such As One Of The Amcebaa, Occur In Damp Places On Land, Or Within Other Organ Isms, The ...
Aquatic Plants
Aquatic Plants, Plants Growing In Or Belonging To Water. The Presence Of Water Is Not Only Essential To The Ac Tive Life Of All Organisms, But Is Pecul Iarly Necessary For Plants Which Are For The Most Part Dependent For Food Supply On Matter Dissolved In Water, As Well As ...
Aqueduct
Aqueduct, An Artificial Channel Or Conduit For The Conveyance Of Water From One Place To Another; More Particularly Applied To Structures For Conveying Water From Distant Sources For The Supply Of Large Cities. Works For Supplying Com Munities With Water Must Have Been Con Structed At A Very Early Period. ...
Arabia
Arabia, A Vast Peninsula In The S. W. Of Asia, Bounded On The N. By The Great Syro-babylonian Plain, N. E. By The Persian Gulf And The Sea Of Oman, S. E. By The Indian Ocean, And S. W. By The Red Sea And Gulf Of Suez. Its Length From ...
Arbitration
Arbitration, An Adjudication By Private Persons, Called Arbitrators, Ap< Pointed To Decide A Matter Or Matters In Controversy, Either By Written Or Oral Submission, By Agreement Of The Dispu Tants. It Differs From A Reference Which Is Made By The Order Of A Court Of Law. Legal Arbitration.—infants And Others ...
Arbutus
Arbutus, A Genus Of Plants Belong Ing To The Order Of Ericacen (heath Worts). A Species, The A. Unedo, Or Austere Strawberry Tree, Is Found, Ap Parently Wild, In The Neighborhood Of The Lakes Of Killarney. It Has Panicles Of Large, Pale Greenish-white Flowers And Red Fruit, Which, With The ...
Arch
Arch, In Architecture, A Series Of Wedge-shaped Stones Or Bricks, So Ar Ranged Over A Door Or Window In An Edi Fice For Habitation, Or Between The Piers Of A Bridge, As To Support Each Other, And Even Bear A Great Superincumbent Weight. The Stones And Bricks Of A Truncated ...
Architecture
Architecture, The Art Of Building Or Constructing. However Elaborate And Diversified The Edifices Of Different Times And Countries May Be, All Their Styles May Be Traced Back To The Two Chief Building Materials" Wood And Stone. Wooden Construction Manifests Itself In Upright Pillars With Beams Laid Across Them, Hence Called ...
Arctic
Arctic And Antarctic Explo Rations, Expeditions Projected To Ex Plore The Regions Surrounding The North Pole. The Object With Which These En Terprises Were Commenced By The Eng Lish Was To Obtain A Passage By Way Of The Polar Regions To India. They Have Continued At Intervals To Our Own ...
Arenaceous Rocks
Arenaceous Rocks, Rocks Com Posed Entirely, Or To A Large Extent, Of Grains Of Quartz. Beds Of Loose Sand Oc Cur Extensively In The More Recent De Posits. Silvery Flakes Of Mica Are Sel Dom Absent; And They Often Occur In Lay Ers Parallel To The Planes Of Stratification, Causing ...
Arian
Arian, A Follower Of Arius, Presbyter Of Alexandria In The 4th Century A. D., Or One Holding The System Of Doctrine Associated With His Name. During The First Three Centuries Of The Christian Era, What Was Subsequently Called The Doc Trine Of The Trinity Had Become The Sub Ject Of ...
Arithmetic
Arithmetic. Viewed As A Science, Arithmetic Is A Branch Of Mathematics; Looken On As An Art, Its Object Is To Carry Out For Practical Purposes Certain Rules Regarding Numbers, Without Troubling It Self To Investigate The Foundation On Which Those Rules Are Based. It Is Variously Divided, As Into Integral ...
Arizona
Arizona, A State Of The Western Division Of The North American Union, Bounded By Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, California And The Mexican State Of So Nora; Gross Area, 113,870 Square Miles; Organized Feb. 14, 1863; Pop., (1900) 122,931; (1910) 204,354; (1920) Capital, Phcenix. Topography.—the Surface In General Is A Series ...
Arkansas
Arkansas, A State In The South Central Division Of The North American Union; Bounded By Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, And Okla Homa; Gross Area, 53,850 Square Miles; Admitted Into The Union, June 15, 1836; Seceded, March 4, 1861; Readmitted, June 22, 1868; Number Of Counties, 75; Pop. (1890) 1,128,179; ...
Armenia
Armenia, A Mountainous Country Of Western Asia, Of Great Historical Interest, As The Original Seat Of One Of The Oldest Civilized Peoples In The World. It Was Shared Until The World War Of 1914-1918 Between Turkey, Persia, And Russia. It Has An Area Of About 137,000 Square Miles, And Is ...
Armenian Massacres
Armenian Massacres. Shortly After The Oubreak Of The War Turkish So-called "patriotic" Societies Began To Send Threatening Letters To The Armenian Press In Constantinople. Bands Of Turk Ish "nationalists" Were At This Time Go Ing Nightly Through The Armenian Quar Ter Of Constantinople Making Threats Of Death Upon The Doors ...
Armies Op The World
Armies Op The World. The Con Dition Of The Great Powers Following The World War Wrought An Entirely Differ Ent Status In The Composition And Forma Tion Of Their Armies. While There Was A Strong Effort To Incorporate In The Cov Enant Of The League Of Nations Provi Sions Providing ...
Armistice
Armistice, The Term Given To A Truce Or Suspension Of Hostilities Between Two Armies Or Nations At War, By Mutual Con Sent. It Sometimes Occurs Owing To The Exhaustion Of Both Parties; At Other Times It Is Had Recourse To With A View To Arrange Terms Of Peace. It May ...
Armor Plates
Armor Plates, Slabs Of Metal With Which The Sides Of War Vessels Are Cov Ered For The Purpose Of Rendering Them Shot-proof. The Idea Of Using Slabs Of Iron Or Steel For Protection Against Mis Siles Is Not A Recent Invention. The First Attempt To Use Armor-plate On The Sides ...
Armored Train
Armored Train, One Of The Modern Instruments Of War. Credit Has Been Given To Admiral Fisher Of The British Navy For The First Use Of The Armored Train In War, When, In 1882, He Covered Steel Plates. Great Britain Employed Ar Mored Trains In The Boer War Which Served As ...
Arms
Arms, A Term Applied To Weapons Of Offense, Which Are Divisible Into Two Distinct Sections—firearms, And Arms Used Without Gunpowder Or Other Explo Sive Substance. The First Arms Of Of Fense Would Probably Be Wooden Clubs, Then Would Follow Wooden Weapons Made More Deadly By Means Of Stone Or Bone, ...
Army
Army, The National Militia Of A Country. The Organization Of An Army Is Of Two Kinds—tactical And Administrative. The Former Enables The Leader Of An Army To Transmit His Orders To Three Or Four Subordinate Commanders, Who Pass Them On, The Latter Deals With The Paying, Feed Ing, Clothing, Arming ...
Arsenal
Arsenal, A Place Appointed For The Making, Repairing, Keeping And Issuing Of Military Stores. An Arsenal Of The First Class Should Include Factories For Guns And Gun-carriages, Small-arms, Small Arms Ammunition, Harness, Saddlery, Tents And Powder; A Laboratory And Large Storehouses. In Arsenals Of The Second Class, Workshops Take The ...
Arson
Arson, The Malicious And Willful Burn. Ing Of A Dwelling-house Or Out-house Be Longing To Another Person By Directly Set Ting Fire To It, Or Even By Igniting Some Edifice Of One's Own In Its Immediate Vi Cinity. If A Person, By Maliciously Set Ting Fire To An Inhabited House, ...
Artesian Wells
Artesian Wells, Deep Wells Bored Through Impervious Rock Strata To A Porous Water Bearing Rock Stratum Whence The Water Flows To The Surface And Is Discharged From The Bore. The Principal Condition Of An Artesian Well Is A Pervious Stratum Protected Above And Below By A Water-tight Bed. These Layers ...
Arthur James Balfour
Balfour, Arthur James, A British Statesman, Born In Scotland, July 25, 1848; Educated At Eton And At Trin Ity College, Cambridge; Entered Parlia Ment In 1874; Was Private Secretary To His Uncle, The Marquis Of Salisbury, In 1878-1880, And Accompanied Him To The Berlin Congress; President Of The Local Government ...
Artificial Limbs
Artificial Limbs, Substitutes For Human Arms And Legs, And Parts Thereof, The Manufacture Of Which Has Received The Attention Of Surgeons And Mechanics From A Very Early Date. In The Great Work On Surgery, By Ambrose Pare, In 1579, He Refers To, And Gives Detailed Il Lustration Of, An Artificial ...
Artillery
Artillery, All Sorts Of Great Guns, Cannon, Or Ordnance Mortars, Howitzers, Machine-guns, Etc., Together With All The Apparatus And Stores Thereto Belonging, Manufacturer Of Note In New York, Where He Established Himself In 1839. The Perfection To Which Limbs Have Been Brought Is Wonderful And Very Interest Ing. A Person ...
Aryan Race
Aryan Race, A Designation, Since About 1846, Of The Ethnological Division Of Mankind Otherwise Called Indo-euro Pean Or Indo-germanic. That Division Consists Of Two Branches Geographically Separated, An Eastern And Western. The Western Branch Comprehends The Inhab Itants Of Europe, With The Exception Of The Turks, The Magyars Of Hungary, ...
Asia
Asia, The Largest Of The Land Divisions Of The World, Occupies The Northern Portion Of The Eastern Hemisphere In The Form Of A Massive Continent, Which Extends Beyond The Arctic Circle, And By Its Southern Peninsulas Nearly Reaches The Equator. The Origin Of Its Name Remains Unknown. Europe And Asia ...
Asia Minor
Asia Minor (asia The Less, As Dis Tinguished From Asia In The Widest Ex Tent) Is The Name Usually Given To The Western Peninsular Projection Of Asia, Forming Part Of Turkey In Asia. The Late Greek Name For Asia Minor Is Ana Tolia—anatole, "the East," Whence Is Formed The Turkish ...
Asphyxiating Gas
Asphyxiating Gas. This New And Terrible Weapon Was Introduced Into The World War By The German Military Authorities. At The Battle Of Ypres, April 22, 1915, It Was Used For The First Time In Warfare. The Idea Itself Was Not New. Dundonald, An Eminent British Chemist, Who Was Born In ...
Asrael
Asrael, The Mohammedan Angel Of Death, Who Takes The Soul From The Body. Ass (asinus), A Genus Of Perissodac Tyla Closely Relatel To The Horse. The Domestication Took Place At An Early Date, Probably Before That Of The Horse, From A Type Like The Present Abyssinian Ass (a. Twniopus), And ...
Assam
Assam, A Province At The N. E. Ex Tremity Of British India, Stretching In N. Lat. Between 23° And 28°, And In E. Long. Between 89° And 97° With An Area Of 61,471 Square Miles And A Population Of About 7,500,000. In 1874 It Was Formed Into A Separate Administration ...
Assaying
Assaying, The Estimation Of The Amount Of Pure Metal, And Especially Of The Precious Metals, In An Ore Or Alloy. In The Case Of Silver, The Assay Is Either By The Dry Or By The Wet Process. The Dry Process Is Called Cupellation, From The Use Of A Small And ...
Assyria
Assyria, An Ancient Semitic King Dom Of Asia, The Native Name Of Which Was Ashur Or Asshur, And Thus Also Called By The Hebrews. It Was Inter Sected By The Middle Course Of The Tigris With Its Two Affluents, The Upper Zab And The Lower Zab, And Had The Arme ...
Asthma
Asthma, A Chronic Shortness Of Breath, From Whatever Cause It May Arise. It Is Most Common In Persons Possessing The Nervous Temperament. After Some Precursory Symptoms, It Commences, Often At Night, With A Parox Ysm In Which There Is A Great Tightness And Constriction Of The Chest. It Is Pro ...
Astrology
Astrology, Originally A Discourse Concerning The Stars; Subsequently The True Science Of Astronomy; Now The Pseudo Science Which Pretends To Fore Tell Future Events By Studying The Posi Tion Of The Stars, And Ascertaining Their Alleged Influence Upon Human Destiny. Natural Astrology Professes To Predict Changes In The Weather From ...
Astronomy
Astronomy, The Science That Treats Of All The Heavenly Bodies, Including The Earth, As Related To Them. It Is The Old Est Of The Sciences, And The Mother Of Those Generally Called Exact Mathema Tics, Geodesy And Physics. Astronomy May To-day Be Broadly Di Vided Into Two Branches, Mathematical And ...
Athens
Athens, Anciently The Capital Of Attica And Center Of Greek Culture, Now The Capital Of The Kingdom Of Greece. It Is Situated In The Central Plain Of At Tica, About 4 Miles From The Saronic Gulf Or Gulf Of Agina, An Arm Of The Iegean Sea Running In Between The ...
Atlanta
Atlanta, A City Of Georgia, The County-seat Of Fulton Co., And The Capi Tal Of Georgia. It Is On The Atlantic, Birmingham And Atlantic, The Georgia, The Louisville And Nashville, The Nash Ville, Chattanooga And St. Louis, The Seaboard Air Line, The Southern, And Other Railroads. Atlanta Is The Most ...
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean, The Vast Expanse Of Sea Lying Between The W. Coasts Of Europe And Africa And The E. Coasts Of North And South America, And Extending From The Arctic To The Antarctic Oceans; Greatest Breadth, Between The W. Coast Of Northern Africa And The E. Coast Of Florida, 4,150 ...
Attachment
Attachment, In Law, The Taking Into The Custody Of The Law The Person Or Property Of One Already Before The Court, Or Of One Whom It Is Sought To Bring Before It. Attachment Of Person: A Writ Issued By A Court Of Record, Com Manding The Sheriff To Bring Before ...
Attica
Attica, A State Of Ancient Greece, The Capital Of Which, Athens, Was Once The First City In The World. The Territory Was Triangular In Shape, With Cape Sun Ium (colonna) As Its Apex And The Ranges Of Mounts Cithmron And Parnes As Its Base. On The N. These Ranges Sep ...
Attila
Attila (at'e-la), The Famous Leader Of The Huns, Was The Son Of Mundzuk, Succeeding (with His Brother Bleck) Their Uncle Rhuas. Their Rule Extended Over A Great Part Of Northern Asia And Europe, And They Threatened The Eastern Empire, And Twice Compelled The Weak Theodosius Ii. To Purchase An Inglorious ...
Attraction
Attraction, In Natural Philosophy, A Force In Virtue Of _which The Material Particles Of All Bodies Tend Necessarily To Approach Each Other. It Operates At Whatever Distances The Bodies May Be From Each Other, Whether The Space Be Tween Them Be Filled With Other Masses Of Matter Or Is Vacant, ...
Augustus Caius Julius
Augustus Caius Julius C/esar Octavianus, Originally Called Caius Octavius, Roman Emperor, Was The Son Of Caius Octavius And Atia, A Daughter Of Julia, The Sister Of Julius He Was Born 63 A. C., And Died 14 A. D. Oc Tavius Was At Apollonia, In Epirus, When He Received News Of ...
Australia
Australia (older Name, New Hol Land), The Largest Island In The World, A Sea-girt Continent, Lying Between The In Dian And Pacific Oceans, S. E. Of Asia. It Is Separated From New Guinea On The N. By Torres Strait, From Tasmania On The S. By Bass Strait. It Is Divided ...
Australian Commonwealth
Australian Commonwealth, A Political Union Of All The Australian Colonies, The Agitation For Which Began In 1852. The First Convention For This Purpose Was Held At Hobart In January, 1886. The Colonies Represented Were Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, West Ern Australia, And Fiji. This Effort Was Abortive, But Another Conference Took ...
Austria Hungary
Austria-hungary, A Former Em Pire Of Europe, Composed Of A Cisleithan Portion Officially Known As Austria, And A Transleithan Portion Known As Hun Gary, Each Having Its Own Constitution, A Limited Monarchy And Each Formerly Possessing A Separate Parliament, But Uniting Under A Common Sovereign In The Establishment Of A ...
Axis
Axis, A Straight Line, Real Or Imagi Nary, Passing Through A Body, And Around Which That Body Revolves, Or At Least May Revolve; Also, The Imaginary Line Con Necting The Poles Of A Planet, And Around Which The Planet Rotates. In Geometry, An Imaginary Line Drawn Through A Plane Figure, ...
Aztecs
Aztecs, A Race Of People Who Settled In Mexico Early In The 14th Century, Ul Timately Extended Their Dominion Over A Large Territory, And Were Still Extending Their Supremacy At The Time Of The Ar Rival Of The Spaniards, By Whom They Were Speedily Subjugated. Their Political Organization, Termed By ...
Azurite
Azurite, A Mineral, Called Also Lazulite; Also A Brittle, Transparent, Or Subtranslucent Mineral, With Monoclinic Crystals. The Luster Is Vitreous, Or Verg• Ing On Adamantine; The Color Azure-blue, Passing Into Berlin Blue. It Is Found In England, As Also In France, Austria. Hungary, And Siberia. B, B, The Second Letter ...
Baber
Baber (or "the Tiger"), The Histori Cal Surname Of Zehir-ed-din-mohammed, The Conqueror Of Hindustan And Founder Of The So-called Mogul Dynasty. Baber Was Of Mixed Turkish And Mongol Origin, Being Descended From Timour The Great On The Father's Side, And From Genghis Khan On The Mother's. Baber Was Born On ...
Babylon
Babylon, The Capital Of Babylonia, On Both Sides Of The Euphrates, One Of The Largest And Most Splendid Cities Of The Ancient World, Now A Scene Of Ruins, And Earth-mounds Containing Them. Babylon Was A Royal City 1,600 Years Before The Christian Era; But The Old City Was Almost Entirely ...
Babylonia
Babylonia (now Irak Arabi), An Old Asiatic Empire, Occupying The Region Watered By The Lower Course Of The Euphrates And The Tigris, And By Their Combined Stream. The Inhabitants, Though Usually Designated Babylonians, Were Sometimes Called Chaldeans. At The Earliest Period Of Which We Have Record, The Whole Valley Of ...
Backgammon
Backgammon, A Game Of Chance And Calculation. It Is Played By Two Per Sons, With Two Boxes, And Two Dice, Upon A Quadrangular Table, Or Board, On Which Are Figured 24 Points, Or Fieches, Of Two Colors, Placed Alternately. The Board Is Divided Into Four Compartments, Two In Ner And ...
Bacons Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion, A Popular Up Rising Of The Virginian Colonists, Headed By Nathaniel Bacon, In Protest Against Certain Government Abuses, Which Pre Vailed Under The Administration Of Sir William Berkeley. Parliament Had Passed An Act Requiring That All Goods, Destined For Virginia, No Matter What Their Source, Should First Be ...
Bacteria
Bacteria, Organisms That Comprise A Class Of Low Plants, The Importance Of Which Is Due To Their Power Of Producing Profound Changes In Life. The Terms Bacteria, Germs, Microbes, Bacilli, Are Popularly Used To Denote These Micro Scopic Objects. Bacillus Means A Little Rod. The Term Is Properly Applicable To ...
Baden
Baden (bad'en), One Of The More Important States Of Germany, Situated In The S. W. Of Germany, To The W. Of Wiirttemberg. It Is Divided Into Four Districts, Constance, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, And Mannheim; Has An Area Of 5,823 Square And Pop. About 2,200,000. Is Mountainous, Being Traversed To A Considerable ...
Balance
Balance, An Instrument For Deter Mining The Relative Weights Or Masses Of Bodies. It Consists Of A Beam With Its Fulcrum In The Middle, And Its Arms Pre Cisely Equal. From The Extremities Of The Arms Are Suspended Two Scales, The One To Receive The Object To Be Weighed, And ...
Balkan Peninsula
Balkan Peninsula, The Usual Name For The Peninsula In Southeastern Europe Running Southward Between The Adriatic And The ,,egean. The Most Con. Venient Northern Boundary Is The Save And The Lower Danube; Though Histori Cally And Politically Rumania And Some Parts Of The Former Austrian Dominions Are Closely Associated With ...
Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars, Two Conflicts Which Took Place In The Balkans In The Years 1912 And 1913. The Indirect Cause Of The War Arose From Long-standing Con Ditions In The Balkan Peninsula. These Included A Dissatisfaction Of Turkish Rule In Those Portions Of The Balkans Under Turkish Sovereignty; And To Dissatisfac ...
Ballot
Ballot, A Means Of Expressing An Individual Choice For A Public Or Other Officer Or A Measure Of Public Impor Tance; The Medium Through Which A Voter Indicates His Preference At An Election. The Term Ballot, At A Club Or Private Election, Is Applied To A Ball Used For The ...
Baltimore
Baltimore, The Largest City Of Maryland, On Patapsco River, About 14 Miles From Chesapeake Bay, And On The Baltimore And Ohio, The Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, And Other Railroads. It Extends Over 6 From E. To W. And Be Tween 4% And 5 Miles From N. To S., Covering An Area ...
Bangkok
Bangkok, The Capital City Of Siam, Situated On Both Banks Of The Menam, About 20 Miles From Its Mouth, And In 14° N. Lat., And 20' E. Long. The 27—vol. I—cyc Population Is About 550,000, Nearly Halt Of Whom Are Chinese•, The Others Includ Ing Burmese, Annamese, Cambodians, Malays, Eurasians, ...
Bank
Bank, Primarily An Establishment For The Deposit, Custody And Repayment On Demand, Of Money; And Obtaining The Bulk Of Its Profits From The Investment Of Sums Thus Derived And Not In Imme Diate Demand. The Term Is A Derivative Of The Banco Or Bench Of The Early Italian Money Dealers. ...
Bank Note
Bank Note, An Engraved Certificate Representing Its Face Value In Specie. In The Production Of Bank Notes, The Princi Pal Purpose Is To Render Their Forgery Impossible, Or At Least Easy Of Detection. This Is Sought To Be Effected By Peculiar Ity Of Paper, Design, And Printing. Bank Of England ...
Bankruptcy Laws
Bankruptcy Laws, Regulations Passed By A Competent Authority With A View To Distributing The Property Of An Insolvent Equitably Among His Creditors And Free The Debtor From Further Obliga Tion. In England, Before 1841, Only A Tradesman Could Be A Bankrupt. The Dis Tinction Was Then Abolished. It Was Abol ...
Banks In The United
Banks In The United States, Financial Institutions Comprising (1) Na Tional Banks; (2) State Banks; And (3) Savings Banks, Consisting Of (a) Mutual Savings Banks; And (b) Stock Savings Banks. These Are General Throughout The Entire Country. In Addition To These, Are (1) Co-operative Banks, Common In New England, Especially ...