Aerolites
Aerolites. Air Stones, Or Meteoric Stones Falling From The Atmosphere. These Are Semimetallic Substances, The Descent Of Which, Though Mentioned Several Times In History, Has Not Been Authenticated Until These Few Years. The Fact Is, However, By Recent And Frequent Observations, Now Put Beyond All Doubt. Two Showers Of Stones ...
Agriculture
Agriculture, Hoxonv O. As The Ground Was, By Divine Appointment, To Furnish Subsistence For Man, And After His Fall He Was Doomed To Procure It By Labour, Husbandry, Or The Practical Part Of Agriculture, Was Of Neces. City The First And Most Important Occupation Of The Descendants Of Adam ; ...
Anatomy
Anatomy. The Actof Dissecting Bodies For The Purpose Of Examining Their Structure, And The Nature, Uses, And Functions Of Their Several Parts ; Also The Knowledge Of The Hu Man Body Derived From Such Dissections And Examinations. It Is Generally Applied To The Examination Of Animals, And It Has Discovered ...
Animalcules
Animalcules. Such Animals As Are Clearly Discernible Only By Means Of Micro Scopes, For Millions Of Millions Of Them Might Be Contained In A Thimble Full Of Water, Which Is The Best Element For Studying Their Motions. By The Microscope Many Kinds Of Animalcules Have Been Discovered, As Different From ...
Anols Reflection
Reflection, Anols Or. The Law Of Reflection Is Generally Expressed By The Asser Tion, That " The Angle Of Incidence Is Alwaye Equal To The Angle Of Reflection," And Is Thus Explained: If In The Accompanying Figure A A Plane Surface, And A Ball At D Be Impelled Towards C, ...
Arithmetic
Arithmetic, His-roar Or. Of Arith Matte As A Seillee, We Know Bee Very- Little As To Its State And Progress Among The Ancients It Is Evident From The Tare Consideration Of On Wants, And Earliest Irapreassixe, That Some Knowiedse Of Numbers, Or Some Mode Of Cam Potation, However Iraperfect, Was ...
Atmosphere
Atmosphere. That Region Of The Air Next To The Earth, Which Receives The Vapours And Exhalations, And Is Terminated By The Re Fraction Of The Sun's Light ; Sometimes It Signi Iro The Whole Ambient Air. The Pressure Of The Atmosphere On Thewhole Surface Of The Earth Is Said To ...
Banishment
Banishment. A Quitting The Realm, Either Voluntarily, As By Abjuration ; Or Com Pulsorily, As By Transportation. Bank (in Commerce.) An Establishment For The Receiving Of Moneys, And Letting Them Out On Interest. Banks, Like Most Commercial Institutions, Originated In Italy, Where, In The Infancy Of European Commerce, The Jews ...
Book
Book.. Any Folded Leaves Which Are Or May Be Written Upon ; Also A General Name For Any Literary Composition, But More Parti Cularly Any Composition Large Enough To Be Formed Into A Volume. Before The Use Of Books Or Volumes Things Were Committed To Writing On Stone, Wood, Bark, ...
Bookbinding
Bookbinding. The Process Of Binding Books, Or Putting The Sheets Together Into The Form Of Books. The Bookbinder Receives The Sheets Which Compose A Book Immediately From The Printer, And After Having Folded Them Id The Order Of The Signatures, Or Letters At The Bottom Of The Page, They Are ...
Bookkeeping
Book.keeping. The Art Of Keeping Ac. Counts, Or Recording The Mercantile Transactions Of A Man, So That He May Thoroughly Know The Whole State Of His Affairs, Or Any Part Of Them, With Ease And Despatch. Accounts May Be Kept Either By Single Or Double Entry ; The Former Of ...
Botany
Botany. The Science Which Teaches The Knowledge Of Plants, As To Their Discriminating Characters, Structure, Growth, Culture, Diseases, And The Like. Plants Are Distinguished Into Natural Orders, As Trees, The Stems Of Which Send Forth 'branches From The Middle And Top : Shrubs, The Sterns Of Which Send Forth Branches ...
Caloric
Caloric. The Name Given In Chymistry To That Agent Which Produces The Phenomena Of Heat And Combustion. It Is Hypothetically Regarded As A Subtile Fluid, The Particles Of Which Repel One Another, And Are Attracted By All Other Substances. It Is Ponderable, And, By Its Distribution In Various Proportions, Among ...
Chyaustry
Chyaustry, Ihrroar Of Chymis. Try, As A Practical Art Cormemed With Metallurgy, Or The Extraction Of Metals From Their Ores, Was Of Antiquity, For We Learn From &rip' Tmre That Rft1 Gain, The Eighth From Adam, Was An Expert Artificer In Brass And Iron. Various Branches Of The Chymical Art, ...
Chymistry
Chymistry. The Science Which Teaches The Composition And Properties Of Material Substances, Together With The Changes They Undergo. The Extensive Utility Of This Science Is Shown By Its Immediate Connection With The Arts, Subservient To The Subsistence Or The Com Forts Of Man. Dying, Bleaching, Tanning, Glassmaking, The Working Of ...
Circulation
Circulation (in Anatomy.) The Country Of Palestine. There Were Some Like. Natural Motion Of The Blood In A Living Ani- Wise In Cities And Private Houses. As The Mal, Whereby It Proceeds From The Heart To Cities Most Part Were Built In Moun All Parts Of The Body By The ...
Commerce
Commerce., Histentir Of. The Inter *curse Between Different Nations For Purposes If Commerce, Doubtless Took Place Soon After The Dispersion Of Mankind, For We Find It Re ;ended In Holy Writ That The Ishmaelites, Who Were Settled In Higher Parts Of Arabia, Carried On A Trade With Egypt In Spices, ...
Earth
Earth (in Astronomy.) One Of The Pri Mary Planets, Marked By The Character (d. According To The Ptolemaic System, It Was Supposed To Be Immoveable In The Centre Of The Universe, But According To That Of Copernicus It Moves From West To East, So As To Occasion The Succession Of ...
Eclipse
Eclipse. The Shadow Which An Opaque Body Throws On Another Body, On Passing Be Tween It And A Centre Of Illumination ; Conse Quently The Moon, In Its Orbit Round The Earth, Falls Within The Shadow Of The Earth, And Suf Fers An Eclipse; The Earth Also Falls Within The ...
Elastic
Elastic. That Power Which A Body Has Of Returning To The Form From Which It Has Been Distorted. Thus, The Branch Of A Tree, The Blade Of A Sword, :ice. Are Said To Be Elastic, Because, If They Are Bent To A Certain Degree, And Then Let Go, They Will ...
Entomolgy
Ent.omolgy. The Science Which Treats Of Insects, As To ,their Structure, Habits, And Varieties. The Body Of An Insect Consists Of Four Principal Parts, Namely, The Head, The Trunk, The Abdomen, And The Limbs Or Ex Tremities: The Head Is Furnished In Most In• Sects With Eyes, Antennas Or Horns, ...
Fata Morgana
Fata Morgana. A Singular Aerial Phenomenon, Seen In The Straits Of Messina. When The Rising Sun Shines From That Point Whence Its Incident Ray Forms An Angle Of About Forty-five Degrees On The Sea Of Reggio, And The Bright Surface Of The Water In The Bay Is Not Disturbed Either ...
Galloway
Galloway. A Kind Of S-rech Net More Than Fourteen Hands High. Galvanic Baitery. An Apparans Which Is Employed In Aocumulating The Elec Tricity Of Galvanism By The Mutual Agencies Of Certain Metallic And Carbonaceous Substan Ces And Peculiar Fluids. See Galvanism. This Battery, As Represented Underneath, Con Sists Of Pieces ...
Geography
Geography. The Science Which Treats Of The Earth As A Habitable World, Compre Hending A Description Of The Whole Glebe, To Ether With An Account Of All Its Parts, Limits, Inhabitants, Etc. Geography Is Either Gene Ral Or Particular. General Geography Com Prehends The Knowledge Of The Earth In General, ...
Geometry
Geometry. That Branch Of Mathe Matics Which Treats Of The Properties Of Ex Tension And Figure Geomeerris Distinguish Ed Into Thetheoretical And The Practical Theo Retical Or Speculative Geometry Treats Of The Various Properties And Relations In Magnitudes, Etc. Practical Geometry Comprehends The Construction Of Figures, The Drawing Of Tines ...
Gravity
Gravity (in Physics.) The Natural Tendency Or Inclination Of Bodies Towards A Centre. Terrestrial Gravity, Is That Force By Which All Bodies Are Continually Urged Towards The Centre Of The Earth. It Is In Consequence Of This Force That Bodies Are Accelerated In This Fall, And When At Rest That ...
Hadleys Quadrant
Hadley's Quadrant. A Quadrant, Or, More Property, Octant, Or Sextant, For Taking Angles Between Distant Objects, Made On The Principle, That, In Reflection, The Angle Of N Equal To The Angle Of Reflection_ It Is Provided With A Moveable, Or Index Ra Dius, At The Arc End Of Which Is ...
History Astronomy
Astronomy, History Or. Of All The Sciences Which Have Engaged The Attention Of Mankind, None Appears To Have Been Cultivated So Early As That Of Astronomy, Which Treats Of The Noblest And Most Interesting Objects Of Con Templation. Dosephos Informs Us That Seth, The Son Of Adam, Is Said To ...
History Botany
Botany, History Or. As The Practice Ofeultivating Plants Both For Pleasure And Utility Was Coeval With The First Formation Of Man, It Is Natural To Suppose That The Science Of Botany Was One Of The Earliest Studies Which Engag The Attention Of Inquirers. Aristotle, In His History Of Animals, Has ...
History Chronology
Chronology, History Or. Chro Nology, As Regards The Natural Divisions Of Time, Was Doubtless Coeval With The Creation, For We Learn From The Sacred Historian That The Work Of Creation Was Performed Within The Period Of A Week, Or Seven Days, Whence This Division Was Observed By The Hebrews, And ...
History Engraving
Engraving, History Or. Engraving, As Far As Regards The Representation Of Figures Or Characters On Metal, Stone, Or Wood, Was One Of The First Arts On Which Human Ingenuity Was Exercised. Moses Speaks Of The Art Of En Graving, As No New Invention. The Tables Which God Delivered To Moses ...
History Gardening
Gardening, History Or. Gardening Is One Of Those Domestic Arts So Essentially Connected With The Refined Enjoyments Of Man Kind, That With A Garden Has Ever Been Asso Ciated Every Idea Of Cultivation And Pure Plea Sure. From Holy Writ We Learn That Our First Parents, Before Their Fall, Pawed ...
History Geometry
Geometry, History Or. The Origin Or Geometry Is Ascribed By Herodotus To The Egyptians, Who, In Consequence Of The Inunda Tions Of The Nile, Which Carried Away All Their Landmarks, Were Under The Necessity Of Distin Guishing And Laying Out Their Lands By The Consideration Of Their Figure And Quantity, ...
History Grammar
Grammar, History Or. Grammar, As A Practical Art, Must Have Existed Long Before It Was Considered' As A Science, And The Rules Of Grammar Must Have Been Formed After Language Had Assumed A Settled Shape By The Practice Of Good Writers. The Works Of Ho Mer Contained A Practical Illustration ...
History Language
Language, History Or. That All Men At First Spoke One Language We Know On The Authority Of Scripture, And That That Lan Guage Must Have Been The Hebrew, The Holy Language, As It Is Called By The Jews, In Which God Was Pleased To Reveal His Word To Man, Is ...
History Pneumatics
Pneumatics, History Or. Although The Ancients Did Not Investigate The Properties Of Air With The Same Mina Teness As The Moderns Have Done, Yet The Subject Evidently Engaged The Attention Of Aristotle And Ether Grecian Philosophers. Aristotle Was Aware Of The Gravity Of The Air, And Observed That A Bladder ...
History Of Alg Ra
Alg Ra, History Of. The Term Al.ge Bra Is Of Arabic Original, And Is Derived By Form From Algeabar Almocabaleh, Signifying Reakatica And Comparison, Or Resolunon, Which Properly Expreeses The Nature Of The Thing • Others Lave Derived It From Geber, A Celebrated Mathematician. This Science Is Not Of Very ...
History Of Ar Hitecture
Ar Hitecture, History Of. The Origin Of Civil Architecture, Or Architecture Properly So Called, Is Commonly Derived From The Building Of Huts In A Conical Form, Spread Ing Wide At The Bottom, And Joining In A Point At The Top, The Whole Being Covered With Reeds, Leaves, &a. But Whatever ...
History Of Electricity
Electricity, History Of. It Does Not Appear That The Ancients Had Any Thing More Than An Imperfect And Partial Knowledge Of The Electric Fluid. Thales, The Milesian, Who Lived About Six Hundred Years Before Christ, Was Aware Of The Electrical Property Of Amber, That When Rubbed It Would Attract Light ...
History Of Geography
Geography, History Of. The Study Of Geography, As Far As It Was Connected With Or Depended Upon Astronomy, In All Probabili Ty Began And Kept Pace With It Thales, The Grecian Astronomer, Constructed A Globe, Re Presenting The Land And Sea Upon A Table, Which Art He Derived From The ...
History Of Naval Architecture
Naval Architecture, History Of. The First Example Of Any Construction Fit Ted To Be Borne Up By The Waters Is Recorded In Scripture, In The Case Of The Ark Built By Under The Divine Assistance And Commands. As This Was Built By More Than Human Aid, It Is Not Surprising ...
History Of Perspective
Perspective, History Of. Perspec Tive, As A Branch Of Optics, Was Known And Practised At An Early Period. It Was Taught By Democritus And Anaxagoras, And Treated Of By Euclid In His Optics. Alhazen, Likewise, In His Optical Treatise, Speaks Of This Art, And Of Its Importance For The Painter ...
Histosy0f Navigation
Navigation, Histosy0f. Navigation And Commerce Without Doubt Took Thew Rise Together, For The Desire Of Gain Being One Of The Most Powerful Incentives To Action, Would Naturally Lead Men To Explore Distant Countries. Hence We Find That The Phenicians, Particularly Those Of Tyre, Who Were The First Trading Peo Ple ...
Hornpipe
Hornpipe. An Animated Sort Of Dance. Horn-stone. A Species Of Flint. Hornwork (in Fortification.) An Out Work Which Advances Towards The Field. Horology. The Science Which Treats Ea The Measuring Of Portions Of Time The Principal Instruments Used In The Measuring Of Time Are Dials, Clepsydrn Or Water-clocks: Clocks, Watches, ...
Hydrostatics
Hydrostatics. The Science Which Treats Of The Laws Regulating The Motions, Pres Sure, Gravitation, And Equilibrium Of Fluid Bodies, Particularly Water, And Also Of Solid Bodies Immerged Therein. This Science Is Divided Into Three Branches, Namely, Hydro Statics, Properly Socalled, Which Treats Of Fluids In An Equilibrium, Their Density, Gravity, ...
Knowledge
Knowledge. Knowledge Is Defined By Mr. Locke, To Be The Perception Of The Con Nexion And Agreement, Or Disagreement And Repugnancy Of Our Ideas, It Also Denotes Learning, As The Improvement Of Our Faculties By Reading; Experience, Or The Acquiring New Ideas Or Truths, By Seeing A Variety Of Objects, ...
Lightning
Lightning. A Flash Of Light Issuing From The Clouds, That Accompanies Thunder. It Is Now Universally Allowed, That Lightning Is Really An Electrical Explosion Or Phenomenon. Philosophers Had Not Proceeded Far In Their Experiments And Inquiries Onthis Subject, Before They Perceived The Obvious Analogy Between Lightning And Electricity, And They ...
Logarithms
Logarithms. Numbers So Contrived And Adapteu To Other Numbers, That The Sums And Differenas Of The Former Shall Correspond To And Show The Products And 9uotients Of The Latter, Or More Properly A Eines Of Numbxs In Arithmetical Progression Answering To Ano Ther Series In Geometrical Progression, Thus, 0, 1, ...
Mammalia
Mammalia. The First Class Of Animals In The Linna,an System, Comprehending Such As Suckle Their Young By Means Of Lactiferous' Teats, And Are For The Most Part Quadrupeds. Mammoth. An Antediluvian Animal, Whose Remains Have Been Discovered In Vari Ous Countries, And Are Supposed To Be Those Of An Immense ...
Mathematics
-mathematics. The Science Which Teaches Or Treats Of Whatever Is Capable Of Be Ing Numbered Or Measured, And Is Divided Into Arithmetic, Or That Branch Which Has Numbers For Its Object, And Geometry, Which Treats Of Magnitude. It Is Also Distinguished Into Pure Mathematics, Which Consider Quantities Ab Stractedly, And ...
Mechanics
Mechanics. The Science Of Motion, Or That Branch Of Mixed Mathematics Which Treats Of The Effects Of Powers Or Moving Forces, And Applies Them To Machines And Engines. Newton Divides This Science Into Practical And Rational; The Former Of Which Relates To The Mechanical Powers, Namely, The Lever, Balance, Wheel ...
Mensuration
Mensuration. The Art Of Measuring Lines, Superficies, And Solids, Which, In Trance Of Its Extensive Application To The Pur Poses Of Life, Is Considered As Of The Greatest.; Importance Foetid Treats Of Mensuration, As The As Re. Gards Surfaces, Only Of The M •mg Of Trian Gles; And In Regaid ...
Music
Music. The Science Which Treats Of The Number, Time, Division, Succession, And Com Bination Of Sounds, So As To Produce Harmony. It Is Divided Into Theoretical Music, Which Inquires Into The Properties Of Concords And Discords, And Explains Their Combinations And Proportions For The Production Of Melody And Harmony; And ...
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls. One Of The Most Subs Lime Natural Curiosities On The Globe. The River Flows From South To North, And Is 35 Miles Long. At Its Efflux From Lake Erie It Is Three Quarters Of A Mile Wide, From 40 To 60 Feet Deep, And Flows With A Current ...
Optics
Optics. That Branch Of Natural Philoso Phy Which Treats Of The Nature Of Light And Colours, Or Of The General Doctrine Of Vision. It Is Distinguished Into Three Kinds : Namely, Optics, Properly So Called, Which Treats Of Di Rect Vision ; Catoptrics, Which Treats Of Reflect Ed Vision, Or ...
Ornithology
Ornithology, Iitstorv Or. The Only Scientific Writers On The Subject Of Birds Among The Ancients Were Aristotle And Pliny. The Former Of These Writers Speaks Of The Different Kinds Of Food Adapted To The Different Species, Of Which He Gives An Imperfect Ito And Adds Some Remarks On Their Various ...
Orrery
Orrery. An Astronomical Instrument For Exhibiting The Several Motions Of The Hea Venly Bodies. The First Machine Of This Kind Was Constructed By Mr. Graham, But It Derives Its Name From The Earl Of Orrery, For Whom One Was Made By Mr. Rowley ; And Sir Rich Ard Steele Supposing ...
Ostation
Ostation, Hiscroar Of This At Is Coaled An The Principk, That Any Body Which Is Specifically .•1ner Than The Armee Spheric Air Will Be Board Up By It And Mead; A Pried* Which Had Desdoacie Lon Teen Koala, Aklanglt The Appfication Of It To Any Practical Parpose S Altogether A ...
Painting
Painting, Litsroav Or. It Is To Be Sup Posed That Painting Was Among The Earliest Ef Forts Of Human Ingenuity, For The Love Of Imi Tation Would Naturally Suggest The Idea Of Re Presenting The Surrounding Objects Which En Gaged The Attention And Interested The Affec Tions. Thus It Is ...
Reindeer
Reindeer. An Animal Of The Deer Kind, Generally Described As Having Horns Ramose, Recurvated Round With Palmated Summits. When Full Grown, This Animal, According To Pennant, Is Four Feet Six Inches High, The Body Of A Somewhat Thick And Square Form, And The Legs Shorter Than Those Of The Common ...
Spectrum
Spectrum. A Luminous Spot Formed By A Ray Of Light On A White Surface When Admit Ted Through A Small Hole. If A Dense Transpa Rent Body Be Interposed, The Light Will Be Re Fracted In Proportion To The Density Of The Medium ; But If A Triangular Glass Prism ...
Stanneries
Stanneries. Tin Mines Or Works. Star. A General Name For The Heavenly Bodies, But More Particularly For What Are Otherwise Denominated Fixed Stars, As Distin Onished From Planets, Comets, Satellites, &c. These Stars Are Stationed In Space At Twenty Or Thirty Billions Of Miles Distance From Each Other. The Number ...
Teint
Teint. An Artificial Colour. Telegraph. A Machine As Represented Underneath, Which Serves To Convey Intelli Gence By Means Of Motions Employed As The Signs Of Words, By Which A Notice Has Been Given 500 Miles In Three Minuses,though The Usual Time Would Be 10 Or 12 Days. That Such A ...
Therapeutics
Therapeutics. The Healing Art. Therme. Hot Bathe. Thermometer. An Instrument For Measuring The Temperature Of The Air, As Re. Specter Heat And Cold, Founded On The Principle That The Expansions Of Matter Are Proportional To The Augmentations Of The Temperature. The Invention Of The Thermometer Has Been Ascribed To Different ...
Tide
Tide. The Regular Periodical Current Of Water, Which, When It Rises, Is Called The Flux, And When It Goes Back Is The Ebb Or Reflux. The And Flowing Of The Sea Was First By Kepler To Be Owing To The Moon's Attraction ; And Newton Demonstrated It Upon The Principles ...
Water
Water_ A Fluid Of Which A Cubic Foot 1 Weighs 1000 Ounces, Or 625 Times More Than I A Cubic Foot Of Atmospheric Air, The Constituents Of Which Are One Part By Weight Of Hydrogen I And Seven And A Half Of Oxygen, And Two Parts 1 By Bulk Of ...
Weight
Weight (in Physics.) A Quality In Na Tural Bodies, By Which They Tend Towards The Centre Of The Earth. Weight May Be Distin Guished Into Absolute, Specific, And Relative. It Is Demonstrated By Sir Isaac Newton, I. That The Weights Of All Bodies At Equal Distan Ces From The Centre ...
Zebra
Zebra. An African Animal, Of The Horse Tribe, About The Sizeof A Mule. It Is Beautiful, Swift, Wild, And Vicious. Its Colour Is White, With Regular Stripes Of Black. The First Class, Mammalia, Comprehends Seven Orders, Namely, The Primates, Brute, Ferae, Glires, Pecora, Aind Cete. Un Der The Primates Are ...
Zoology
Zoology. That Branch Of Natural His Tory Which Treats Of Animals. That Which Treats Of Quadrupeds Is Also Called By The Gene Ral_ Name Of Zoology, To Distinguish It From Ornithology, Which Treats Of Birds ; Ichthyolo Gy, Which Treats Of Fishes ; Entomology, Which Treats Of Insects; Hehninthology, Winch ...