More than one of these 7 encyclopedias carries each of the following subjects — but every one of them treats it in a sentence or two and then moves on. They are gathered here so the different accounts can sit side by side.
Adder
Collier's New Encyclopedia: etymologically nadder, the n having been attracted to the article and lost, the common English name of the viper (Vipera berus). Its color is yellowish brown or olive, with a double series of black spots along the back. The sides are a little paler and are also spotted with black. The adder has a broad, tri- EUROPEAN ADDER angular head and a short tail. It rarely exceeds two feet in length. The adder is the only poisonous reptile in Great Britain, and is found in most of the countries of Europe. In the United States the name is popularly applied to several harmless snakes, but the true adder does not occur.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Viper
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Adhesion
American Watchmaker and Jeweler: Adhesion is the mutual attraction which two bodies have for one another, as attraction between the liquid and the substance of the vessel containing it. See also Oil and Capillarity. Saunier says that the working parts in contact with each other should separate by sliding action and not by a sudden drawing asunder in a direction perpendicular to their touching surfaces, as such an action would involve the inconvenience of variable resistances, depending on the greater or less adhesion or cohesion of these surfaces. The amount of adhesion between clean surfaces is difficult to determine and it is impossible to give its exact proportion. In the case of oiled surfaces the resistance due to adhesion is proportional to the extent of the surfaces in contact.
The Encyclopedia of Founding: This is a force which unites dissimilar bodies, and is exerted between substances of all kinds. The sticking of blackening to mould-surfaces, loam to bricks, glue to wood, etc., are well-known examples of adhesive force. See AGGLUTINATION.
Covered by American Watchmaker and Jeweler and The Encyclopedia of Founding
Adjutant
Collier's New Encyclopedia: in military language, in the United States army, an officer selected by the colonel, whose duties in respect dibasic acid, produced by the oxidation to his regiment are similar to those of an adjutant-general with an army. In zoology, the popular name of cinconia argala, a grallatorial bird, belonging to the stork family. Its size is very great, its ordinary height in the erect attitude being 5 feet. The beak is of enormous size and strength; the head is large, and the neck proportionally muscular. The adjutant is a native of the warmer parts of India, and is very useful in removing noxious animals and carrion, which it devours with great voracity. In its wild state it usually lives in companies, and chiefly frequents the mouths of rivers; it may be readily domesticated, but is very apt to display its voracity by arloining articles of food. From this bird, and from an allied species in Senegal, the beautiful marabou feathers are obtained. an officer
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a large bird of the stork family, so called from its erect, military bearing. It is a familiar bird about the villages of India. It has a tremendous capacity for eating and acts as a public scavenger. It can swallow a cat with ease. It is about five feet high and spreads its wings about fourteen feet. The white "marabou" feathers of the milliner's store are plucked from the underside of its wings. See Buzzard ; Pekin
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Admetus
1000 Classical Characters: Son of Pheres , king of Pherae, in Thessaly. He married Theone, daughter of Thestor, and after her death, Alcestis, daughter of Pelias . Apollo , being banished from the sky for one year, tended the flocks of Admetus. 2026 Editor's Note: The name Admetus literally translates to "the untameable" in Ancient Greek. While this text lists his lineage, his marriage to Alcestis is his most famous association, particularly her sacrifice and return from the dead. This narrative was notably popularized in the tragedy Alcestis by the playwright Euripides. (Ed: BR 2026-06-05)
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Alcestis
Covered by 1000 Classical Characters and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Admiral
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the title of the highest rank of naval officer. The term is derived from the Arabic amîr, or emîr. In Great Britain, there were formerly three grades of admirals, commanding subdivisions, known as the red, the white, and the blue, from the colors of their flags, but this distinction is now abolished. In the Brtish navy, admirals are classified as admirals, vice-admirals, and rearadmirals, ranking respectively with generals, lieutenant-generals, and majorgenerals. These distinctions were adopted in the United States navy during the Civil War; the rank of rear-admiral being established in 1862, vice-admiral, in 1864, and admiral, in 1866, all created for Farragut. The first 9 rear-admirals rank with major-generals and the second 9 with brigadier-generals. Their pay on the retired list is 75 per cent. of active service pay. The flag of an admiral is rectangular blue with four white stars, flown at the main; that of a vice-admiral is the same shaped flag with three stars flown at the fore; that of the rear-admiral has two stars, flown from the mizzen.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Navy
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Adonai
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism: A Hebrew word signifying "the Lord," and used by the Hebrews when speaking or writing of Jehovah, the awful and ineffable name of the God of Israel. The Jews entertained the deepest awe for this incommunicable and mysterious name, and this feeling led them to avoid pronouncing it and to the substitution of the word Adonai for "Jehovah " in their sacred text. This custom still prevails among the Jews, who attribute to the pronouncement of the Holy Name the power of working miracles. The Jehovah of the Israelites was their invisible protector and king, and no image of him was made. He was worshipped according to his commandments, with an observance of the ritual instituted through Moses. The term "Jehovah" means the revealed Absolute Deity, the Manifest, Only, Personal, Holy Creator and Redeemer. (See Magic, God, Egypt, Kabala.)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a Hebrew name for the Supreme Being; a plural form of Adon, "lord," combined with the pronoun of the first person. In reading the Scriptures aloud, the Jews pronounce "Adonai" wherever the old name is found in the text; and the name "Jehovah" has arisen out of the consonants of "Jhvh" with the vowel points of Adonai.
Covered by An Encyclopaedia of Occultism and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Adoption
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the act of taking a stranger into one's family as a son or a daughter. In England, where the inheritance of real estate is guarded very carefully, adoptions are not recognized by law, but in the United States most states provide by a statute for the adoption of children. A child thus adopted becomes, to all intents and purposes, a member of the family, and is an heir-at-law as though it were the actual child of the family. In point of law an adopted child is on an exact equality with the other children, if any, and is their legal brother or sister, as the case may be. Parents adopting a child must provide for it as though it were their own. See Inheritance
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the act of taking a stranger into one's family, as a son or daughter; or the taking of a person, a society, etc., into more intimate relations than formerly existed with another person or society; or the taking as one's own, with or without acknowledgment, an opinion, plan, etc., originating with another; also the selecting one from several courses open to a person's choice. In law, both ancient and modern, the act of taking a stranger into one's family constituted the person so adopted one's heir to all intents and purposes.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia