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.
Ague
Collier's New Encyclopedia: an intermittent fever, in whatever stage of its progress or whatever its type. Marsh miasma, or the effluvia arising from stagnant water, or marshy upon by heat, are the most frequent causes of this fever. One peculiarity of this fever is its great susceptibility of a renewal from very slight causes, as from the prevalence of an easterly wind, even without the repetition
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Malaria
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Albemarle Sound
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a body of shallow water on the coast of North Carolina . It is separated from the Atlantic by sandbars, grown into low islands. The sound extends about sixty miles in an east and west direction. It is traversed by the thirty-sixth parallel of north latitude. The sound is not over eighteen feet deep, and does not afford draft for large ships. The discharge of numerous rivers, including the Chowan and the Roanoke, keeps the waters fresh. Tides and oceanic tempests are not felt within the shelter of the bars. 2026 Editor's Note: The sandbars that shelter Albemarle Sound are the Outer Banks — and just down that barrier chain, at Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers made the first powered flight in 1903, seven years before this volume. Nearby Roanoke Island held England's ' Lost Colony ,' which vanished without trace. (Ed: BR 2026-07-08)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: an inlet near the N. E. extremly of the State of North Carolina, running inland for 60 miles, with a breadth of from 4 to 15 miles. It has no great depth of water, and a narrow island at its mouth prevents the sound from being affected by the tides. Into its upper extremity the Roanoke and Chowan rivers debouch. It is connected by channels with Chesapeake Bay and Currituck and Pamlico Sounds.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Alewife
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a North American fish (clupea pseudoharengus) belonging to the same family as the herring and the shad, and closely allied to them. It is caught in seines with the shad, in large quantities, at many places along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Nova Scotia, notably in Chesapeake Bay and the harbor of St. John, N. B. The name is given also to other related species and to fish of other families, as the round pompano of the Bermudas and the allice-shad of England.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Shad
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Allegheny
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a section of the city of Pittsburg. Prior to 1906 Allegheny was an independent city, having a population of 130,000 and large manufacturing, commercial, and educational interests. It is separated from the central part of the city only by the Allegheny River. Numerous fine bridges make the city one. 2026 Editor's Note: Allegheny fought its 1907 absorption into Pittsburgh all the way to the Supreme Court and lost — a landmark case on a state's power to merge cities against a city's will. It is now Pittsburgh's North Side , home to the Steelers' and Pirates' stadiums and the Andy Warhol Museum. (Ed: BR 2026-07-11)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a former city in Allegheny co., Pa., now consolidated with PITTSBURGH (q. v.).
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Alliteration
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the repeated use of the same letter at the beginnings of two or more words or syllables in the same line or successive lines of poetry. It was a leading feature in the poetry of Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon authors, and is still a source of harmony in modern verse. A stanza from Tennyson makes this clear: The splendor falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story; The long light shakes across the lakes And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. Children are fond of alliteration. "Goosie, goosie, gander," "Bye, baby bunting," and "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers," are specimens of juvenile alliteration. Peter Poundtext, Wee Willie Winkie, Pied Piper, Tom Tucker, and Simple Simon are alliterative. 2026 Editor's Note: Alliteration migrated from Beowulf to the billboard: it is the not-so-secret formula behind brand names (Coca-Cola, PayPal, Krispy Kreme) and tabloid headlines — the same trick of matched sounds Tennyson uses here to make a line stick in the ear. (Ed: BR 2026-06-27)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the succession or frequent occurrence of words beginning with the same letter. In the older Scandinavian, German, and Anglo-Saxon poetry it served instead of rhyme. It found in early English poetry with the same function.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Amadeus
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a common name in the house of Savoy. The first who bore it was Count Amadeus, who lived in the 11th century, but the first to make an important figure in history was Amadeus V. (1249-1323). Amadeus VIII., born in 1383, secured the elevation of Savoy into a duchy. He was elected Pope in 1439, as Felix V., but resigned later. Amadeus I., of Spain, born in 1845, son of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, was elected King of Spain in 1870, abdicated in 1873, and died in 1890.
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism: A visionary who experienced an apocalypse and revelations, in one of which he learned the two psalms composed by Adam, one a mark of joy at the creation of Eve, and the other the dialogue he held with her after they had sinned. Both psalms are printed in Fabricius' Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Ambergris
Aiton's Encyclopedia: amber-gres, an ash colored, inflammable sort of wax. The name signifies gray amber. It is found in lumps of from an ounce to 200 pounds in weight, floating on the sea, especially in the vicinity of the Bahama Islands or other localities frequented by sperm whales. It is also obtained from the intestines of the sperm whale. It is a secretion formed in the alimentary canal , and is derived from the fat of the cuttlefish on which this whale customarily feeds. The floating masses are supposed to have escaped from the bodies of dead whales. Ambergris is prized as a perfume. It is prepared by dissolving in alcohol. Pure ambergris is worth about $2 an ounce. See Whale 2026 Editor's Note: Ambergris is still whale treasure: lumps found on beaches sell for fortunes as a prized perfume fixative , and its chemistry — from the sperm whale's gut, as this entry rightly guesses — is now often reproduced synthetically. Some countries ban trade in it to protect whales. (Ed: BR 2026-06-05)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a from the intestines of the sperm whale, and found floating or on the shore; yellowish or blackish white; very light; chiefly composed of a peculiar fatty substance. Its odor is very agreeable, and hence it is used as a perfume. North American
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia