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.
Anise
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a plant of the parsnip family. It is a native of Egypt, but is now cultivated from Spain to Syria, and somewhat in Germany. It is an aromatic annual herb about two feet in height. It bears loose, flat-topped umbels of yellowish white flowers, succeeded by curved, grayish seeds. The latter yield a highly aromatic volatile oil. The seeds are used in medicine and in cooking and to flavor wine. Cummin and caraway belong to the same family and have similar flavoring and medicinal qualities. When the Saviour said, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law," he accused them of attending to petty matters to the neglect of important affairs. 2026 Editor's Note: Anise flavors a whole family of drinks — ouzo, pastis, sambuca, absinthe — that turn milky with water. Its cousin star anise sprang a modern surprise: it is the natural source of shikimic acid, long the starting material for the antiviral flu drug Tamiflu, briefly making the spice a strategic commodity. (Ed: BR 2026-06-23)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: an umbelliferous plant, the pimpinella anisum. It is cultivated in southern Europe and in Germany for the sake of the seeds, which are exported. They are aromatic and carminative. Oil of anise is a solution of anise camphor. The camphor is obtained pure from alcohol by pressure and crystallization. In pharmacy it is used as a stimulant, aromatic, and carminative.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Anode
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the name given by Faraday to what is called by Daniell the zincode, and by various other writers the positive pole of an electric battery; or, more precisely, the "way" or path by which the electric current passes out and enters the electrolyte on its way to the other pole. It is a platinum plate occupying the same place in the decomposing cell that a zinc plate does in an ordinary cell of a battery. The other plate corresponding to the second platinum one in an ordinary cell is called by Faraday the cathode or kathode, by Daniell the platinode, and by many other writers the negative pole. At the positive pole appears one element of the decomposed body, called anione, and at the negative the other element, termed katione.
American Watchmaker and Jeweler: The positive pole of an electric current, that pole at which the current enters; opposed to cathode, the point at which it departs.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and American Watchmaker and Jeweler
Anthology
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the name given to several collections of short poems which have come down from antiquity. The first who compiled a Greek anthology was Meleager, a Syrian, about 60 b. c. He entitled his collection, which contained selections from 46 poets besides many pieces of his own, the "Garland"; a continuation of this work by Philip of Thessalonica in the age of Tiberius was the first entitled "Anthology." There is no ancient Latin anthology, the oldest being that of Scaliger (1573).
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a Greek term meaning a collection of flowers, a garland. Hence a collection of short poems or beautiful passages. Compiling an anthology has been a favorite task since the first anthology was made by Meleager, a Syrian, 90 B. C. One of the latest and most meritorious, entitled A Victorian Anthology, was compiled by E. C. Stedman. Emerson also made a collection of choice poems, to which he gave the name Parnassus.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Anthracite
Collier's New Encyclopedia: glance, or blind coal, a non-bituminous coal of a shining luster, approaching to metallic, and which burns without smoke, with a weak or no flame, and with intense heat. It consists of, on an average, 90 per cent. carbon, 3 hydrogen and 5 ashes. It has some of the properties of coke or charcoal. It is found in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and in large quantities in the United States, chiefly in Pennsylvania. See COAL.
The Encyclopedia of Founding: A kind of coal which is known by many names, as stone, blind, glance, and Kilkenny coal. There are several varieties and nearly all possess the property of burning without smoke or flame. See COAL.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Founding
Antilles
Aiton's Encyclopedia: an-til' lez, the curved chain of large and small islands forming the outer boundary of the Caribbean Sea . It sweeps from Cuba around to the coast of Venezuela, including practically the whole of the West Indies except the Bahamas. Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico , and Haiti are called the Greater Antilles. They appear to consist largely of primitive rock. The Lesser Antilles are largely of coral and volcanic formation. They include a large number of groups. Sailors call the northern part of the chain the Leeward Islands; the southern part, the Windward Islands. The plants, animals, and industries resemble those of Central America . Farther information may be found under WEST INDIES and the names of the more important islands. 2026 Editor's Note: The name traces to Antillia , a phantom island medieval maps placed in the western ocean before Columbus. It endures in the French Antilles and the former N ether lands Antilles (dissolved in 2010), while the islands the entry lists are now independent nations and the heart of the Caribbean's tourism world. (Ed: BR 2026-07-08)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: another name for the West Indian islands, not including the Bahamas. Subdivided into Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Antilochus
Aiton's Encyclopedia: an-til'o-kus, in Greek legend, a son of Nestor, famous in the Trojan War. He was the one to break the news of Patroclus' death to Achilles. Memnon, some say Hector, slew Antilochus. Achilles avenged the death of his two friends. The three, Achilles, Antilochus, and Patroclus, were buried in one grave. Odysseus, when he visited the Lower World, saw the three walking together through the asphodel meadows.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: in Greek legend, the son of Nestor, who fell at the siege of Troy by the hand of Memnon.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Antipodes
Aiton's Encyclopedia: an-tip'o-dez (Greek, against feet), people who live on diametrically opposite portions of the earth's surface with their feet turned toward each other. The term is applied also to localities. Thus the north pole and the south pole are antipodes. Any two points on the equator, 180deg. apart, are antipodal. When noon in one place, it is necessarily midnight at the other, and if the places be not situated on the equator, it is midsummer at the one, when midwinter at the other. Antipodes Island is an uninhabited island about 460 miles southeast of New Zealand , so called from being nearly opposite Greenwich, England. See Earth ; Geography ; Galileo 2026 Editor's Note: 'The Antipodes' became the British name for Australia and New Zealand , the lands most nearly opposite Britain on the globe. The very idea that people could live on the earth's underside, feet toward Europe, was once dismissed as absurd or even heretical — now it's a routine 20-hour flight. (Ed: BR 2026-06-06)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the name given relatively to the people or places on opposite sides of the earth.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia