Iris
Iris names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Iris in classical mythology
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in classical mythology, the messenger of the gods who carries messages from Ida to Olympus, or from the gods to men. In the "Iliad" the rainbow also was called Iris. in astronomy, an asteroid of the group between Mars and Jupiter, discovered by Hind in 1847. In botany, th flower-de-luce, the typical genus of the order Iridaceæ. The species numerous, and are erally remarkable for their large, yellow, England, with the S. W. counties of white, or blue flowers, and sword-like leaves. They abound in Europe, but are rare in America. The rhizomes of several species are more or less purgative and emetic. Those of I. florentina, palland germanica a violet odor, and are used in perfumery for imparting an agreeable odor to the breath, and by making issue the French especially for peas. These rhizomes, dried and scraped, constitute the orris root of the shops. The roasted seeds of I. pseudacora, the yellow flag, have been recommended as a substitute for coffee, but they do not appear to have any of the valuable properties of that beverage. The genus is so named on account of the variety of colors exhibited by it. In anatomy, the anterior part of the choroid coat of the eye, with superadded muscular fibers. In jewelry, the name given by French jewelers to limpid and transparent stones, but chiefly to rock crystal when reflecting prismatic colors like opal, by means of natural internal flaws.
Iris iris, in Greek mythology
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
iris, in Greek mythology, the goddess of the rainbow. She was the daughter of Thaumas and Electra, and a sister of the Harpies. She lived among the gods on Olympus, but was sent often to bear the messages of the gods to mankind. As Mercury was the special messenger of Zeus, so Iris was of Hera. The ancients believed that it was Iris who caused the clouds to become filled with water to be discharged in rain upon the thirsty earth. Iris is represented in art as a golden winged virgin clad in variegated hues and riding on a rainbow or with a rainbow above her head.
Iris One of the Oceanides
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
One of the Oceanides, messenger of the gods, and more particularly of Juno . Her office was to cut the thread which seemed to detain the soul of those who were expiring. She is the same as the rainbow.
Iris . See Flag
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
. See Flag
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The mythological Iris of these accounts stands as written: she is still Thaumas and Electra's daughter, Hera's messenger and the rainbow, and no find has altered that. The other senses have moved on. Collier's said in 1921 that irises "abound in Europe, but are rare in America" — in fact North America has dozens of native species, and the yellow flag it recommended as a coffee substitute, Iris pseudacorus, is now listed as a noxious invasive weed in several US states and in Canada. The anatomical iris has acquired a use nobody in 1921 imagined: since John Daugman's pattern-matching algorithm of the 1990s, iris scans have become a standard biometric, and India's Aadhaar programme has enrolled the irises of more than a billion people. Hind's asteroid of 1847, now catalogued as 7 Iris, has been resolved into a lumpy body some 200 km across by ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics.
Written for this edition, 2026.