Kite
Kite names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Kite a common aerial toy
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a common aerial toy, a light flying machine . The kite consists usually of a light frame of wood covered with paper. The kite rises with the wind, and is held in tether by means of a long, light cord. A tail is attached to one end of the kite to steady its movements. The name was suggested possibly by the fancied resemblance between the movements of a kite and those of the bird of that name. Kite flying is an amusement of boys in Europe and America. In Japan, and to a less extent in China, it is a national pastime of men. In these countries competitive flying, with more or less elaborate kites, excites as much interest as horse racing in English-speaking countries. Of late the construction of kites has attracted the serious attention of scientific men. In 1895 Captain Baden-Powell of England arranged a series of five kites by means of which he was able to raise a weight of 150 pounds 100 feet in the air. Others have succeeded quite as well in raising weights with kites. In 1897 Mr. W. A. Eddy, a Boston operator, sent up a series of nine kites attached to piano wire. They attained an elevation of 5,509 feet and remained up fifteen hours. A string of nine kites, having a surface in all of 170 square feet was sent up to a height of 9,375 feet. Three miles of piano wire were used. Kites are said to have been sent up to a height of four miles. At that height, the air is rarer, but the wind blows faster, so that kites fly as well as they do nearer the surface. The United States weather bureau has begun to use kites to determine the direction, as well as the moisture and temperature, of the upper currents of air. Special recording instruments have been devised, which are attached to the kites. Mr. Eddy, who has already been mentioned, has also devised a system of cameras which he sends up with a kite and operates by means of a cord, so as to take a complete view of the surrounding country. Military circles are considering the possibility of taking views of an enemy's fortifications by means of kite cameras. The government of Denmark maintains a kite-flying tower--a weather observatory--at Viborg at the extreme northern point of the kingdom. Kites are already in use for signaling purposes. They are transported more easily and are far less cumbersome than balloons. The picture shows a respectable and prosperous Chinaman beckoning to an aerial monster, which he is apparently coaxing to eat out of his hands. This proves that the camera may be a very plausible and entertaining liar, for the facts in the case are quite otherwise. Indeed, the pig-tailed gentleman is so absolutely master of this tameless denizen of the upper air, that he offered to sell me the dragon outright for $5, the same being a Frankenstein monster of his own creation and well worth the price. Yes, you've guessed right; it's a paper kite, but such a kite! It is about twelve feet long, and is composed of twenty-six circular frames for bamboo, over which are stretched as many eight-inch circles of silky paper. The upper halves of the discs are painted bright red, the lower halves are white, presenting the appearance of a dragon's belly, and emphasizing the writhing and contortions of the monster. The nose projects from the face on the first disc and the eyes are fixed on pivots so that they whirl in the wind, lending a pleasing animation to otherwise immovable features. The rigging of fine cords which hold together this twenty-six jointed nightmare is very complicated and requires nice balancing; in fact, a vast amount of patience and skill and full five-days' labor are represented in the fragile toy. The picture was taken in a vacant lot near "Chinatown" in Los Angeles , California. It is curious to note that the kite flyer is a full grown man who has not taken the trouble to bring any of his youngsters along to provide an excuse for indulging in this juvenile pastime, or, as the Chinese would put it, "to save his face." In Chinatown, you see, the flying of kites is considered a high art.--Charlton Lawrence Edholm, in Popular Mechanics.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a wind toy, controlled by a string. As a plaything the kite has been known since 400 b. c., and in its familar form of two crossed sticks covered with paper, and balanced with a tail of string, on which are tied bits of cloth or paper, is a common sight. Kites were first employed in aid of science in 1749, by Dr. Alexander Wilson and Thomas Mellville, 3 two mile 595 feet, th houre. ar Boston etandem eve kites, 8,740 feet above md sile on of Scotland, who by means of a thermometer attached to a kite were able to take temperatures above the earth's surface. Franklin's experiments with electricity bankens experimenti familiar to everyone. In more recent times kites are being made to serve, not only the peaceful ends of science, but the needs of modern warfare . The first improvement was to make a tailless kite, and this was perfected by Mr. Eddy. In 1895 Captain Baden-Powell, of England , weighing 150 pounds, was enabled to hoist himself 100 feet in the air by a tandem of five kites. Mr. Eddy has done much to develop tandem kite flying. In 1897 he made a tandem of nine Eddy- Malay kites on a cord two miles long with an elevation of 5,595 feet, the same long, being kept up for 15 hours. At Blue Hill Observatory, near Boston, this height was exceeded , the tandem of seven Malay and two Hargrave kites, with an area of 170 feet, rising 8,740 feet above Blue Hill, or 9,375 feet above sea-level. Piano wire has been found preferable to cord, having greater tensile strength and presenting less surface to the wind. In the United States weather bureau parakites are used for the purpose of recording the velocity of the wind, and the humidity and temperature at high altitudes, by the meteorograph. The parakites may be put to several uses in time of war. They can, by means of colored electric lights or lanterns controlled by the cord or electric wire, convey signals to the troops, or they may be made to drop explosive substances on the heads of the enemy. Photographs may be taken by means of a camera fastened on the frame of a kite and operated by a cord. They were not much employed in the World War, photographs made from airplanes being more accurate.
Kite a name applied to very active
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a name applied to very active, long-winged, smallfooted Falconidæ, with rather short beaks, never truly notched like those of falcons. They fly strongly and gracefully. The typical genus is Milvus, confined to the Old World, and represented by half a dozen species. Of these the common or red kite, the Anglo-Saxon Gled or Glead, used to be common in Great Britain, but is The bird measures two now very rare. feet in length and is predominantly rufous. It is generally distributed in Europe and round about the Mediterranean shores. Its nest is built on a tree and made up of sticks and rubbish. The eggs (three) are laid in April or May, and have dull-white or pale-blue ground, with spots or blotches of reddish brown. The black kite (M. migrans) has been recorded in Great Britain; the pariah kite (M. govinda) of India is a useful scavenger; M. isurus inhabits Australia. Under the title kite are also included the black-winged kites (Elanus ) of both hemispheres; the beautiful swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus), occurring in the warmer parts of North America; the hook-billed kite ( Rostrhamus) of South America and Florida, feeding, curiously enough, on fresh -water snails; and the large bee -kite or honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus), inhabiting Europe and Africa. a
Kite a bird of the hawk kind
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a bird of the hawk kind. The kite is supposed to be smaller, less powerful, and less fierce than the hawk. Its talons and bill are indicative of a somewhat subdued disposition. The swallowtailed kite of eastern North America is very attractive in appearance. If the reader should see a graceful hawk sailing over the tree tops with a tail divided into two long pointed, widely spreading divisions, the chances are that it is the swallowtailed kite. The underparts are white. The upper parts are of a glossy, bluish black. It nests in tall trees. It snatches up a fish from the surface of the water without lighting and eats it one the wing. It is seldom seen at rest. A white-tailed kite breeds from Indian Territory southwestward through Mexico and South America . The Mississippi kite breeds from Illinois southward. The everglade kite or snail-hawk summers in southern Florida. All our kites retire southward to tropical America in the winter time. See Hawk
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The scientific hopes in these accounts were real but short-lived. The U.S. Weather Bureau's kite stations, which Aiton's reported in 1910 as newly hoisting recording instruments aloft, were wound up in the 1930s once small balloon-borne radiosondes could send readings back by radio, and the aerial reconnaissance that Collier's saw coming in 1921 went to aeroplanes and later satellites instead. What survived is the play the entries treat as a boys' amusement — plus two things they could not have foreseen: kitesurfing, which grew from a 1980s novelty into an Olympic class for 2024, and serious engineering work on tethered kites to generate wind power. Kite aerial photography, Eddy's idea of a camera tripped by a cord, has quietly returned as a cheap survey tool for archaeologists, now usually flown by drone instead.
Written for this edition, 2026.