The Meta-Encyclopedia

Single-source entries: A (52)

These 17 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Ammeter, Ammoniacum, Ammonium.

Ammeter

an instrument which measures the rate of flow of electricity in amperes ARGENTINA. In spite of much expressed dissatisfaction with the policies of President Irigoyen, the Radical party of which he was the leader, retained control of the government in the national elections of April, 1922. Marcelo T. de Alvear, Radical candidate, was elected President. He was inaugurated October 12, 1922. The total population of Argentina by the census of 1921 was 8,698,516, an increase of 13 per cent over the population of 1914. The estimated population of Buenos Aires on Dec. 31, 1921, was 1,708,329.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Ammoniacum

a gum resin, called also gum ammoniac, which is imported into this country from Turkey and the East Indies in little lumps, or tears, of a strong and not very pleasing smell and a nauseous taste, followed by bitterness in the mouth. It is a stimulant, a deobstruent, an expectorant, an antispasmodic, a discutient, and a resolvent. Hence, it is internally employed in asthma and chronic catarrh, visceral obstructions, and obstinate colic, while it is used externally in scirrhous tumors and white swellings of the joints.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Ammonium

the name given by Berzelius to a supposed monatomic radical (NH4)'.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amniomancy

Divination by means of the caul, or membrane which sometimes envelopes the head of a child at birth. From an inspection of this caul, the wise women predict the sort of future the baby will have. If it be red, happy days are in store for the child, or if lead-coloured, he will have misfortunes.

Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Amomum

a genus of plants belonging to the order zingiberaceæ, or gingerworts. They are natives of hot countries. The seeds of A. granum parad A. maximum, and on the frontiers of Bengal of A. aromaticum, are the chief of the aromatic seeds called cardamoms. A pungent flavor is imparted to spirituous liquor by the hot acrid seeds of A. angustifolium, macrospermum, maxi mum, and clusii. It is also the specific name of the sison amomum, the hedge- Bastard stone-parsley.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amon

A great and powerful marquis of the infernal empire. He is represented as a wolf with a serpent's tail, vomiting flame. When he appears in human form, his head resembles that of a large owl with canine teeth. He is the strongest of the princes of the demons, knows the past and the future, and can reconcile, when he will, friends who have quarelled. He commands forty legions.

Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Amorphism

This term expresses the opposite of the crystalline state. Diamond is crystalline carbon; charcoal and lamp-black are amorphous carbon. Amorphous bodies are without any regular form or trace of crystalline structure, as wrought-iron; they fracture irregularly, in any direction, and are generally more soluble and less hard and dense than in the crystalline form. See CRYSTALLIZATION.

Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding

Amos

one of the so-called minor prophets of the Hebrews, was a herdsman of Tekoa, in the neighborhood of Bethlements exercising a respiratory function, hem, and also a dresser of sycamore trees. During the reigns of Uzziah in Judah, and Jeroboam II. in Israel (about AMPHIBIA 800 b. c.), he came forward to denounce the idolatry then prevalent.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amoy

a seaport town and one of the treaty ports of China; on a small island of the same name in the province of Fukien; 325 miles E. by N. E. of Canton, and directly opposite the island of Formosa. It was one of the earliest seats of European commerce in China, the Portuguese having had establishments here in the 16th and the Dutch in the 17th centuries. In 1841 it was taken by the British, and, by the treaty of Nankin, a British consul and British subjects were permitted to reside here. This port is especially important in its relations to the prospective trade of the United States with China, and already its trade with the United States leads that of all other Chinese ports. During the international military operations in China, in 1900, the city was occupied by the Japanese. Pop. (1917) of port, 300,000; city, 114,000.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amoymon

One of the four kings of Hades, of which the eastern part falls to his share. He may be invoked in the morning from nine o'clock till midday, and in the evening from three o'clock till six. He has been identified with Amaimon (q.v.) Asmodeus (q.v.) is his lieutenant, and the first prince of his dominions.

Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Amphibia

in zoology, animals which can live indiscriminately on land 1 or water, or which at one part of their existence live in water and at another on land. It is used by Macleay, Swainson, Huxley, and other modern zoölogists for the fourth great class of aniorder batrachia. It is intermediate bemals corresponding to Cuvier's reptilian tween reptilia and pisces. They have no amnion. Their visceral arches during a longer or shorter period develop filaor branchiæ. The frog, the toad, and the newt are familiar examples of the amphibia.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amphictyon

The son of Helenus, who first established the celebrated Council of the Amphictyons, composed of the wisest and most virtuous men of some cities of Greece.

Only in 1000 Classical Characters

Amphioxus

a genus of fishes of an organization so humble, that the first specimen discovered was believed by Pallas to be a slug, and was described by him as the limax lanceolatus. It is now called amphioxus lanceolatus.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amphipod

in zoölogy, an animal belonging to the crustaceous order amphipoda.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amplitude

The full extent or breadth. As applied to pendulums, the amplitude of a simple oscillation or vibration; properly the distance from the middle to the extremity of an oscillation, but the term is usually applied to the distance from one extremity of the swing to the other.

Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler

Amsterdam

a city of Montgomery co., N. Y.; on the Mohawk river and the New York Central and Hudson river and the West Shore railroads: 33 miles N. W. of Albany. It is an agricultural region, but is noted for its manufactures, especially of knit goods, carpets, steel springs, and paper, Pop. (1910) 31,267; (1920) 33,524.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Amsterdam

UNIVERSITY OF, an institution for higher learning in the city of Amsterdam, Holland, founded in 1632. It was reorganized in 1867 and ten years later was made the Royal University. It has faculties of law, medicine, mathematics, science, arts, and theology, and about 1,100 students.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia