Each of these 11 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
a mode of surgical treatment which consists in replacing a diseased part by means of healthy tissue from another part of the same body. The most familiar instance is the rhinoplastic or taliacotian operation, for supplying a new nose from the skin of the forehead. It is more popularly known as skingrafting.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
eye-witnessing, a direct observation; generally applied to a post mortem examination, or the dissection of a dead body.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a method of phototyping. Tissue, being prepared with a liquid composed of gelatine, sugar, and bichromate of potash, is then used for taking a collodion negative in the ordinary way. It is next applied under water with the face down to a plate of glass, metal, or other paper, coated with gelatine and chrome alum. Means are then taken to remove the parts not hardened by light, and, finally, by another elaborate process, the plate is made ready for the printingpress.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a city of France, in the department of Saône -et-Loire, on the Arroux, 43 miles S. W. of Dijon, on the railroad to Nevers . It is picturesquely situated. The Church of St. Martin, built by Queen Brunehaut, and containing her tomb, furnishes a variety of architectural styles. Autun is one of the most ancient French cities, and was made a Roman colony by Augustus, from whom it derived its old name of Augustodunum. It still presents many fine Roman remains. Talleyrand was Bishop of Autun at the commencement of the French Revolution; another bishop was Abbé Roquette, whom Molière immortalized. Pop. about 16,000 .
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a former province of central France, now merged into the departments of Cantal and Puy-de- Dôme, and an arrondissement of Haute- Loire. The Auvergne Mountains , separating the basins of the Allier, Cher, and Creuse from those of the Lot and Dordogne, contain the highest points of central France: Mt. Dore, 6,188 feet; Cantal, 6,093 feet; and Puy-de-Dôme , 4,806 feet.
COUNTS AND DAU- PHINS OF, a title which was, about the middle of the 8th century, conferred on Blandin, who served the Duke Waifre in his opposition to Pepin le Bref, founder of the Carlovingian dynasty. The name figures through a great part of early French history.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the chief town of the French department of Yonne, on the Yonne river, 109 miles S. E. of Paris , in a rich district abounding in vineyards. It presents an imposing aspect from a distance, the most prominent feature being the noble Gothic cathedral, which dates from 1215. Auxerre was a flourishing town before the Roman invasion of Gaul. It was destroyed by the Huns in 451, and in 486 was wrested by Clovis from the Romans. The county of Auxerrois came finally in 1477 to the kingdom of France. The principal manufactures are wine (a light Burgundy), candies, chemicals and hosiery. Pop. about 25,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
ARVA, YAVA, or KAVA (piper methysticum), a plant of the natural order piperaceæ, possessing narcotic properties. Until recently , it was ranked in It is a shrubby plant, with heart-shaped acuminate leaves, and very short, solitary, axillary spikes of flowers. It is a native of many of the South Sea islands, where the inhabitants intoxicate themselves with a fermented liquor prepared from the upper portion of the root and the base of the stem . The narcotic property is ascribed to an acrid resin kawine , which is present in the root. The intoxication is not like that produced by ardent spirits, but rather a stupefaction like that caused by opium. The habitual use of ava causes a whitish scurf on the skin, which, among the heathen Tahitians, was reckoned a badge of nobility , the common people not having the means of indulgence requisite to produce it. Ava is, like cocaine , a local anesthetic.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the fall of a mass of ice or snow from a mountain slope. Ordinary avalanches are of frequent, even momentary, occurrence in mountain regions, but they are ordinarily so small or so far above the line of habitation that they do no harm. Occasionally, however, immense accumulations slip loose and go crashing down through the forests into the valley below. The Union Pacific Railway protects long stretches of its tracks with strongly framed snow sheds calculated to uphold the weight of snow that comes sliding down all winter. The region most noted for avalanches, or at least the region in which they have been studied most closely, is that of the Alps. Mountain climbers regard the danger from avalanches as the greatest risk they take.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
masses of snow or ice that slide or roll down the declivities of high mountains, and often occasion great devastation. They have various names, according to their nature. Drift or powder avalanches consist of snow, which, loose and dry from strong frost, once set in motion by the wind, accumusuddenly lates in its descent, and comes suc into the valley in an overwhelming dustcloud. Avalanches of this kind occur chiefly in winter, and are dangerous on men and animals, and overturning account of their suddenness, suffocating houses by the compression of the air which they cause. Another kind of avalanche resembles a landslip. When the snow begins to melt in spring, the soil beneath becomes loose and slippery; and the snow slides down the declivity by its own weight, carrying with it soil, trees, and rocks. Ice avalanches are those that are seen and heard in summer thundering down the steeps-e. g, of the Jungfrau. They consist of masses of ice that detach themselves from the glaciers in the upper regions. They are most common in July, August and September. Nine great Alpine avalanches , which cost 447 lives, are on record between 1518 and 1879, the most destructive being one of 1827 , which swept away half the village of Biel, in the upper Valais, with 88 inhabitants .
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
or AVENTURINE, a variety of quartz containing glittering spangles s of mica through it; also a sort of artificial gem of similar appearance.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a people, probably of Turanian origin, who at an early period may have migrated from the region E. of the Tobol in Siberia to that about the Don, the Caspian Sea, and the Volga. A part advanced to the Danube in 555 A. D., and settled in Dacia. They served in Justinian's army, aided the Lombards in destroying the kingdom of the Gepide, and in the 6th century conquered under their khan, Bajan, the region of Pannonia. They then won Dalmatia, pressed into Thuringia and Italy against the Franks and Lombards, and subdued the Slavs dwelling on the Danube, as well as the Bulgarians on the Black Sea. But they were intimately limited to Pannonia, where they were overcome by Charlemagne, and nearly extirpated by the Slavs of Moravia. After 827 they disappear from history. Traces of their fortified settlements are found, and known as Avarian rings.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia