These 10 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Briareus, Briatic World, Bribery.
a famous giant, son of Cœlus and Terra, who had 100 hands and 50 heads, and was called by men Ægeon, and only by the gods Briareus. He assisted the giants in their war against the gods, and, according to the accounts of some, was thrown under Mt. Ætna.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
(See Kabala.) Briccriu surnamed "of the Poisoned Tongue": an Ulster chieftain mentioned in the myth of Cuchulain, a mediæval Irish romance. It is said that upon one occasion he asked certain warriors to a feast, and started the question of which of them was the greatest. Conall, Laery, and Cuchulain, were selected, and a demon called "The Terrible" was requested to decide the point. He suggested whoever could cut off his, The Terrible's, head to-day, and allow-his own head to be cut off on the morrow, would be the most courageous, and therefore most deserve the title of champion. Cuchulain succeeded in beheading the devil, who immediately picked up his head and vanished. The next day he reappeared in his usual form in order to cut off Cuchulain's head. On his placing his head on the block, the demon told him to rise, and acknowledged that he was champion of Ireland .
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
in the United States, the word applied to an attempt to corruptly influence, by means of offers of reward, the course of legislation, the result of an election, the verdict of a jury, the decision of a magistrate, etc. It is not necessary to constitute an indictable offence that the bribe be accepted. The tender of the bribe is the essence of the crime. If a bribe be offered a witness to swear falsely the crime is not bribery, but is merged into subornation of perjury. The penalty for bribery is fine or imprisonment, or both.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
ST., Bishop of Tours in the beginning of the 5th century, is commemorated as a confessor. St. Brice's Day, in 1002 (in the reign of Ethelred II.), is notorious in old English history was believed that it was a concerted attempt to exterminate all the Danes in England; but, failing of its bloody pose, it led to reprisals by the Danish King Sweyn.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A relative term for bricklaying, and meant by moulders to imply the process of forming the containing-walls of a loam-mould. Bricks in this instance take the place of flasks, the needed rigidity being imparted by binding-plates which, if necessary, may be further strengthened by bolting the sections together. The sweep-board is the guide for laying, and the bricks are set apart for fine cinders to form passages for the gases. See ROUGHING-UP; SKINNING-LOAM; SWEEP-BOARD; BINDING-PLATES; COURSE; FILLING-IN.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Good common bricks have about the following composition: silicia 3/5, alumina 1/5, lime, magnesia, soda, iron, potash, and water being included in the other fifth. The American brick varies in size from 7 3/4 to 8 1/2 inches long, 4 to 4 1/2 wide, and 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 thick. English bricks average 9 inches long, 4 1/2 wide, and 2 1/2 thick. A too severe fire in the kiln fuses the brick and causes hard clinkers; on the other hand, insufficient burning causes a soft brick unfit for use. See FIRE-BRICK.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
ST. See BRIDGET.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
ST. that class of stock brick, in which the process of manufacture has been to largely reduce the bulk of the plastic burning, giving to the completed brick a smooth surface and great density of body. Pecking, place, sandal, semel brick, are local terms applied to imperfectly burned or refuse brick. Bricks vitrified by excessive heat are termed burr bricks or burrs. Bricks were manufactured at a remote period of antiquity by the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and some of them, being inscribed with written characters, have been of priceless value in conveying historic facts to the present age. About A. D. 44, bricks were made in England by the Romans, and in A. D. 886 by the Anglo-Saxons under King Alfred. Under Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth the manufacture greatly flourished. The size was regulated by Charles I. in 1625. The following table gives the value of the brick output in the United States in 1918: Common brick $37,208,000 Enameled brick Vitrified paving brick Ornamental brick Front brick Fire brick
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
The, a romance by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819. The story belongs in the third series of Tales of My Landlord. It is a tragic tale, laid in Scotland in the days of William and Mary. The "Bride," Lucy Ashton, is forced by her mother and friends into a marriage with Bucklaw, while loving and betrothed to Ravenswood. On the night of the wedding Bucklaw was found severely wounded in the bridal chamber. Lucy died shortly after in convulsions. At Lucy's funeral, Ravenswood accepted a challenge from her brother. Riding to the place appointed for the duel, the unhappy Ravenswood disappears, evidently drawn by the quicksands into the "Kelpie's Flow." Thus was fulfilled the old prophesy: When the last Laird of Ravenswood to Ravenswood shall ride, And woo a dead maiden to be his bride, He shall stable his steed in the Kelpie's flow, And his name shall be lost forevermoe. The Bride of Lammermoor, which almost goes back to Aeschylus for a counterpart as a painting of Fate, leaves on every reader the impression of the highest and purest tragedy.--Emerson. 2026 Editor's Note: Scott's tragedy found its immortality in Italian: Donizetti turned it into Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835, whose "mad scene" — the bride, deranged and bloodstained, singing against a flute — became one of the supreme tests for a soprano and one of the most famous scenes in all opera. (Ed: BR 2026-07-21)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
a poetical name given to the city of Venice. The name had its origin in the ancient custom of "wedding the Adriatic Sea." This ceremony was performed annually. The doge would throw a ring into the sea, uttering the words, "We wed thee, O sea, in sign of a true and perpetual dominion." See Venice 2026 Editor's Note: The ceremony survives: Venice still re-enacts the marriage to the sea each year at the Festa della Sensa. The relationship has soured, though — the city now defends itself from the Adriatic with MOSE , a system of mobile flood barriers raised against high tides, while sinking ground, rising seas and mass tourism threaten the bride more than any suitor. (Ed: BR 2026-06-19)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia