Comedietta
a dramatic composition of the comedy class, but not so much elaborated as a regular comedy, and generally consisting of one or at most two acts.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: C (121)
These 9 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Comedietta, Comedones, Comfort.
Comedones
a name applied to the little cylinders of sebaceous and epithelial substance which are apt to accumulate in the follicles of the skin and to appear on the surface as small round black spots. When squeezed out they have the appearance of minute maggots or grubs, with black heads, and thence have derived their name.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Comedy of Errors, The
The, a comedy by William Shakespeare. It was one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, having been produced December 28, 1594, at Grey's Inn Hall. It was first published in 1623. The plot is based on the resemblance between twin brothers, both named Antipholus, and the resemblance between their two servants, also twin brothers, both named Dromio. These likenesses give rise to a series of laughable mistakes. The Comedy of Errors is the shortest of all Shakespeare's plays, containing only 1,770 lines. Robson and Crane, American actors, have presented the play with great success, appearing in the roles of the two Dromios. QUOTATIONS. Words are but wind. Every why hath a wherefore. Headstrong liberty is lashed with woe. Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast. He that commends me to my own content Commends me to the thing I cannot get.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Comenius, Johann Amos
ko-me'ni-us, Johann Amos (1592-1671), a Moravian educator. Comenius was born in a Moravian village and died at Amsterdam. He became a teacher in his native country, but was driven out by war and religious persecution. He went to Poland and was made bishop of the Moravian Brethren. At one time he contemplated coming to the New World to accept a position in Harvard University . He is remembered chiefly for his Orbis Pictus , or the pictorial world, a primary reading book. It is the first in which pictures were employed to assist children in learning to read. Of course the cuts now seem very rude, but to children of the Old World villages at that time, these were wonderful books. The Orbis Pictus, published in 1657, marks a distinct step in education. To be accurate, it was an abbreviation of a larger and more pretentious work, published in 1631. For some idea of the general style of the contents of the Orbis Pictus, see article on NEW ENGLAND PRIMER .
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Comfort
WILL LEVINGTON, an American novelist, born in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1878. He was educated in the public schools of Detroit. During the Spanish-American War he served in the 5th United States Cavalry. He was war correspondent in the Philippines and China in 1889 and served in the same capacity during the Russo-Japanese War. His books, which acquired a wide circle of readers, include: "Routledge Rides Alone" (1910); "Down Among Men" (1913); "Child and Country" (1916); and "The Shielding Wing" (1918), etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Comfrey
Important: Safety Warning This page recommends preparations containing opium, laudanum, morphine, or similar narcotics — in some cases for children. These substances are dangerously addictive, easily fatal in overdose, and strictly controlled by law today. In addition, this page states that certain wild plants are safe to eat. Its identifications and edibility claims are more than a century old and in some cases simply wrong, and deadly look-alikes exist for many edible species. Never eat a wild plant on the strength of this text. In addition, this page prescribes plants as medicine according to pre-modern medical theory. Several of the plants named are toxic, correct identification is difficult, and the doses given have no scientific basis. Do not ingest or apply any preparation described here. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. the Symphytum officinale. The stem is 2-3 feet high, branched above. The flowers are in pairs, secund, and drooping. The corolla is large, yellowish-white, often purple. The plant is frequently found on the banks of rivers or in watery places generally. It flowers in May and June. It was formerly regarded as a vulnerary. The leaves gathered while substitute young may be used as a substitute for spinach. Comfrey stewed in sugar, with a small amount of paregoric added, makes a highly-prized domestic remedy for coughs and bronchial irritation.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Comitia
the ordinary and legal assemblies of the Roman citizens for the passing of laws, election of magistrates and officers, etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Commander Islands
a group of four islands off the coast of Siberia, in the Bering Sea. The largest of them, Bering, has an area of 609 square miles, and the next largest, Mednj, 180 square miles, both of them having a small pop-. ulation. The chief industry is the breed ing of fur seals, protected by the Siberian Government. (kom-män-dēt), COMMANDITE a term used in France, a partnership en commandite being one in which a person advance capital without taking an may active part in the management of the business, and be exempt from responsibility for more than he put into it; much the same as limited liability. COMMELYNACEÆ, spiderworts, an order of endogens, alliance xyridales. They are herbaceous plants, with flat narrow leaves. The species are found in the East and West Indies, New Holland, Africa, etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Commemoration Ode
a poem by James Russell Lowell written in 1865. The full title is Ode Recited at the Harvard Commemoration. The poem was written for, and read at, the memorial exercises at Cambridge, in commemoration of those members of Harvard College who had given their lives to their country. This is the finest and most famous ode in American literature . Dr. Burton says: "It should be read by all good Americans at least once a year." We quote: How could poet ever tower, If his passions, hopes, and fears,-- If his triumphs and his tears, Kept not measure with his people? Boom, cannon, boom to all the winds and waves! Clash out, glad bells, from every rocking steeple! Banners, advance with triumph, bend your staves! And from every mountain-peak Let beacon-fire to answering beacon speak, Katahdin tell Monadnock, Whiteface he, And so leap on in light from sea to sea, Till the glad news be sent Across a kindling continent, Making earth feel more firm and air breathe braver: "Be proud! for she is saved, and all have helped to save her."
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia