Each of these 20 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.
the marriage of one woman to several men at once. The custom is still widely spread in the East. Cæsar found it in Britain on his arrival. Tacitus has been cited as an authority that the ancient Germans practiced polyandry.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a beautiful and favorite variety of the common primrose (Primula vulgaris), a native of most parts of Europe, growing in woods and copses in a moist clayey soil.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
acids which possess more than one hydrogen atom capable of being replaced by a metal equivalent.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
ST., one of the apostolical fathers of the Church, and a Christian martyr who, according to tradition, was a disciple of the Apostle John, and by him appointed Bishop of Smyrna. many converts, enjoyed the friendship of Ignatius, and opposed the heresies of Marcion and Valentinus; but during the persecution of the Christians under Marcus Aurelius he suffered martyrdom wtih the most heroic fortitude, A. D. 166. His short "Epistle to the Philippians" is the only one of his writings that has been preserved.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the art of coloring statuary to imitate nature, or particular buildings in harmonious, prismatic, or compound tints.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
One of the celebrated statuaries of the ancient world. He was also a sculptor, an architect, and an artist in toreutic. He was somewhat younger than Phidias, and flourished about B. C. 452-412. Phidias was unsurpassed in making the images of the gods, Polycletus in those of men.
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
those plants of which the embryos have more than two cotyledons or seed lobes.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
or POLYCISTINA, in zoölogy, a sub-order of Radiolaria, placed by Wallich in his Herpnemata.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A son of Magnes, king of Seriphos. He received with kindness Danae and her son Perseus , who had been exposed on the sea. Polydectes was turned into stone by being shown Medusa 's head by Perseus.
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
milkwort, the typical genus of Polygalaceæ. Flowers irregular. Two inner sepals wing-shaped and petaloid; stamens combined by their claws with the filaments, the lower one keeled. Ovary two-celled, two-seeded, seeds downy, crested at the hilum. Known species 200, from temperate and tropical countries. Three are British. infusion P. rubella, a native North America, very bitter, is used in small doses as a tonic and stimulant, and in larger ones as a diaphoretic. The American P. senega is snake root. P. chamæbuxus from Europe, P. sanguinea and P. purpurea from North America, P. paniculata from the West Indies, P. serpentaria from the Cape, and P. crotalarioides from the Himalayas, are emetic, purgative, and diuretic. P. poaya from Brazil, P. glandulosa, and P. scopario from Mexico, are emetic. P. thesioides, from Chile, is diuretic. P. tinctoria, from Arabia, is there used in dyeing, and the Javanese P. venenosa is poisonous.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a collection of versions in different languages of the same work, but is almost exclusively applied to manifold versions of the Bible. The Hexapla of Origen contained, besides the Hebrew text, several other Greek versions, but is not commonly reckoned among the polyglots. Of modern works of this kind the most convenient is Bagster's Polyglot, first published by Bagster at London in 1831, which gives the Old Testament in eight languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish), and the New Testament in nine (the Syriac version being added).
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
in geometry, a portion of a plane bounded on all sides by more than four limited straight lines. These lines are called sides of the polygon, and the points in which they meet are called vertices of the polygon. Polygons are classified according to the number of their sides or angles. Polygons having all their sides equal are called equilateral; those having all their angles equal are called equiangular. Polygons which are both equilateral and equiangular are called regular polygons. Similar polygons are to one another as the squares of their homologous sides. In fortification, the exterior polygon is the figure formed by lines connecting the angles of the bastion round the work. The interior polygon is the figure formed by lines connecting the centers of the bastions all round. POLYGONACEÆ, buckwheats; an order of hypogynous exogens, alliance Silenales. Herbs, rarely shrubs. Distribution, world wide. Known genera 29, species 490. (Lindley.)
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
an order in Linnæus' artifical classification, containing plants with many pistils.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, who presided over singing and rhetoric, and was deemed the inventress of harmony.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the property possessed by certain bodies of crystallizing in two or more forms not derivable one from the other.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a name usually applied to an animal like the fresh-water hydra or like the sea anemone, having a tubular body and a wreath of many tentacles around applithe mouth. The name is equally cable to an isolated individual or to a member (zooid or "person") of a colony. individuals which make up a Thus, the zoöphyte or a coral colony are called polyps, and the term is seldom used ex- . cept in reference to cœlentrate animals
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a musical instrument of the music-box type, used principally in Also connection with the graphophone. a character or vocal sign which represents more than one sound.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
having, or consisting of many sounds or voices. In music, consisting of several tone series or parts, progressing simultaneously according to rules of counterpoint; contrapuntal. the
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
or POLYPLEC- TRUM, in music, a musical instrument in which the tones were produced by the actfriction of numerous slips of leather ing on strings, and moved by pressing or striking keys, as in the pianoforte. In ornithology, a genus of Phasianinæ, from the Oriental region. Bill compressed, tip rather slender, sides curved, nostrils nos lateral; longitudinal . opening partly hidden by a membrane Wings rounded, tail long, rounded. Tarsi long, those of the male with two or more spurs. Toes long and slender. There are five species. POLYPODIACEÆ, in botany, ferns proper; an order of acrogens, alliance , species Filicales. Known genera 183 2,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a morbid growth attached to the interior of any of the mucous cawith nals. It is generally a fleshy tumor many branches. Polypi sometimes grow rectum, uterus in the nose, larynx, heart, , and vagina. In zoology, in the plural a as havclass of radiated animals defined ing many prehensile organs radiating from around the mouth only.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia