These 16 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Reed Warbler, Reef, Reef Knot.
the Acrocephalus streperus, a summer migrant to temperate Europe late in April, and leaving late in September. It is an incessant songster, and its notes are varied and pleasing. The male is about 5½ inches long, upper surface uniform pale brown, with a tinge of chestnut; chin, throat, and belly white.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a chain, mass, or range of rocks in various parts of the ocean, lying at or near the surface of the water.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
in nautical language, a knot formed by passing the ends of the two parts of one rope through the loop formed by another w'ose two ends are similarly passed through a loop on the first; the two parts of one rope are passed above, and of the other below the loop through which they are inserted. A longitudinal pull tightens the knot, which can only be untied by pushing the loops in opposite directions.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
To prevent cast-steel ingots from sticking to the cast-iron moulds, it is customary, at some steel-works, to place the halves of the moulds with their faces down, upon a suitably provided support, which permits the burning coal-tar underneath them to deposit a coating of soot upon their surfaces. The process is termed reeking. See INGOT-MOULDS; RUNNING-STEEL INGOTS.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
a lively rustic dance, peculiar to Scotland. In the United ted States, States, the Virginia reel is widely popular. Also the music for such a dance, generally written in common time, but sometimes in jig time of six quavers to a bar.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the title of the official existing in early times in England, who was appointed by the king to carry into execиtion the judgments of the courts presided over by the ealdorman (earl) and other high dignitaries, to levy distresses, exact the imposts, contributions, tithes, and take charge of prisoners.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
JOHN SIMS, an English singer; born in Shooters' Hill, Kent, Oct. 21, 1822. At 14 he was a clever performer on various instruments, and was appointed organist and director of the choir in the church of North Cray in Kent. He first appeared in public as a baritone at Newcastle in 1839. This début was a complete success; and he acquired fresh fame, but as a tenor, in London. In order to perfect his voice and style he studied at Paris (1843) for some time, and then appeared at Milan in the tenor part of Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor." He returned to England in 1847, and, at Drury Lane as Edgardo, was immediately recognized as the first English tenor. He was engaged in 1848 at Her Majesty's Theater, and in 1851 sang as first tenor at the Italian Opera in Paris. After 1860 he became popular all over the country as a ballad singer at concerts. He especially excelled in singing oratorio parts, his first oratorio rôle having been in "Judas Maccabæus" in 1848. He died in 1900.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the act or process of assigning a cause depending in court, or some particular point in a cause for hearing and decision, to a person or persons appointed by the court.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
in politics, a constitutional provision that laws shall be ratified by popular vote before going into effect. The policy of the referendum is to place the legislature or city council or other legislative body in the position of a law-proposing, not a law-making committee. The referendum is a feature of the Swiss Confederation, and has been proposed as a remedy for much of the evil and unrighteous legislation from which this country suffers. See Recall ; Initiative
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
the processes by which the various metals are extracted from their ores, and obtained in a state of purity. See the articles on the several metals.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
an instrument for measuring altitudes and angular distances, invented by Mayer about 1744, and afterward improved by Borda and Troughton. In principle and construction it is similar to the sextant, the graduations, however, being continued completely round the limb of the circle. Also called a repeating circle. GALVANOMETER, REFLECTING Sir William Thomson's instrument, consisting of a very small magnet, made of a piece of watch spring, suspended between two flat bobbins of fine insulated copper wire. The magnet carries a very small concave mirror, which is adjusted by means of a directing magnet to throw the rays of light, issuing from a lamp and reflected from the mirror, on the zero of a horizontal graduated scale when no ssing, or when two equal current is passing, and opposite currents neutralize each other. In any other case the vibrations of the magnet cause the image to be deflected to the right or left of zero by an amount proportional to the force and duration of the current.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a form of microscope first proposed by Newton, in which the image formed by a small concave speculum may be viewed either by the naked eye or through an eyepiece. The object is placed outside of the tube of the microscope, and reflects its image to the speculum by means of a plane mirror, inclined at an angle of 45° to the axis of the former.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a telescope in which the rays are received on an object-mirror and conveyed to a focus, at which the image is viewed by an eyepiece.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
A small mirror confined within a frame, having a small handle. These glasses are supplied by the foundry supply dealers, and are extremely useful for directing light down into the deep cavities of a mould.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
in astronomy, those which measure the of a beam of light which has been reflected from the surface of some liquid, generally mercury. Sometimes it is a beam from a heavenly body, as in sextant observations with an artificial horizon, or in measuring the reflected zenith distance of a star with a meridian circle in an observatory, and sometimes it is a beam of light, or rather the want of light, which makes the shadow of the wires of a transit or meridian circle from a lamp used in the nadir observations of an observatory.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
that which reflects, or throws back rays of light, heat, etc.; a reflecting surface. In optics, a device by which the rays proceeding from a luminous or heated object are thrown back or diverted in a given direction. The reflecting surface may be either plane or curved. In practice it is often made spherical or parabolic. A mirror ple of a plane reis a familiar example flector. The material should be as smooth and highly polished as possible. Sheet tin is frequently used for common purposes, as for door, hall, or vehicle lamps, while for other purposes a more perfectly reflecting surface is employed, such as speculum metal or silver protected by glass. Silver is the most perfectly reflecting substance known, absorbing but 9 per cent. of the incident rays, while speculum metal absorbs 37 per cent. Glass itself, owing to its property of totally reflecting incident rays at a low angle, is used in certain cases. Reflectors with parabolic surfaces are employed for throwing the light emanating from objects placed in their foci in parallel straight lines to a great distance, and for converging the heat rays from a distant object, as the sun, to a focus, and also, in connection with eye glasses, in the reflecting telescope, which is itself often simply denominated a reflector.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia