These 10 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Spenser, Sperm Oil, Sperm Whale.
EDMUND judge of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, from 1897 to 1903. He was a successful candidate for the United States Senate in 1905, and was elected in 1918 to fill the unexpired term of William J. Stone.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
EDMUND, one of the major English poets, born in London in 1552; educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. His parents were in moderate circumstances, and he owed his education to certain charitable foundations. EDMUND SPENSER His preparation for college was directed by Richard Mulcaster, one of the most famous schoolmasters of his time, who believed in educating not the mind alone, or the body alone, but "the whole man.' Spenser's knowledge of the classics was
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
EDMUND tions of the utmost subtlety and variation. At times the allegory is confusing to the lay reader, and the narrative seems inconsequent. It is not a poem that can be read continuously, but is rather for times and seasons. So read, one realizes the influence it has had on every great English poet since its publication. After his great success, Spenser collected some earlier poems in a small anthology, wrote a cha charming pastoral called "Colin Clout's Come Home Againe," in which he told of his London experiences and paid tribute to Raleigh, and continued his epic. The second section of the poem, containing books IV-VI appeared in 1596. A fragment consisting of two cantos of Mutability was not printed until after his death; the design was only half finished. Besides the works already named there are many shorter poems, chief among them two marriage hymns of enduring beauty, a sonnet sequence addressed to the lady whom he married in 1595, and four hymns in which he expressed in perfect verse the mystical and Platonic philosophy with which his name is inseparably linked. He died in London in 1599.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the oil of the spermaceti whale, which is separated from the spermaceti and the blubber (see SPERM- ACETI). This kind of oil is much purer than train oil, and burns away without leaving any charcoal on the wicks of lamps. In composition it differs but slightly from common whale oil.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
or CACHALOT, the Physeter macrocephalus, a species of cetacea belonging to the section of the whale order denominated "toothed" whales, generally met with in the Pacific, but occasionally also on the coast of Greenland. The large blunt head in an old male is sometimes thirty feet long, and forms about a third of the total length of the body; while the "blowholes" or S-shaped nostrils are situated in the front part of the head. The weight of an adult animal is estimated at about 200 tons, and in a male 66 feet long the flipper measured 5 feet 3 inches, and the two-lobed tail fin had a breadth of nearly 20 feet. The top of the back is continued almost in a straight line from the upper part of the head; the belly is enormous, but the body thins off toward the wide tail. The color is a blackish-gray, which may exhibit greenish or bluish hues on the upper parts. The teeth of the lower jaw average each about three inches in length. This whale is of considerable commercial value. See SPERMACETI.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
CHARLES STILLMAN, an American naval officer, born in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1847. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1866, and rising through the various grades, became a commander in 1894, captain in 1900, and rear-admiral in 1906. During the Spanish-American War he was on ordnance duty at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He served in the Philippines, in command of the Yorktown, in 1899, and took an active part in the campaign for the pacification of the islands. In 1903 he was appointed president of the Naval War College, and in 1907 was one of the American representatives at the Second Hague Conference. He was in command of the Second Squadron on the cruise of the American battleships around the world in 1908, was retired in 1909 and died in 1911.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
ELMER AMBROSE, an American electrical engineer, born at Cortland, N. Y., in 1860. He was educated at the State Normal and Training School, Cortland, N. Y., and at Cornell University. He was the founder of the Sperry Electric Co., of Chicago; of the Sperry Electric Railway Co., Cleveland, Ohio, and of the Sperry Gyroscope Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. An inventor of great originality, he held over four hundred patents issued in the United States and in Europe. Some of these covered his gyro-compass, aeroplane and ship stabilizers, fire-control apparatus, electric chain mining machinery, etc. He was a member of the Naval Consulting Board and of many scientific societies. His inventions brought him medals at exhibitions and from several scientific societies.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
The personification of Hope, was worshipped at Rome, where she had several temples. The Greeks also worshipped the personification of Hope, Elpis. Hope was represented in works of art as a youthful figure, lightly walking in full attire, holding in her right hand a flower, and with the left lifting up her garment. 2026 Editor's Note: Spes was a major state goddess in Rome, with numerous temples and a formal cult. Her Greek counterpart, Elpis , was not worshipped in a cult; she was a minor daimon (spirit) viewed with ambivalence by the Greeks. (Ed: BR 2026-07-06)
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
a Greek island at the entrance to the Gulf of Nauplia; area, 6½ square miles; pop. 6,899, engaged chiefly in commercial pursuits. The town of Spezzia has a good harbor.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
sfag'num, a sort of moss growing in bogs and moist places. The upper ends of the branches produce soft, feathery, lightish green branchlets. There are about twenty-five species in North America . They form the characteristic and chief vegetation of the peat bogs. The lower parts of the stems turn into peat while the upper parts continue to extend branches and multiply. New plants are propagated by means of spores also. The tiny, translucent leaves and stems are penetrated by water ducts that enable a bunch of the moss to hold water like a sponge. Sphagnum is accordingly a favorite material with the nurseryman, who employs it to pack around the roots of nursery stock in shipment. A sphagnum bog, even on high land and well ditched, holds water tenaciously. The dead moss packs down but so long as it is moist it is proof against decay. See Peat
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia