These 13 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Sphalerite, Spheroid, Sphex.
or ZINC BLENDE, Native Zinc Sulphide. Also known as Blende and Black Jack, the iron which it usually contains giving it a black color. It is an important ore of zinc, containing approximately 67 per cent. of the metal. It is very widely distributed.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
in geometry, a solid, resembling a sphere in form, and generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes. If an ellipse be revolved about its transverse axis, the spheroid generated is called a prolate spheroid; if it be revolved about its conjugate axis, the spheroid generated is called an oblate spheroid. The earth is an oblate spheroid that is, flattened at the poles so that its polar is less than its equatorial diameter.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a genus of hymenopterous insects of the family Sphegida, closely allied to the true wasps. The sphex wasps are solitary in habit, and there are no workers as in the social forms. The female hollows out, at the end of a long passage, three or four chambers, in each of which she deposits an egg and a store of food for the larva she will never see. The food consists of grasshoppers or other insects, and Fabre gives a minute account of the way in which the sphex attacks her victim, and, after a long and violent struggle, throws it on its back and stings it in the neck and between the thorax and abdomen, each time piercing a ganglion. The intherefore not liable to putrefaction, is then dragged to the mouth of the nest, where it is relinquished for a short time while the wasp enters alone to see that all is right. So automatic is this habit of reconnoitering that if the grasshopper be removed a little distance the wasp drags it back to the same spot and again enters alone. This was tested by the ob-- server 40 times in succession, and each time the wasp paid her preliminary visit of inspection. Four paralyzed insects are placed in each chamber, which is sealed up as it is finished. When all are full the mouth of the passage is also closed, and the nest is abandoned.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the Cynocephalus sphinx, a large species from the west of Africa. They are good-tempered and playful when young, but become morose and fierce as they grow older. They bear confinement well, and are common in menageries.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a species of moth belonging to the family Sphingidae, and deriving its popular supposed resemblance name from a which its caterpillars present when they raise the fore part of their bodies to the "sphinx" of Egyptian celebrity. The sphinx moth is common in some parts of the United States. SPICE ISLANDS. See MOLUCCAS.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a general name for a number of aromatic and pungent vegetable substances used for flavoring. They are produced almost exclusively in tropical countries. Most of our spices come from the East Indies and the West Indies . Their aroma and strength lie in essential oils which they contain. The seed, fruit, buds, bark, and root-stocks of various plants are used as spices. See special articles on ALLSPICE; CASSIA; CAYENNE PEPPER; CINNAMON; CLOVES; GINGER; MACE; NUTMEG; PIMENTO; PEPPER; OIL; PERFUME, etc. Nutmeg. Spice
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
or Moluccas, a group of islands situated in the Malay Archipelago between Celebes and New Guinea . The surface is mountainous. The islands are celebrated for the production of cloves and nutmegs. The islands were discovered and exploited by the Portuguese, but have belonged to the Dutch for three centuries. Area, 43,864 square miles. Population, 400,000.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
aromatic and pungent vegetable substances used as condiments and for flavoring food. They are almost exclusively the productions of tropical countries. In ancient times and throughout the Middle Ages all the spices known in Europe were brought from the East; and Arabia was regarded as the land of spices, but rather because they came through it or were brought by its merchants than because they were produced in it, for they were really derived from farther E. They owe their aroma and pungency chiefly to essential oils which they contain. They are yielded by different parts of plants; some, as pepper, cayenne pepper, pimento, nutmeg, mace, and vanilla, being the fruit or particular parts of the fruit; while some, as ginger, are the root stock; and others, as cinnamon and cassia, are the bark. Tropical America produces some of the spices, being the native region of cayenne pepper, pimento, and vanilla; but the greater number are from the East.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a genus of dipterous insects, chiefly allied to the forest fly. The genus are parasitical on
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a general name applied to many species of platyrhine or New World monkeys, but more especially to the members of the genus Ateles, which are distinguished by the great relative length, slenderness, and flexibility of their limbs, and by the prehensile power of their tails. A familiar SPIDER MONKEY species is the chameck (A. Chameck), which occurs abundantly in Brazil. The body is about 20 inches, the tail 2 feet long, and the color is a general black. The coaita (A. paniscus), another typical species, has an average length of 12 inches; the tail measures over 2 feet long, and the fur is of a glossy black hue.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the common name of plants of the genus Tradescantia, one species of which, T. virginica, is cultivated in gardens.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Writing written backwards, from right to left, so as to be read in a mirror. Automatic writing is frequently done in this way, and it is said that the ability to produce spiegelschrift is often found where there is a natural tendency to automatism. Spirit in Theosophy , is the monad after he has manifested himself in the Spiritual, Intuitional and Mental Worlds in the aspects of Will, Intuition and Intellect respectively, but the term is often used to denote the monad in the aspect of Will only. (See Monad and also the various articles on these Worlds.)
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
FRIEDRICH birds, never on quadrupeds. O. avicularia frequently infests the common fowl, the SPIDER FLY blackcock, and other birds. It is greenish-yellow, with smoke-colored wings.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia