These 8 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Sun Bittern, Sunart, Sunbury.
in ornithology, the Eurypya helias, from the N. parts of South America. It is about 16 inches long; body small and thin, neck long and slender, head like that of a heron, with a long, powerful beak compressed at the sides and slightly arched at the culmen; the plumage is minutely variegated with bars and spots of many colors. It is often made a pet by the Brazilians, who call it pavaõ (=peacock), whence it is sometimes called the peacock heron.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a Chinese revolutionary leader, born in 1866, near Canton. When still young, he was taken by his parents to Hawaii, where he attended Iolani College. He later graduated from the Hongkong School of Medicine, and for a year practiced at Macao. Soon, however, he gave himself up to the project of driving the Manchu dynasty from China. He attempted a revolt in 1895, which failed, and he fled to Japan and later to Honolulu and San Francisco. He organized the Chinese living abroad in all countries into a reform association to aid the coming revolution. Although large rewards were offered by the government for his death, he escaped without harm. The revolution of 1911 was chiefly successful through the preparations made by him, and he was elected provisional president of the Chinese Republic. He resigned in 1912 in favor of Yuan Shih-kai, in order to induce the latter to join the Republican cause. He later incurred the hostility of Yuan and was obliged to retire to Japan. He continued to agitate for reforms in China and was largely responsible for the rebellions of 1913, 1915, and 1916.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
LOCH, an inlet in Scotland, in the W. of Argyleshire, opening into the Sound of Mull. It is about 20 miles long, and varies in breadth from less than 12 mile to 3 miles.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a borough and county-seat of Northumberland co., Pa., on the Susquehanna river, and on the Pennsylvania and the Philadel Philadelphia and Reading railroads; 56 miles N. of Harrisburg. It is an important shipping point for coal. It contains a court house, high school, and electric railroad, numerous churches, a National bank, and daily and weekly newspapers. It has door and sash mills, coffin and casket factory, hosiery mill, several large railroad shops, nail works, and silk, saw, and rolling mills. Pop. (1910) 13,770; (1920) 15,721.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
the name by which all the islands of the Malay Archipelago west of the Molucca and Banda Seas are known. The four large Sundas are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes, and the lesser Sundas are Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Timor, etc.; the name is derived from the Sundanese Malayan people of West Java.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
or SUNDARBANS, a vast tract of forest and swamp forming the most S. portion of the Gangetic delta, at the head of the Bay of Bengal; extreme length along the coast, about 165 miles; greatest breadth, 81 miles; and area, 7,532 square miles. The country is one vast alluvial plain where the continual process of landmaking has not yet ceased. It abounds in morasses and swamps, now gradually filling up, and is intersected by large rivers and estuaries running from N. to C. There is a reclaimed tract along the N. border devoted to the cultivation of rice. The unreclaimed portion near the sea consists of impenetrable jungle and thick underwood traversed by gloomy-looking water courses. The Sunderbunds abound in wild animals, including numerous tigers, leopards, rhinoceros, buffaloes, deer, monkeys, etc., Fish are plentiful, and the python, cobra, and other snakes, together with every description of birds and water fowls, are found.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a seaport and municipal and parliamentary borough of England, at the mouth of the Wear, county of Durham, 13 miles N. E. of Durham, and 12 miles S. E. of Newcastle. It is the largest town of Durham, and includes nearly the whole of three parishes - Sunderland, Bishopwearmouth, and Monkwearmouth. The town is for the most part new and well built. It has parks, a museum, a free library, a school of art, etc. The principal buildings include St. Peter's, an ancient parish church on the site of the monastery in which the Venerable Bede was educated, many other churches and chapels, two theaters, etc. The river is crossed by the famous cast-iron bridge of one arch (236 feet span), built in 1793 and since reconstructed and strengthened. The harbor with its docks covers 78 acres, and its entrance is formed by two stone piers with lighthouses. The staple trade interests of the place are shipping, the coal trade, and ship building, and there are also large factories for the making of marine engines, iron work, bottles, glass, earthenware, rope, etc. Coal is the chief export; the imports are chiefly timber and grain, with various raw materials and provisions, from the Baltic ports and Holland. Pop. (1919) 149,263.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
a device indicating the time of day by means of a shadow falling on a dial. The dial is usually a circular surface marked off with the hours like the face of a clock. The time or hour of the day is indicated by a shadow cast by means of a triangular finger; hence the expression, "the finger of time." This finger stands at the center; its index edge must be parallel to the earth's axis, that is to say, the finger must point toward the North Star . Sun dials are of use, of course, only when the sun shines and in the daytime. In its essentials this method of telling time differs in no important respect from a shadow cast by a church steeple, a tree, or a fence post by which the farmer and others engaged in outdoor employment are wont to note the dinner hour. The fact that the shadow cannot fail to advance with the progress of the sun has led to the proverbial expression, "as true as the dial to the sun." The Egyptian peasant constructs a sundial by thrusting a palm stem into the earth. This he surrounds with a rude circle of stones. George Washington's sundial at Mt. Vernon bears the truthful inscription, Horas non numero, nisi serenas, I record none but sunny hours. See Newton ; Clock ; North Star
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia