Whelk
hwelk, a shellfish, in appearance not unlike a large snail of the twisted species. It swims and clings to the rocks along the coasts of Europe. It is used for food as well as bait for fish. The whelk has a tongue like a file. With this it is able to bore a hole with mathematical precision in the shell of a mussel through which it sucks out the soft parts, all with an economical and skillful expenditure of labor equal to that with which a squirrel extracts the kernel of a nut. The whelk knows where and how to bore to get at the interior with least effort and to greatest advantage. One species of British whelk, for they are all related to the Phoenician murex or whelk yielding Tyrian purple, contains a drop of dye suitable for marking linen. Marks made with it in sunlight are at first light green, turning, on further ex-posure, to deep green, sea green, watchet-blue, and purplish-red. After washing in soapsuds the color intensifies once more into an indelible crimson that, once dried, cannot be washed out.
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Whetstone
hwet'ston, a stone used for sharpening edged tools. The distinction between a whetstone, a hone, an oilstone, and a scythe-stone is not clear. Since 1823 our scythe-stones have been made chiefly in Grafton County, New Hampshire . Our fine-grained oilstones are quarried near the Hot Springs of Arkansas. They are considered a deposited sediment of fine-grained quartz. The Arkansas oilstone is in demand in Europe. Mechanics consider it unsurpassed. Indiana produces a coarser oilstone of good quality. The American production of these stones amounts to about $200,000 a year. A high grade stone is obtained in Turkey. See Grindstone ; Sandstone
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Whewell
WILLIAM, an English philosopher; born in Lancaster, England, May 24, 1794; was graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1816; became fellow and tutor of his college; in 1828 was elected Professor of Mineralogy. In 1832 he resigned this chair for that of moral philosophy, which he held till 1855, when he became vicechancellor of the university. In 1841 he was nominated to the mastership of Trinity, and in this position he labored successfully to obtain for the natural and moral sciences a better recognized position among the studies of the university. He became fellow of the Royal Society in 1820, and was one of the first members of the British Association, of which he was president in 1841. Among Whewell's multifarious writings may be mentioned the Bridgewater treatise, "Astronomy and General Physics, considered with reference to Natural Theology" (1833); "History of the Inductive Sciences" (1837); "Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences" (1840); "History of Scientific Ideas; Elements of Morality, including Polity" (1845); "On Liberal Education in General; Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy in England" (1852); "Platonic Dialogues" (1859-1861); "Lectures on Political Economy" (1863). He died in Cambridge, March 6, 1866.
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Whey
. See Cheese
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Which God or Hero Are You?
Answer honestly. The gods can tell when you don't. Five questions, one verdict, straight from Olympus. Summoning the oracle…
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Whig
in English history, a term applied to the members of one of the great political parties in Great Britain. Originally it was a Scotch term, and appears to have been first used in Scotland in the reign of Charles I., and in England in that of Charles II. In United States history, the name Whig was first applied to the supporters of the cause of the colonies against the English king in the Revolutionary War. The name was doubtless applied to the opponents of the king, from the fact that in England the same name was applied to the opposers of the royal prerogative in the time of James II., who were ultimately successful in unseating that monarch. After the Revolution the name Whig disappeared from politics, and the people of the country divided into Federalists and Democrats. The party platform of both parties, being gradually altered to meet existing exigencies, the name Federalist was dropped and the term Whig again resuscitated and applied to the opponents of the Democratic party. This name was retained till the agitation of the slavery question induced the formation of a new party, advocating the abolition of slavery and com from the ranks of both the Democratic and Whig parties . To this new party the name Republican was applied, and composed of recruits after its formation the name Whig disappeared from American politics.
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Whigs
the name of a political party. The term is of uncertain derivation. It originated in Scotland, where it was applied to the peasantry who were opposed to the high-handed proceedings of the crown. Transferred to England it became the name of the political party that stood for parliamentary government and democratic tendencies in particular. At the time of the American Revolution, the English Whigs, led by William Pitt and Edmund Burke, maintained the justice of the American cause. The Tories may be described in brief as the party in favor of the royal authority. The terms Whigs and Tories were transferred to American soil. The American patriots called themselves Whigs. Those who opposed the Revolution were called Tories. In British politics, the Whigs were succeeded by the Liberal party, the Tories by the Conservative party. In American politics, the term Whigs was revived in 1834. A combination of Northern and Southern Whigs was formed under Adams and Clay in favor of a policy of internal improvements and what is known as a broad or loose construction of the Constitution. In other words, the Whigs believed in enlarging the scope of the national government. They elected Harrison and Tyler. Among the prominent leaders of the party were Clay, Webster, Choate, Seward, Weed, Greeley, Stevens, Toombs, Ewing, Giddings, and Corwin. In 1852 the Whigs were disrupted. The Northern Whigs became Free-Soilers and later Republicans; the Southern Whigs became known as the Southern Democrats.
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Whiskey Insurrection
the name given to a local outbreak occurring in opposition to the excise law addition to the general objections urged passed by Congress , March 3, 1791. In western Pennsylvania considered the against the measure , the inhabitants of tax an unfair discrimination against their region and raised an insurrection, causing President Washington to call out an army of 15,000 militia. This source on the part of the Government show of an unsuspected vigor and reforced the insurgents to disperse without bloodshed.
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