Spring
Spring names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Spring an elastic substance of any kind
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an elastic substance of any kind, having the power of recovering, by its elasticity, its natural state, after being bent or otherwise forced, inter between two objects in order posed to motion or permit them impart or check relatively to each other. Also, to yield one of the four seasons of the year; that season in which plants begin to spring In the and vegetate; the vernal season. Northern Hemisphere the spring season enbegins about March 21, when the sun ters the sign of Aries and ends about sol- June 22, at the time of the summer stice. Popularly, however, spring is considered to begin in February or March, and end in April or May. As a nautical term: (1) A crack in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely. (2) A rope or hawser passed from the stern of a ship and made fast to the cable on the anchor from the bow, by which she is riding. The object is any to bring the broadside to bear in direction. (3) A check on a cable while unshackling it. (4) A rope extending diagonally from the stern of one ship to the head of another, to make one ship sheer off to a greater distance. In physical geography and geology, an overflow of water or other liquid. When rain falls on a porous soil it is rapidly absorbed, the surface of the soil being soon dry again. Meanwhile the water has percolated downward till it has, at a greater or less depth, been intercepted by an impervious stratum, where it gradually forms a reservoir. It then presses with great force laterally, and a system of subterranean drainage is established. If the reservoir be on an elevation and a boring be made on a lower level to any of the branches leading from it, the water will rise in the bore to the surface and shoot up into the air to a height proportional to the pressure from the reservoir, as an artesian well, which is akin to a spring. Springs are of two kinds, land and perennial springs, the former existing where there is a porous soil with an impervious subsoil, the latter deriving their waters from deeper sources. Perennial springs include thermal springs and geysers. Sometimes springs contain much earthy material; thus there are calcareous, sulphurous and gypseous, siliceous, ferruginous, saline, carbonated and petroleum springs. They are then called mineral springs.
Spring a current of water issuing from the ground
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a current of water issuing from the ground. Springs originate from surface water as rain or snow. The water soaks through the ground until it comes to a layer of rock or impervious earth. This it follows along until it comes to an outlet as at the foot of some cliff. Sometimes the source of a spring must be sought in mountains or uplands a thousand miles away. The mountains of New England and the Appalachian region generally are noted for delightful springs of fresh, cool water. In their underground journey, spring waters absorb mineral elements from the earth. If strongly impregnated, they are known as mineral springs. Saline springs contain salt; sulphur springs, compounds of sulphur; chalybeate springs, iron; calcareous springs are hard with limewater, and so on. Springs that flow only at intervals are known as intermittent. Their sources are usually near by. They are dependent on seasons of rainfall. An artesian well may be regarded as an artificial spring formed by piercing an overlying layer of rock or earth so as to permit the outflow of water. When the waters pass over hot rocks they form hot springs . See Yellowstone Park; Geyser ; Spa ; Waters ; Mineral; Aix-La-Chapelle ; Baden ; Hot Springs ; Florida
Spring the season of the year which follows winter and precedes summer
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the season of the year which follows winter and precedes summer. Astronomically, spring extends from March 21 to June 21. Industrially, it is the season of planting. Children rejoice in the spring, the season of the first flowers, of lambs, nestlings, and young animals. Older people rejoice in the autumn, the season of harvests and fruits. In case of a late, cool spring it is said that "winter lingers in the lap of spring." In Australia, New Zealand , South Africa, Argentina, and other countries of the southern hemisphere , spring comes at the season corresponding to the northern autumn. See Seasons
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's (1921) and Aiton's (1910) description of how rain percolates to an impervious layer and re-emerges as a spring is still essentially how the process is taught, though the modern vocabulary of aquifers, water tables and recharge zones has replaced talk of underground "reservoirs" pressing laterally, and isotope and tracer studies now let hydrologists identify a spring's actual catchment rather than guessing, as Aiton's did, that a source "must be sought in mountains or uplands a thousand miles away." What Aiton's could not foresee is that heavy pumping of groundwater would reduce or stop the flow of many celebrated springs, including some in the Florida karst it cites. On the season, meteorologists now commonly use fixed months (1 March to 31 May in the Northern Hemisphere) alongside the astronomical dates given here, and long-term phenological records show spring events such as leaf-out and first flowering arriving noticeably earlier than they did in 1910 as the climate has warmed.
Written for this edition, 2026.