The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

Introduction

2008-08-07T08:00:00.001-07:00

Search for your terms in the box above to see if your interests have been uploaded. The Nuttall Encyclopaedia on this blog is currently under construction.

About the Encyclopaedia

The Reverend James Wood edited the Nuttall Encyclopaedia in 1907. It contains over 16,000 entries "and original articles on nearly all subjects discussed in larger encyclopaedias, and specially dealing with such as come under the categories of history, biography, geography, literature, philosophy, religion, science, and art". The entries are brief and helpful for a quick look at the topics covered."

The edition of the Nuttall Encyclopaedia posted on this blog is from the public domain.

ACRE, ST. JEAN D'

2008-08-07T07:59:00.002-07:00

ACRE, ST. JEAN D' (7), a strong place and seaport in Syria, at the foot of Mount Carmel, taken, at an enormous sacrifice of life, by Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur de Lion in 1191, held out against Bonaparte in 1799; its ancient name Ptolemaïs.

ACRASIA

2008-08-07T07:59:00.001-07:00

ACRASIA, an impersonation in Spenser's "Faërie Queen," of intemperance in the guise of a beautiful sorceress.

ACOUSTICS

2008-08-07T07:58:00.001-07:00

ACOUSTICS, the science of sound as it affects the ear, specially of the laws to be observed in the construction of halls so that people may distinctly hear in them.

ACORN-SHELLS

2008-08-07T07:57:00.004-07:00

ACORN-SHELLS, a crustacean attached to rocks on the sea-shore, described by Huxley as "fixed by its head," and "kicking its food into its mouth with its legs."

ACONITINE

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ACONITINE, a most virulent poison from aconite, and owing to thevery small quantity sufficient to cause death, is very difficult of detection when employed in taking away life.

ACONITE

2008-08-07T07:57:00.001-07:00

ACONITE, monk's-hood, a poisonous plant of the ranunculus order with a tapering root.

ACONCAGUA (ACONCA`GUA)

2008-08-07T07:56:00.001-07:00

ACONCA`GUA, the highest peak of the Andes, about 100 m. NE. of Valparaiso, 22,867 ft. high; recently ascended by a Swiss and a Scotchman, attendants of Fitzgerald's party.

ACOEMETÆ (ACOEMETAE)

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ACOEMETÆ, an order of monks in the 5th century who by turns kept up a divine service day and night.

ACNE

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ACNE, a skin disease showing hard reddish pimples; ACNE ROSACEA, a congestion of the skin of the nose and parts adjoining.

ACLINIC LINE

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ACLINIC LINE, the magnetic equator, along which the needle always remains horizontal.

ACLAND, SIR HENRY

2008-08-06T07:45:00.001-07:00

ACLAND, SIR HENRY, regius professor of medicine in Oxford, accompanied the Prince of Wales to America in 1860, the author of several works on medicine and educational subjects, one of Ruskin's old and tried friends (1815).

ACK`ERMANN, R.

2008-08-06T07:44:00.002-07:00

ACK`ERMANN, R., an enterprising publisher of illustrated works in the Strand, a native of Saxony (1764-1834).

A`CIS

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A`CIS, a Sicilian shepherd enamoured of Galatea, whom the Cyclops Polyphemus, out of jealousy, overwhelmed under a rock, from under which his blood has since flowed as a river.

A`CI-REA`LË

2008-08-06T07:43:00.002-07:00

A`CI-REA`LË (38), a seaport town in Sicily, at the foot of Mount Etna, in NE. of Catania, with mineral waters.

ACIERAGE

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ACIERAGE, coating a copper-plate with steel by voltaic electricity.

ACHROMATISM

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ACHROMATISM, transmission of light, undecomposed and free from colour, by means of a combination of dissimilar lenses of crown and flint glass, or by a single glass carefully prepared.

ACHIT`OPHEL

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ACHIT`OPHEL, name given by Dryden to the Earl of Shaftesbury of his time.

ACH`MET I.

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ACH`MET I., sultan of Turkey from 1603 to 1617; A. II., from 1691 to 1695; A. III., from 1703 to 1730, who gave asylum to Charles XII. of Sweden after his defeat by the Czar at Pultowa.

ACHMED PASHA

2008-08-06T07:41:00.001-07:00

ACHMED PASHA, a French adventurer, served in French army, condemned to death, fled, and served Austria; condemned to death a second time, pardoned, served under the sultan, was banished to the shores of the Black Sea (1675-1747).

ACHILLES TENDON

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ACHILLES TENDON, the great tendon of the heel, where Achilles was vulnerable.

ACHILLES OF GERMANY

2008-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

ACHILLES OF GERMANY, Albert, third elector of Brandenburg, "fiery, tough old gentleman, of formidable talent for fighting in his day; a very blazing, far-seen character," says Carlyle (1414-1486).

ACHIL`LES

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ACHIL`LES, the son of Peleus and Thetis, king of the Myrmidons, the most famous of the Greek heroes in the Trojan war, and whose wrath with the consequences of it forms the subject of the Iliad of Homer. He was invulnerable except in the heel, at the point where his mother held him as she dipt his body in the Styx to render him invulnerable.

External links:

Achilles - Wikipedia

ACHILLE`ID

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ACHILLE`ID, an unfinished poem of Statius.

ACH`ILL

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ACH`ILL, a rocky, boggy island, sparsely inhabited, off W. coast of Ireland, co. Mayo, with a bold headland 2222 ft. high.

ACH`ERY

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ACH`ERY, a learned French Benedictine of St. Maur (1609-1685).

ACH`ERON

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ACH`ERON, a river in the underworld; the name of several rivers in Greece more or less suggestive of it.

ACHENWALL

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ACHENWALL, a German economist, the founder of statistic science (1719-1772).

ACHEN

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ACHEN, an eminent German painter (1556-1621).

ACHELO`ÜS

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ACHELO`ÜS, a river in Greece, which rises in Mt. Pindus, and falls into the Ionian Sea; also the god of the river, the oldest of the sons of Oceanus, and the father of the Sirens.

ACHA`TES

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ACHA`TES, the attendant of Æneas in his wandering after the fall of Troy, remarkable for, and a perennial type of, fidelity.

ACHARD`, LOUIS AMÉDÉE

2008-08-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

ACHARD`, LOUIS AMÉDÉE, a prolific French novelist (1814-1876).

ACHARD

2008-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

ACHARD, a Prussian chemist, one of the first to manufacture sugar from beetroot (1753-1821).

External Links:

Franz Karl Achard - Wikipedia

ACHAI`A

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ACHAI`A, the N. district of the Peloponnesus, eventually the whole of it.

External Links:

Achaea - Wikipedia

ACHÆ`ANS

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ACHÆ`ANS, the common name of the Greeks in the heroic or Homeric period.

ACHÆAN LEAGUE

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ACHÆAN LEAGUE, a confederation of 12 towns in the Peloponnesus, formed especially against the influence of the Macedonians.

External Links:

Achaean League - Wikipedia
Achaean League - Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911

ACET`YLENE

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ACET`YLENE, a malodorous gaseous substance from the incomplete combustion of hydro-carbons.

External Links:

Acetylene - Wikipedia

ACETONE

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ACETONE, a highly inflammable liquid obtained generally by the dry distillation of acetates.

External Links:

Acetone - Wikipedia

ACETIC ACID

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ACETIC ACID, the pure acid of vinegar; the salts are called _acetates_.

External Links:

Acetic Acid (ethanoic acid) - Wikipedia

ACERRA

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ACERRA (14), an ancient city 9 m. NE. of Naples; is in an unhealthy district.

External Links:

Acerra - Wikipedia

ACCUMULATOR

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ACCUMULATOR, a hydraulic press for storing up water at a high pressure; also a device for storing up electric energy.

External Links:

Hydraulic Accumulator - Wikipedia

ACCUM, FRIEDRICH

2008-06-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

ACCUM, FRIEDRICH, a German chemist, the first promoter of gas-lighting (1769-1838).

External Links:

Friedrich Accum - Wikipedia

ACCRINGTON

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ACCRINGTON (39), a manufacturing town 22 m. N. of Manchester.

External Links:

Accrington - Wikipedia

ACCRA

2008-06-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

ACCRA (16), capital and chief port in British Gold Coast colony.

External Links:

Accra - Wikipedia

ACCOR`SO

2008-05-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

ACCOR`SO, the name of a Florentine family, of 12th and 13th centuries, great in jurisprudence.

ACCOL`TI

2008-05-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

ACCOL`TI, a Tuscan family, of 15th century, famous for their learning.

External Links:

Accolti - Wikipedia

ACCOLADE

2008-05-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

ACCOLADE, a gentle blow with a sword on the shoulder in conferring knighthood.

External Links:

Accolade - Wikipedia
Accolade - Merriam Webster Online

ACCIAIOLI

2008-05-24T06:03:00.000-07:00

ACCIAIOLI, a Florentine family of 15th century, illustrious in scholarship and war.

External Links:

Acciaioli - Wikipedia

ACCA-LAURENTIA

2008-05-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

ACCA-LAURENTIA, the wife of Faustulus, shepherd of Numitor, who saved the lives of Romulus and Remus.

External Links:

Acca-Laurentia - Wikipedia
Acca Laurentia - Roman Myth Index
Acca Laurentia - The Free Dictionary by Fairfax

ACCA`DIANS

2008-05-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

ACCA`DIANS, a dark, thick-lipped, short-statured Mongol race in Central Asia, displaced by the Babylonians and Assyrians, who were Semitic.

External Links:

Accadians - Wikipedia

ACARNA`NIA

2008-05-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

ACARNA`NIA, a province of Greece N. of Gulf of Corinth; its pop. once addicted to piracy.
External Links:

Acarnania - Wikipedia

ACAPUL`CO

2008-05-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

ACAPUL`CO, a Mexican port in the Pacific, harbour commodious, but climate unhealthy.

External Links:

Acapulco - Wikipedia

ACANTHUS

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ACANTHUS, a leaf-like ornament on the capitals of the columns of certain orders of architecture.

External Links:

Acanthus - Wikipedia

ACADIA

2008-05-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

ACADIA, the French name for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

External Links:

Acadia - Wikipedia

ACADEMY

2008-05-23T19:33:00.001-07:00

ACADEMY, a public shady park or place of groves near Athens, where Plato taught his philosophy and whence his school derived its name, of which there are three branches, the _Old_, the _Middle_, and the _New_,represented respectively by Plato himself, Arcesilaos, and Carneades. The_French Academy_, of forty members, was founded by Richelieu in 1635, and is charged with the interests of the French language and literature, and in particular with the duty of compiling an authoritative dictionary of the French language. Besides these, there are in France other four with a like limited membership in the interest of other departments of science and art, all now associated in the _Institute of France_, which consists in all of 229 members. There are similar institutions in other states of Europe, all of greater or less note.

ACACIA

2008-05-23T19:28:00.002-07:00

ACACIA, a large group of trees with astringent and gum-yielding properties, natives of tropical Africa and Australia.

External Links:

Acacia - Wikipedia

ABYSSIN`IA

2008-05-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

ABYSSIN`IA, a mountainous country SE. of Nubia, with an area of 200,000 sq. m., made up of independent states, and a mixed population of some four millions, the Abyssinians proper being of the Semite stock. It is practically under the protectorate of Italy.

External Links:

Abyssinia (Ethiopia) - Wikipedia

ABY`DOS

2008-05-11T17:37:00.002-07:00

ABY`DOS, a town on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont, famous as the home of Leander, who swam the Hellespont every night to visit Hero in Sestos, and as the spot where Xerxes built his bridge of boats to cross into Europe in 480 B.C.; also a place of note in Upper Egypt.

ABU-THA`LEB

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ABU-THA`LEB, uncle of Mahomet, and his protector against the plots of his enemies the Koreish.

ABUL-FEDA

2008-05-11T17:36:00.001-07:00

ABUL-FEDA, a Moslem prince of Hamat in Syria, who in his youth took part against the Crusaders, and wrote historical works in Arabic (1273-1331).

ABUL-FAZEL

2008-05-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

ABUL-FAZEL, the vizier of the great Mogul emperor Akbar, and who wrote an account of his reign and of the Mogul empire; he was assassinated in 1604.

A`BUL-FARAJ

2008-05-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

A`BUL-FARAJ, a learned Armenian Jew, who became bishop of Aleppo, and wrote a history of the world from Adam onwards (1226-1286).

AB`U-KLEA

2008-05-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

AB`U-KLEA, in the Soudan, where the Mahdi's forces were defeated by Sir H. Stewart in 1885.

AB`UBEKR

2008-05-11T17:32:00.002-07:00

AB`UBEKR, as the father of Ayesha, the father-in-law of Mahomet, the first of the caliphs and the founder of the Sunnites; _d_. 634.

ABU

2008-05-11T17:32:00.001-07:00

ABU, a mountain (6000 ft.) in Rajputana, with a footprint of Vishnu on the top, and two marble temples half-way up, held sacred by the Jains.

ABT, FRANZ

2008-05-11T17:31:00.001-07:00

ABT, FRANZ, a German composer of song-music (1819-1885).

ABSYRTUS

2008-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

ABSYRTUS, a brother of Medea, whom she cut in pieces as she fled with Jason, pursued by her father, throwing his bones behind her to detain her father in his pursuit of her by stopping to pick them up.

ABSOLUTE, THE

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ABSOLUTE, THE, the philosophical name for the uncreated Creator, or creating cause of all things, dependent on nothing external to itself.

ABSALOM

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ABSALOM, a son of David, who rebelled against his father, and at whose death David gave vent to a bitter wail of grief. A name given by Dryden to the Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II.

ABRUZ`ZI

2008-05-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

ABRUZ`ZI, a highland district in the Apennines, with a pop. of 100,000.

ABRAXAS STONES

2008-05-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

ABRAXAS STONES, stones with cabalistic figures on them used as talismans.

ABRAN`TES

2008-05-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

ABRAN`TES, a town in Portugal, on the Tagus; taken by Marshal Junot, 1807, and giving the title of Duke to him.

ABRAHAM-MEN

2008-05-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

ABRAHAM-MEN, a class of lunatics allowed out of restraint, at one time, to roam about and beg; a set of impostors who wandered about the country affecting lunacy.

ABRAHAM, THE PLAINS OF

2008-05-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

ABRAHAM, THE PLAINS OF, a plain near Quebec.

ABRAHAM

2008-05-10T17:05:00.001-07:00

ABRAHAM, the Hebrew patriarch, ancestor of the Jews, the very type of an Eastern pastoral chief at once by his dignified character and simple faith.
External Links:

Abraham - Wikipedia

ABOUT, EDMOND

2008-05-10T17:04:00.003-07:00

ABOUT, EDMOND, spirited French littérateur and journalist (1828-1885).

ABOU`KIR

2008-05-10T17:04:00.001-07:00

ABOU`KIR, village near Alexandria, in Egypt, on the bay near which Nelson destroyed the French fleet in 1799; where Napoleon beat the Turks, 1799; and where Abercrombie fell, 1801.

AB`OMEY

2008-05-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

AB`OMEY, the capital of Dahomey, in W. Africa.

ABO

2008-05-10T17:00:00.002-07:00

ABO, the old capital of Finland and seat of the government, on the Gulf of Bothnia.

External Links:

Turku - Wikipedia

ABNER

2008-05-10T17:00:00.001-07:00

ABNER, a Hebrew general under Saul; assassinated by Joab.

ABLE MAN

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ABLE MAN, man with "a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute" (Gibbon).

ABIPONES

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ABIPONES, a once powerful warlike race in La Plata, now nearly all absorbed.

ABIOGENESIS

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ABIOGENESIS, the doctrine of spontaneous generation.

ABINGDON

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ABINGDON (6), a borough in Berks, 6 m. S. of Oxford.

ABICH, W. H.

2008-05-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

ABICH, W. H., a German mineralogist and traveller (1806-1886).

External Links:

Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich - Wikipedia

ABIGAIL

2008-05-10T16:48:00.001-07:00

ABIGAIL, the widow of Nabal, espoused by David.

ABHORRERS

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ABHORRERS, the Royalist and High Church party in England under Charles II., so called from their abhorrence of the principles of their opponents.

AB`GAR XIV.

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AB`GAR XIV., a king of Edessa, one of a dynasty of the name, a contemporary of Jesus Christ, and said to have corresponded with Him.
External Links:

Ab'gar XIV - Wikipedia

ABERYST`WITH

2008-05-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

ABERYST`WITH (16), a town and seaport in Cardiganshire, Wales, with a university.

ABERRATION OF LIGHT

2008-05-09T18:49:00.001-07:00

ABERRATION OF LIGHT, an apparent motion in a star due to the earth's motion and the progressive motion of light.

ABERNETHY

2008-05-09T18:47:00.000-07:00

ABERNETHY, a small burgh in S. Perthshire, with a Pictish round tower, and once the capital of the Pictish kingdom.

ABERDEENSHIRE

2008-05-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

ABERDEENSHIRE (281), a large county in NE. of Scotland; mountainous in SW., lowland N. and E.; famed for its granite quarries, its fisheries, and its breed of cattle.
External Links

Aberdeenshire - Wikipedia

ABERDEEN, EARL OF

2008-05-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

ABERDEEN, EARL OF, a shrewd English statesman, Prime Minister of England during the Crimean war (1784-1860).--Grandson of the preceding, Gov.-Gen. of Canada; _b_. 1847.

ABERDEEN

2008-05-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

ABERDEEN (124), the fourth city in Scotland, on the E. coast,between the mouths of the Dee and Don; built of grey granite, with many fine public edifices, a flourishing university, a large trade, and thriving manufactures. Old Aberdeen, on the Don, now incorporated in the municipality, is the seat of a cathedral church, and of King's College, founded in 1404, united with the university in the new town.

External Links:

Aberdeen - Wikipedia

ABERCROMBIE, SIR RALPH

2008-05-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

ABERCROMBIE, SIR RALPH, a distinguished British general of Scottish birth, who fell in Egypt after defeating the French at Aboukir Bay (1731-1801).
External Links:

Ralph Abercrombie - Wikipedia

ABERA`VON

2008-05-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

ABERA`VON (6), a town and seaport in Glamorganshire, with copper and iron works.

External links:

Aberavon - Wikipedia

ABEN-EZ`RA

2008-05-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

ABEN-EZ`RA, a learned Spanish Jew and commentator on the Hebrew scriptures (1090-1168).

External Links:

Abraham ibn Ezra - Wikipedia

ABENCERRA`GES

2008-05-08T18:50:00.002-07:00

ABENCERRA`GES, a powerful Moorish tribe in Grenada, whose fate in the 15th century has been the subject of interesting romance.

ABELLI

2008-05-08T18:50:00.001-07:00

ABELLI, a Dominican monk, the confessor of Catharine de Medici (1603-1691).

AB`ELARD, PETER

2008-05-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

AB`ELARD, PETER, a theologian and scholastic philosopher of French birth, renowned for his dialectic ability, his learning, his passion for Héloïse, and his misfortunes; made conceivability the test of credibility, and was a great teacher in his day (1079-1142).

External Links:

Peter Abelard - Wikipedia