OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Attwood, Thomas (political reformer)

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​ATTWOOD, THOMAS (1783–1856), English political reformer, was born at Halesowen, Worcestershire, on the 6th of October 1783. In 1800 he entered his father’s banking business in Birmingham, where he was elected high bailiff in 1811. He took a leading part in the public life of the city, and became very popular with the artisan class. He is now remembered for his share in the movement which led to the carrying of the Reform Act of 1832. He was one of the founders, in January 1830, of the Political Union, branches of which were soon formed throughout England. Under his leadership vast crowds of working-men met periodically in the neighbourhood of Birmingham to demonstrate in favour of reform of the franchise, and Attwood used his power over the multitude to repress any action on their part which might savour of illegality. His successful exertions in favour of reform made him a popular hero all over the country, and he was presented with the freedom of the city of London. After the passing of the Reform Act in 1832 he was elected one of the members for the new borough of Birmingham, for which he sat till 1839. He failed in the House of Commons to maintain the reputation which he had made outside it, for in addition to an eager partisanship in favour of every ultra-democratic movement, he was wearisomely persistent in advocating his peculiar monetary theory. This theory, which became with him a monomania, was that the existing currency should be rectified in favour of state-regulated and inconvertible paper-money, and the adoption of a system for altering the standard of value as prices fluctuated. His waning influence with his constituents led him to retire from parliament in 1837, and, though invited to re-enter political life in 1843, he had by that time become a thoroughly spent force. He died at Great Malvern on the 6th of March 1856.
His grandson, C. M. Wakefield, wrote his life “for private circulation” (there is a copy in the British Museum), and his economic theories are set forth in a little book, Gemini, by T. B. Wright and J. Harlow, published in 1844.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Attrition

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​ATTRITION (Lat. attritio, formed from atterere, to rub away), a rubbing away; a term used in pathology and geology. Theologians have also distinguished “attrition” from “contrition” in the matter of sin, as an imperfect stage in the process of repentance; attrition being due to servile fear of the consequences of sin, contrition to filial fear of God and hatred of sin for His sake. It has been held among the Roman Catholics that in the sacrament of penance attrition becomes contrition.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Atwood, George

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​ATWOOD, GEORGE (1746–1807), English mathematician, was born in the early part of the year 1746. He entered Westminster school, and in 1759 was elected to a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1769, with the rank of third wrangler and first Smith’s prizeman. Subsequently he became a fellow and a tutor of the college, and in 1776 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. In the year 1784 he left Cambridge, and soon afterwards received from William Pitt the office of a patent searcher of the customs, which required but little attendance, and enabled him to devote a considerable portion of his time to his special studies. He died in July 1807. Atwood’s published works, exclusive of papers contributed to the Philosophical Transactions, for one of which he obtained the Copley medal, are as follows:—Analysis of a Course of Lectures on the Principles of Natural Philosophy (Cambridge, 1784); Treatise on the Rectilinear Motion and Rotation of Bodies (Cambridge, 1784), which gives some interesting experiments, by means of which mechanical truths can be ocularly exhibited and demonstrated, and describes the machine, since called by Atwood’s name, for verifying experimentally the laws of simple acceleration of motion; Review of the Statutes and Ordinances of Assize which have been established in England from the 4th year of King John, 1202, to the 37th of his present Majesty (London, 1801), a work of some historical research; Dissertation on the Construction and Properties of Arches (London, 1801), with supplement, pt. i., 1801, pt. ii., 1804, an elaborate work, now completely superseded.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ambulatory

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​AMBULATORY (Med. Lat. ambulatorium, a place for walking, from ambulare, to walk), the covered passage round a cloister; a term applied sometimes to the procession way round the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amentiferae

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​AMENTIFERAE, or Amentaceae, a name which has been used to include in one class several natural orders of plants which bear their flowers in catkins (amenta). They are trees and shrubs chiefly of temperate climates, and include many common British trees. It comprised the following orders:—Salicaceae, willows and poplars; Corylaceae, hazel, hornbeam; Betulaceae, birch, alder; Fagaceae, oak, beech, chestnut; Casuarinaceae, Casuarina (beefwood); Platanaceae, plane; Juglandaceae, walnut; Myricaceae, bog myrtle. This class is not retained in the most modern systems of classification.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amercement

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​AMERCEMENT, or Amerciament (derived, through the Fr. à merci, from Lat. merces, pay), in English law, an arbitrary pecuniary penalty, inflicted in old days on an offender by the peers or equals of the party amerced. The word has in modern times become practically a poetical synonym for fine or deprivation. But an amercement differed from a fixed fine, prescribed by statute, by reason of its arbitrary nature; it represented a commutation of a sentence of forfeiture of goods, while a fine was originally a composition agreed upon between the judge and the prisoner to avoid imprisonment. The fixing or assessment of an amercement was termed an affeerment. In the lower courts the amercement was offered by a jury of the offender’s neighbours (affeerors); in the superior courts by the coroner, except in the case of officers of the court, when the amount was affeered by the judges themselves. All judgments were entered on the court roll as “in mercy” (sit in misericordia), and the word misericordia, or some contracted form of it, was written on the margin. Articles twenty to twenty-two of Magna Carta regulated the assessment of amercements.
See Stephen, History of Criminal Law; Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law; W. S. McKechnie, Magna Carta (1905).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ambush

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​AMBUSH (older form, “embush,” O. Fr. embusche, from the Ital. imboscata, in and bosco, a wood), the hiding of troops, primarily in a wood, and so any concealment for the purpose of a sudden attack.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amedeo Ferdinando Maria di Savoia

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​AMEDEO FERDINANDO MARIA DI SAVOIA, duke of Aosta (1845–1890), third son of Victor Emmanuel II., king of Italy, and of Adelaide, archduchess of Austria, was born at Turin on the 30th of May 1845. Entering the army as captain in 1859 he fought through the campaign of 1866 with the rank of major-general, leading his brigade into action at Custozza and being wounded at Monte Torre. In May 1867 he married the princess Maria Carlotta del Pozzo della Cisterna. In 1868 he was created vice-admiral of the Italian navy, but, two years later, left Italy to ascend the Spanish throne, his reluctance to accept the invitation of the Cortes having been overridden by the Italian cabinet. On the 16th of November 1870 he was proclaimed king of Spain by the Cortes; but, before he could arrive at Madrid, Marshal Prim, chief promoter of his candidature, was assassinated. Undeterred by rumours of a plot against his own life, Amedeo entered Madrid alone, riding at some distance from his suite to the church where Marshal Prim’s body lay in state. His efforts as constitutional king were paralysed by the rivalry between the various Spanish factions, but with the approval of his father he rejected all idea of a coup d’état. Though warned of a plot against his life (August 18, 1872) he refused to take precautions, and, while returning from Buen Retiro to Madrid in company with the queen, was repeatedly shot at in Via Avenal. The royal carriage was struck by several revolver and rifle bullets, the horses wounded, but its occupants escaped unhurt. A period of calm followed the outrage. On the 11th of February 1873, however, Amedeo, abandoned by his partisans and attacked more fiercely than ever by his opponents, signed his abdication. Upon returning to Italy he was cordially welcomed and reinstated in his former position. His consort, whose health had been undermined by anxiety in Spain, died on the 3rd of November 1876. Not until the 11th of September 1888 did Amedeo contract his second marriage, with his niece Princess Letitia Bonaparte. Less than two years later (January 18, 1890) he died at Turin in the arms of his elder brother, King Humbert I., leaving four children—the duke of Aosta, the count of Turin, the duke of the Abruzzi (issue of his first marriage), and the count of Salemi. (H. W. S.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amen

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​AMEN, a Hebrew word, of which the root meaning is “stability,” generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding formula for prayers and hymns. Three distinct biblical usages may be noted. (a) Initial Amen, referring back to words of another speaker, e.g. 1 Kings i. 36; Rev. xxii. 20. (b) Detached Amen, the complementary sentence being suppressed, e.g. Neh. v. 13; Rev. v. 14 (cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 16). (c) Final Amen, with no change of speaker, as in the subscription to the first three divisions of the Psalter and in the frequent doxologies of the New Testament Epistles. The uses of amen (“verily”) in the Gospels form a peculiar class; they are initial, but often lack any backward reference. Jesus used the word to affirm his own utterances, not those of another person, and this usage was adopted by the church. The liturgical use of the word in apostolic times is attested by the passage from 1 Cor. cited above, and Justin Martyr (c. A.D. 150) describes the congregation as responding “amen” to the benediction after the celebration of the Eucharist. Its introduction into the baptismal formula (in the Greek Church it is pronounced after the name of each person of the Trinity) is probably later. Among certain Gnostic sects Amen became the name of an angel, and in post-biblical Jewish works exaggerated statements are multiplied as to the right method and the bliss of pronouncing it. It is still used in the service of the synagogue, and the Mahommedans not only add it after reciting the first Sura of the Koran, but also when writing letters, &c., and repeat it three times, often with the word Qimtīr, as a kind of talisman.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ameria

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​AMERIA (mod. Amelia), a city of Umbria, situated about 65 m. N. of Rome on the Via Amerina (which approached it from the S. starting from Falerii and passing through Castellum Amerinum, probably mod. Orte, where it crossed the Tiber). It has a fine position, 1332 ft. above sea-level, and still retains considerable remains of the city wall, built in polygonal masonry of carefully jointed blocks of limestone, some 12 ft. in total thickness, and showing traces of reconstruction at different periods. Various remains of the Roman period exist between the walls, including a large water reservoir divided into ten chambers. The lofty campanile of the cathedral was erected in 1050 with fragments of Roman buildings. Ameria is not mentioned in the history of the Roman conquest of Umbria, but is alluded to as a flourishing place, with a fertile territory extending to the Tiber, by Cicero in his speech in defence of Sextus Roscius Amerinus, and its fruit is often extolled by Roman writers. Augustus divided its lands among his veterans, but did not plant a colony here. The bishopric of Ameria was founded in the middle of the 4th century.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amelot de la Houssaye, Abraham Nicolas

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​AMELOT DE LA HOUSSAYE, ABRAHAM NICOLAS (1634–1706), French historian and publicist, was born at Orleans in February 1634, and died at Paris on the 8th of December 1706. Little is known of his personal history beyond the fact that he was secretary to an embassy from the French court to the republic of Venice. In his Histoire du gouvernement de Venise he undertook to explain, and above all to criticize, the administration of that republic, and to expose the causes of its decadence. The work was printed by the king’s printer and dedicated to Louvois, which points to the probability that the government did not disapprove of it. It appeared in March 1676, and provoked a warm protest from the Venetian ambassador, Giustiniani. The author was sent to the Bastille, where he remained, however, only six weeks (Archives de la Bastille, vol. viii. pp. 93 and 94). A second edition with a supplement, published immediately after, drew forth fresh protestations, and the edition was suppressed. This persecution gave the book an extraordinary vogue, and it passed through twenty-two editions in three years, besides being translated into several languages; there is an English translation by Lord Falconbridge, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. Amelot next published in 1683 a translation of Fra Paolo Sarpi’s History of the Council of Trent. This work, and especially certain notes added by the translator, gave great offence to the advocates of unlimited papal authority, and three separate memorials were presented asking for its repression. Under the pseudonym of La Motte Josseval, Amelot subsequently published a Discours politique sur Tacite, in which he analysed the character of Tiberius.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Amendment

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​AMENDMENT (through the O. Fr. amender, to correct, from Lat. mendum, a fault), an improvement, correction or alteration (nominally at least) for the better. The word is used either of moral character or, more especially, in connexion with “amending” a bill or motion in parliament or resolution at a meeting; and in law it signifies the correction of any defect or error in the record of a civil action or on a criminal indictment. All written constitutions also usually contain a clause providing for the method by which they may be amended. Another noun, in the plural form of “amends,” is restricted in its meaning to that of the penalty paid for a fault or wrong committed. In its French form the amende, or amende honorable, once a public confession and apology when the offender passed to the seat of justice barefoot and bareheaded, now signifies in the English phrase a spontaneous and satisfactory rectification of an error.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archias, Aulus Licinius

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​ARCHIAS, AULUS LICINIUS, Greek poet, was born at Antioch in Syria 120 B.C. In 102, his reputation having been already established, especially as an improvisatore, he came to Rome, where he was well received amongst the highest and most influential families. His chief patron was Lucullus, whose gentile name he assumed. In 93 he visited Sicily with his patron, on which occasion he received the citizenship of Heracleia, one of the federate towns, and indirectly, by the provisions of the lex Plautia Papiria, that of Rome. In 61 he was accused by a certain Gratius of having assumed the citizenship illegally; and Cicero successfully defended him in his speech Pro Archia. This speech, which furnishes nearly all the information concerning Archias, states that he had celebrated the deeds of Marius and Lucullus in the Cimbrian and Mithradatic wars, and that he was engaged upon a poem of which the events of Cicero’s consulship formed the subject. The Greek Anthology contains thirty-five epigrams under the name of Archias, but it is doubtful how many of these (if any) are the work of the poet of Antioch.
Cicero, Pro Archia; T. Reinach, De Archia Poeta (1890).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archil

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​ARCHIL (a corruption of “orchil,” Ital. oricello, the origin of which is unknown), a purple dye obtained from various species of lichens. Archil can be extracted from many species of the genera Roccella, Lecanora, Umbilicaria, Parmelia and others, but in practice two species of Roccella—R. tinctoria and R. fuciformis—are almost exclusively used. These, under the name of “orchella weed” or “dyer’s moss,” are obtained from Angola, on the west coast of Africa, where the most valuable kinds are gathered; from Cape Verde Islands; from Lima, on the west coast of South America; and from the Malabar coast of India. The colouring properties of the lichens do not exist in them ready formed, but are developed by the treatment to which they are subjected. A small proportion of a colourless, crystalline principle, termed orcinol (a dioxytoluene), is found in some, and in all a series of acid substances, erythric, lecanoric acids, &c. Orcinol in presence of oxygen and ammonia takes up nitrogen and becomes changed into a purple substance, orceine (C$_7$H$_7$NO$_3$), which is essentially the basis of all lichen dyes. Two other colouring-matters, azoerythin and erythroleinic acid, are sometimes present. Archil is prepared for the dyer’s use in the form of a “liquor” (archil) and a “paste” (persis), and the latter, when dried and finely powdered, forms the “cudbear” of commerce, a dye formerly manufactured in Scotland from a native lichen, Lecanora tartarea. The manufacturing process consists in washing the weeds, which are then ground up with water to a thick paste. If archil paste is to be made this paste is mixed with a strong ammoniacal solution, and agitated in an iron cylinder heated by steam to about 140° F. till the desired shade is developed—a process which occupies several days. In the preparation of archil liquor the principles which yield the dye are separated from the ligneous tissue of the lichens, agitated with a hot ammoniacal solution, and exposed to the action of air. When potassium or sodium carbonate is added, a blue dye known as litmus, much used as an “indicator,” is produced. French purple or lime lake is a lichen dye prepared by a modification of the archil process, and is a more brilliant and durable colour than the other. The dyeing of worsted and home-spun cloth with lichen dyes was formerly a very common domestic employment in Scotland; and to this day, in some of the outer islands, worsted continues to be dyed with “crottle,” the name given to the lichens employed.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archippus

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​ARCHIPPUS, an Athenian poet of the Old Comedy, who flourished towards the end of the 5th century B.C. His most famous play was the Fishes, in which he satirized the fondness of the Athenian epicures for fish. The Alexandrian critics attributed to him the authorship of four plays previously assigned to Aristophanes. Archippus was ridiculed by his contemporaries for his fondness for playing upon words (Schol. on Aristophanes, Wasps, 481).
Titles and fragments of six plays are preserved, for which see T. Kock, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, i. (1880); or A. Meineke, Poetarum Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta (1855).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archimandrite

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​ARCHIMANDRITE (from Gr. ἄρχων, a ruler, and μάνδρα, a fold or monastery), a title in the Greek Church applied to a superior abbot, who has the supervision of several abbots and monasteries, or to the abbot of some specially great and important monastery, the title for an ordinary abbot being hegumenos. The title occurs for the first time in a letter to Epiphanius, prefixed to his Panarium (c. 375), but the Lausiac History of Palladius may be evidence that it was in common use in the 4th century as applied to Pachomius (q.v.). In Russia the bishops are commonly selected from the archimandrites. The word occurs in the Regula Columbani (c. 7), and du Cange gives a few other cases of its use in Latin documents, but it never came into vogue in the West. Owing to intercourse with Greek and Slavonic Christianity, the title is sometimes to be met with in southern Italy and Sicily, and in Hungary and Poland.
See the article in the Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archipelago

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​ARCHIPELAGO, a name now applied to any island-studded sea, but originally the distinctive designation of what is now generally known as the Aegean Sea (Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος), its ancient name having been revived. Several etymologies have been proposed: e.g. (1) it is a corruption of the ancient name, Egeopelago; (2) it is from the modern Greek, Άγιο πέλαγο, the Holy Sea; (3) it arose at the time of the Latin empire, and means the Sea of the Kingdom (Archè); (4) it is a translation of the Turkish name, Ak Denghiz, Argon Pelagos, the White Sea; (5) it is simply Archipelagus, Italian, arcipelago, the chief sea. For the Grecian Archipelago see Aegean Sea. Other archipelagoes are described in their respective places.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Archimedes, Screw of

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​ARCHIMEDES, SCREW OF, a machine for raising water, said to have been invented by Archimedes, for the purpose of removing water from the hold of a large ship that had been built by King Hiero II. of Syracuse. It consists of a water-tight cylinder, enclosing a chamber walled off by spiral divisions running from end to end, inclined to the horizon, with its lower open end placed in the water to be raised. The water, while occupying the lowest portion in each successive division of the spiral chamber, is lifted mechanically by the turning of the machine. Other forms have the spiral revolving free in a fixed cylinder, or consist simply of a tube wound spirally about a cylindrical axis. The same principle is sometimes used in machines for handling wheat, &c. (see Conveyors).