OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Myddelton, Sir Hugh

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​MYDDELTON (or Middleton), SIR HUGH, Bart. (c. 1560–1631), contractor of the New River scheme for supplying London with water, was a younger son of Sir Richard Myddelton, governor of Denbigh Castle. Hugh became a successful London ​goldsmith, occupying a shop in Bassihaw, or Basinghall Street; he made money by commercial ventures on the Spanish main, being associated in these with Sir Walter Raleigh; and he was also interested in cloth-making. He was an alderman, and then recorder of Denbigh, and was member of parliament for this borough from 1603 to 1628. In 1609 Myddelton took over from the corporation of London the projected scheme for supplying the city with water obtained from springs near Ware, in Hertfordshire. For this purpose he made a canal about 10 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep and over 38 m. in length, which discharged its waters into a reservoir at Islington called the New River Head. The completion of this great undertaking put a severe strain upon Myddelton’s financial resources, and in 1612 he was successful in securing monetary assistance from James I. The work was completed in 1613 and Myddelton was made the first governor of the company, which, however, was not a financial success until after his death. In recognition of his services he was made a baronet in 1622. Myddelton was also engaged in working some lead and silver mines in Cardiganshire and in reclaiming a piece of the Isle of Wight from the sea. He died on the 10th of December 1631, and was buried in the church of St Matthew, Friday Street, London. He had a family of ten sons and six daughters.
One of Sir Hugh’s brothers was Sir Thomas Myddelton (c. 1550–1631), lord mayor of London, and another was William Myddelton (c. 1556–1621), poet and seaman, who died at Antwerp on the 27th of March 1621.
Sir Thomas was a member of parliament under Queen Elizabeth and was chosen lord mayor on the 29th of September 1613, the day fixed for the opening of the New River. Under James I. and Charles I. he represented the city of London in parliament, and he helped Rowland Heylyn to publish the first popular edition of the Bible in Welsh. He died on the 12th of August 1631. Sir Thomas’s son and heir, Sir Thomas Myddelton 1586–1666), was a member of the Long Parliament, being an adherent of the popular party. After the outbreak of the Civil War he served in Shropshire and in north Wales, gaining a signal success over the royalists at Oswestry in July 1644, and another at Montgomery in the following September. In 1659, however, he joined the rising of the royalists under Sir George Booth, and in August of this year he was forced to surrender his residence, Chirk Castle. His eldest son, Thomas (d. 1663), was made a baronet in 1660, a dignity which became extinct when William the 4th baronet died in 1718.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Myelitis

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​MYELITIS (from Gr. μυελός, marrow) a disease which by inflammation induces destructive changes in the tissues composing the spinal cord. In the acute variety the nerve elements in the affected part become disintegrated and softened, but repair may take place; in the chronic form the change is slower, and the diseased area tends to become denser (sclerosed), the nerve-substance being replaced by connective tissue. Myelitis may affect any portion of the spinal cord, and its symptoms and progress will vary accordingly. Its most frequent site is in the lower part, and its existence there is marked by the sudden or gradual occurrence of weakness of motor power in the legs (which tends to pass into complete paralysis), impairment or loss of sensibility in the parts implicated, nutritive changes affecting the skin and giving rise to bed-sores, together with bladder and bowel derangements. In the acute form, in which there is at first pain in the' region of the spine and much constitutional disturbance, death may take place rapidly from extension of the disease to those portions of the cord connected with the muscles of respiration and the heart, from an acute bed-sore, which is very apt to form, or from some intercurrent disease. Recovery to a certain extent may, however, take place; or, again, the disease may pass into the chronic form. In the latter the progress is usually slow, the general health remaining tolerably good for a time, but gradually the strength fails, the patient becomes more helpless, and ultimately sinks exhausted or is cut off by some complication. The chief causes of myelitis are injuries or diseases affecting the spinal column, extension of inflammation from the membranes of the cord to its substance (see Meningitis, exposure to cold and damp, and occasionally some pre-existing constitutional morbid condition, such as syphilis or a fever. Any debilitating cause or excess in mode of life will act powerfully in predisposing to this malady. The disease is most common in adults. The treatment for myelitis in its acute stage is similar to that for spinal meningitis. When the disease is chronic the most that can be hoped for is the relief of symptoms by careful nursing and attention to the condition of the body and its functions. Good is sometimes derived from massage and the use of baths and douches to the spine.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lyck

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​LYCK, or Lyk, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of East Prussia, 112 m. by rail S.E. of Königsberg, and close to the frontier of Poland, on a lake and river of the same name. Pop. (1900) 11,386. It is the chief town of the region known as Masuria. On an island in the lake is a castle formerly belonging to the Teutonic order, and dating from 1273, now used as a prison. There are iron-foundries, distilleries, breweries, tanneries, paper mills and flour mills, and a trade in grain and cattle.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lycophron

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​LYCOPHRON, Greek poet and grammarian, was born at Chalcis in Euboea. He flourished at Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285–247 B.C.). According to Suïdas, he was the son of Socles, but was adopted by Lycus of Rhegium. He was entrusted by Ptolemy with the task of arranging the comedies in the Alexandrian library, and as the result of his labours composed a treatise On Comedy. His own compositions, however, chiefly consisted of tragedies (Suïdas gives the titles of twenty, of which very few fragments have been preserved), which secured him a place in the Pleiad of Alexandrian tragedians. One of his poems, Alexandra or Cassandra, containing 1474 iambic lines, has been preserved entire. It is in the form of a prophecy uttered by Cassandra, and relates the later fortunes of Troy and of the Greek and Trojan heroes. References to events of mythical and later times are introduced, and the poem ends with a reference to Alexander the Great, who was to unite Asia and Europe in his world-wide empire. The style is so enigmatical as to have procured for Lycophron, even among the ancients, the title of “obscure” (σκοτεινός). The poem is evidently intended to display the writer’s knowledge of obscure names and uncommon myths; it is full of unusual words of doubtful meaning gathered from the older poets, and many long-winded compounds coined by the author. It has none of the qualities of poetry, and was probably written as a show-piece for the Alexandrian school. It was very popular in the Byzantine period, and was read and commented on very frequently; the collection of scholia by Isaac and John Tzetzes is very valuable, and the MSS. of the Cassandra are numerous. A few well-turned lines which have been preserved from Lycophron’s tragedies show a much better style; they are said to have been much admired by Menedemus of Eretria, although the poet had ridiculed him in a satyric drama. Lycophron is also said to have been a skilful writer of anagrams.
Editio princeps (1513); J. Potter (1697, 1702); L. Sebastiani (1803); L. Bachmann (1830); G. Kinkel (1880); E. Scheer (1881–1908), vol. ii. containing the scholia. The most complete edition is by C. von Holzinger (with translation, introduction and notes, 1895). There are translations by F. Dehèque (1853) and Viscount Royston (1806; a work of great merit). See also Wilamowitz-Möllendorff, De Lycophronis Alexandra (1884); J. Konze, De Dictione Lycophronis (1870). The commentaries of the brothers Tzetzes have been edited by C. O. Müller (1811).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lyceum

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​LYCEUM, the latinized form of Gr. Λύκειον, the name of a gymnasium and garden with covered walks, near the temple of Apollo Lyceus (Ἀπόλλων Λύκειος) at Athens. Aristotle taught here, and hence the name was applied to his school of philosophy. The name had been used in many languages for places of instruction, &c. In France the term lycée is given to the secondary schools which are administered by the state, in contradistinction to the communal collèges.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lycopodium

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​LYCOPODIUM, the principal genus of the Lycopodiaceae, a natural order of the Fern-allies (see Pteridophyta). They are flowerless herbs, with an erect, prostrate or creeping widely-branched stem, with small simple leaves which thickly cover the stem and branches. The “fertile” leaves are arranged in cones, and bear spore-cases (sporangia) in their axils, containing spores of one kind only. The prothallium developed from the spore is a subterranean mass of tissue of considerable size, and bears the male and female organs (antheridia and archegonia). There are about a hundred species widely distributed in temperate and tropical climates; five occur in Britain on heaths and moors, chiefly in mountainous districts, and are known as club-mosses The commonest species, L. clavatum, is also known as stag-horn moss.
From Strasburger’s Lehrbuch der Botanik, by permission of Gustav Fischer. :
| Fig. 1.—Lycopodium clavatum. ||
| A, Old prothallus. B, Prothallus bearing a young sporophyte. G, Polian of a mature plant, showing the creeping habit, the adventitious roots and | the specialized erect branches bearing the strobile or cones. H, Sporophyte bearing the single sporangium on its upper surface. J, Spore. |
Gerard, in 1597, described two kinds of lycopodium (Herball, p. 1373) under the names Muscus denticulatus and Muscus clavatus (L. clavatum) as “Club Mosse or Woolfes Clawe Mosse,” the names being in Low Dutch, “Wolfs Clauwen,” from the resemblance of the club-like or claw-shaped shoots to the toes of a wolf, “whereupon we first named it Lycopodion.” Gerard also speaks of its emetic and many other supposed virtues. L. Selago and L. catharticum (a native of the Andes) have been said to be, at least when fresh, cathartic; but, with the exception of the spores of L. clavatum (“lycopodium powder”), lycopodium as a drug has fallen into disuse. The powder is used for rolling pills in, as a dusting powder for infants’ sores, &c. A tinctura lycopodii, containing one part of the powder to ten of alcohol (90%), has been given, in doses of 15 to 60 minims, in cases of irritation and spasm of the bladder. The powder is highly inflammable, and is used in pyrotechny and for artificial lightning on the stage. If the hand be covered with the powder it cannot be wetted on being plunged into water. Another use of lycopodium is for dyeing; woollen cloth boiled with species of lycopodium, as L. clavatum, becomes blue when dipped in a bath of Brazil wood.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lycosura

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​LYCOSURA (mod. Palaeokastro or Siderokastro), a city of Arcadia, reputed to be the most ancient city in Greece, and to have been founded by Lycaon the son of Pelasgus. Its fame in later times was chiefly associated with the temple of Despoena, containing the colossal group made by Damophon of Messene, of Despoena and Demeter seated, with Artemis and the Titan Anytus standing beside them. The temple and considerable remains of the group of sculpture were found in 1889. The date of both has been a matter of dispute, Damophon being placed at dates varying from the 4th century B.C. to the age of Hadrian. But it has now been shown that he lived in the 2nd century B.C. Remains of a portico, altars and other structures have also been found.
See Πρακτικὰ τῆς Ἀρχ. Ἑταιρίας (1896); G. Dickens, Annual of British School at Athens, xii. and xiii.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lycurgus the Logothete

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​LYCURGUS, “the Logothete” (1772–1851), Greek leader in the War of Independence, was born in the island of Samos. He was educated at Constantinople, received the usual training, and followed the customary career of a Phanariot Greek. He accompanied Constantine Ypsilanti when he was appointed hospodar of Walachia, as secretary, and served Ypsilanti’s successor, Alexander Soutzos, as treasurer and chancellor (Logothete). In 1802 he returned to Samos, and having become suspected by the Turkish government was imprisoned. He fled to Smyrna, when he was pardoned and released by the Turks. When the War of Independence began he induced his countrymen to declare Samos independent, and was chosen ruler. His share in the War of Independence is chiefly memorable because he provoked the massacre of Chios in 1822. Lycurgus conducted an expedition of 2500 to that island, which was held by a Turkish garrison under Velna Pasha. His force was insufficient, the time was ill-chosen, for a strong Turkish fleet was at sea, and Lycurgus displayed utter incapacity as a military leader. After these events, he was deposed by the Samians, but recovered some influence and had a share in the defence of Samos against the Turks in 1824. When the island was left under the authority of Turkey by the protocol of the 3rd of February 1830, he helped to obtain autonomy for the Samians. He retired to Greece and died on the 22nd of May 1851.
See G. Finlay, History of the Greek Revolution (London, 1861).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ranelagh

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​RANELAGH, formerly a popular resort by the Thames in Chelsea, London, England. About 1690 the land lying east of Chelsea Hospital, and bordering the river about the point where Chelsea Bridge now stands, was acquired by Richard, Viscount Ranelagh, later earl of Ranelagh (d. 1711). He built a mansion and laid out fine gardens, which, in 1742, were thrown open as a proprietary place of entertainment. A building called the Rotunda was erected for concerts, and the gardens quickly became a favourite resort of fashionable society. Balls and masquerades, exhibitions of fireworks, regattas and many other forms of amusement were provided; but by the close of the 18th century Ranelagh was ceasing to attract the public, and in 1803 the Rotunda was closed. The buildings were removed, and the grounds became the property of Chelsea Hospital. They are still included in the pleasant gardens belonging to that foundation, but no traces of the popular Ranelagh are preserved. There is, however, a fashionable modern club of the same name.
See Warwick Wroth, London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1896).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Random

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​RANDOM (older forms randon, randrun; from the French, cf. randir, to run quickly, impetuously; generally taken to be of Teutonic origin and connected with Ger. Rand, edge, brim, the idea being possibly of a brimming river), an adjective originally meaning impetuous, hasty, hence done without purpose or aim, haphazard. The term "random work" is used, in architecture, by the rag-stone masons, for stones fitted together at random without any attempt at laying them in courses. "Random coursed work" is a like term applied to work coursed in horizontal beds, but the stones are of varying height, and fitted to one another (see Masonry).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Randolph, Thomas (poet)

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​RANDOLPH, THOMAS (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist, was born near Daventry in Northamptonshire, and was baptized on the 15th of June 1605. He was educated at Westminster and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He took his B.A. degree in 1628, proceeded M.A. in 1632 and became a major fellow of his college in the same year. He soon gave promise as a writer of comedy. Ben Jonson, not an easily satisfied critic, adopted him as one of his “sons.” He addressed three poems to Jonson, one on the occasion of his formal “adoption,” another on the failure of The New Inn, and the third an eclogue, describing his own studies at Cambridge. He lived with his father at Little Houghton in Northamptonshire for some time, and afterwards with William Stafford of Blatherwick, at whose house he died before completing his thirtieth year. He was buried in Blatherwick church on the 17th of March 1634–35, and his epitaph was written by Peter Hausted, the author of The Rival Friends.
Randolph’s reputation as a wit is attested by the verses addressed to him by his contemporaries and by the stories attached to his name. His earliest printed work is Aristippus, Or, The Joviall Philosopher. Presented in a private shew, To which is added, The Conceited Pedlar (1630). It is a gay interlude burlesquing a lecture in philosophy, the whole piece being an argument to support the claims of sack against small beer. The Conceited Pedlar is an amusing monologue delivered by the pedlar, who defines himself as an “individuum vagum, ​or the primum mobile of tradesmen, a walking-burse or movable exchange, a Socratical citizen of the vast universe, or a peripatetics journeyman, that, like another Atlas, carries his heavenly shop on's shoulders." He then proceeds to display his wares with a running satirical comment. The Jealous Lovers was presented by the students of Trinity College, Cambridge, before the king and queen in 1632. The Muse's Looking-Glass is hardly a drama. Roscius presents the extremes of virtue and vice in pairs, and last of all the "golden mediocrity" who announces herself as the mother of all the virtues. Amyntas, or The Impossible Dowry, a pastoral printed in 1638, with a number of miscellaneous Latin and English poems, completes the list of Randolph's authenticated work. Hey for Honesty, down with Knavery, a comedy, is doubtfully assigned to him.
His works were edited by W. C. Hazlitt in 1875.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ranger, Henry Ward

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RANGER, HENRY WARD (1858-), American artist, was born at Syracuse, New York, in January 1858. He became a prominent landscape and marine painter, much of his work being done in Holland, and showing the influence of the modern Dutch school. He became a National Academician (1906), and a member of the American Water Color Society. Among his paintings are, “Top of the Hill,” Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and “East River Idyll,” Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Randolph, Peyton

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​RANDOLPH, PEYTON (1721–1775), American politician, was born at Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1721, a son of Sir John Randolph (1693–1737), the king’s attorney for Virginia. He graduated at the College of William and Mary, studied law at the Inner Temple, London, and in 1748 was appointed the king’s attorney for Virginia. Randolph wrote the address of remonstrance to the king in behalf of the Burgesses against the suggested stamp duties in 1764. His policy was conservative and moderate, and in May 1765 he opposed Patrick Henry’s radical “Stamp Act Resolutions.” In 1766 he resigned as king’s attorney and was succeeded by his brother John (1727–1784). In 1769 he acted as moderator of the privately convened assembly which entered into the non importation agreement, and in May 1773 he became chairman of the first Virginia inter colonial committee of correspondence. He presided over the provincial convention of August 1774, and was a member of the First Continental Congress, of which he was president from the 5th of September to the 22nd of October 1774. He was re-elected to Congress in March 1775, and on the 10th of May was again chosen to preside, but on the 24th he left to attend a meeting at Williamsburg of the Virginia Burgesses, He then returned to Congress, of which John Hancock had meanwhile been made president. Randolph died of apoplexy in Philadelphia on the 22nd of October 1775. He was provincial grand-master of the Masons of Virginia, and was an intimate friend of Washington.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Roller (agriculture)

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​ROLLER. For agricultural purposes the roller formerly consisted of a solid cylinder of timber or stone attached to a frame and shafts, but to facilitate turning two or more iron cylinders revolving on an axle are now generally used. The simplest form has a smooth surface. The diameter of the drum should be as great as possible—30 in. being a good size—because the larger this is the more easily it is pulled (within certain limits), while rollers of small diameter are heavier of draught and do their work less efficiently. The implement is used in spring and summer as an aid in pulverizing and cleaning the soil, by bruising clods and lumps of tangled roots and earth which the cultivator or other implement has brought to the surface; in smoothing the surface for the reception of small seeds or the better operation of the mower or reaper; in consolidating soil that is too loose in texture and pressing it down about the roots of young plants. In the case of young plants the roots are close to the surface, which must therefore be kept moist. This end is attained by the compression by the roller of the top-soil of which the capillarity, i.e. the power of drawing water from the sub-soil is thereby increased. On the other hand, when it is desired to conserve the soil-moisture, the roller may be followed by the harrow, which, by pulverizing the surface-soil, breaks the capillarity. Of the variations on the common smooth roller, the clod-crusher and the Cambridge roller are the most important. The clod-crusher combines weight with breaking power. The best-known form was patented about 1841 by Crosskill, and consists of a number of disks with serrated edges threaded loosely on an axle round which they revolve. The Cambridge roller carries on its axle a number of closely packed wheels, the rims of which narrow down to a wedge shape. The tubular roller, instead of drums, has tubes arranged longitudinally, producing a corrugated surface which is reproduced in the condition of the soil after it has been rolled.