OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yola

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​YOLA, once a native state of West Africa, forming part of the Fula emirate of Adamawa, now a province in the British protectorate of Nigeria. The province, which has an area of 16,000 sq. m., occupies the S.E. of the protectorate and both banks of the upper Benue. It is bounded S. and E. by the German colony of Cameroon, N. by the British province of Bornu, and W. by the British provinces of Bauchi and Muri. It has an estimated population of 300,000. The capital is Yola, a town founded by the Fula conqueror Adama about the middle of the 19th century. It was the capital of the emirate of Adamawa, the greater part of which is now a German protectorate. The town is situated in 9° 12′ N., 12° 40′ E. and is built on the left or S. bank of the Benue, 480 m. by river from Lokoja. It can be reached by shallow draught steamers when the river is in flood. The Niger Company had trading relations with Yola before the establishment of British administration in Northern Nigeria. In 1901 the reigning emir, a son of Adama, forced them to evacuate their station, and, all attempts to establish friendly relations proving unavailing, the British government dispatched an expedition from Lokoja in August 1901. The emir was deposed and a new emir installed in his place. The hostility of certain pagan tribes had to be overcome by British expeditions in January and April of 1902. By 1903 the province was brought fairly under administrative control, and divided into three administrative divisions—the N.W. with a station at Gazi, the N.E. and the S. with Yola for its station. The new emir proved friendly and loyal, but though appointed in 1901 was not formally installed till October 1904, when he took the customary oath of allegiance to the British crown and accepted all the conditions with regard to the suppression of slavery, &c. The slave markets were immediately closed as a result of British occupation, and any slave-trading which is still done is smuggled. In 1903 an exploring expedition was sent up the Gongola, one of the principal rivers of the Yola province, and as a result the navigability of the river for steam launches as far as Gombe at high water was demonstrated. An important means of communication with the province of Bornu was thus established, and a rich agricultural district opened to development. The Gongola valley was in ancient times extensively cultivated, and the population are readily returning to the land. Cotton, rice and tobacco are among the heavy crops (see Nigeria, Adamawa).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yggdrasil

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YGGDRASIL, in Scandinavian mythology, the mystical ash tree which symbolizes existence, and binds together earth, heaven and hell. It is the tree of life, of knowledge, of fate, of time and of space. Its three roots go down into the three great realms—(1) of death, where, in the well Hvergelmer, the dragon Nidhug (Niðhöggr) and his brood are ever gnawing it; (2) of the giants, where, in the fountain of Mimer, is the source of wisdom; (3) of the gods, Asgard, where, at the sacred fountain of Urd, is the divine tribunal, and the dwelling of the Fates. The stem of Yggdrasil upholds the earth, while its branches overshadow the world and reach up beyond the heavens. On its topmost bough sits an eagle, between whom and Nidhug the squirrel Ratatöskr runs to and fro trying to provoke strife. Honey-dew falls from the tree, and on it Odin hung nine nights, offering himself to himself. G. Vigfusson and York Powell (Corpus Poeticum Boreale, Oxford, 1883) see in Yggdrasil not a primitive Norse idea, but one due to early contact with Christianity, and a fanciful adaptation of the cross.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yokohama

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​YOKOHAMA, a seaport of Japan on the W. shore of Tokyo Bay, 18 m. S. of Tokyo by rail. It stands on a plain shut in by hills, one of which, towards the S.E., terminates in a promontory called Honmoku-misaki or Treaty Point. The temperature ranges from 95° to 43° F., and the mean temperature is 57.7°. The cold in winter is severe, owing to N. winds, while the heat is great in summer, though tempered by S.W. sea breezes. The rainfall is about 70 in. annually. In 1859, when the neighbouring town of Kanagawa was opened to foreigners under the treaty with the United States, Yokohama was an insignificant fishing village; and notwithstanding the protests of the foreign representatives the Japanese government shortly afterwards chose the latter place as the settlement instead of Kanagawa. The town grew rapidly—in 1886 the population was 111,179 (3904 foreigners, including 2573 Chinese, 625 British and 256 Americans, while in 1903 there were 314,333 Japanese and 2447 foreigners (1089 British, 327 Americans, 270 Germans, 155 French) besides about 3800 Chinese. The Japanese government constructed public works, and excellent water was supplied from the Sagamigawa. The foreign settlement has well-constructed streets, but the wealthier foreigners reside S. of the town, on the Bluff. The land occupied by foreigners was leased to them by the Japanese government, 20% of the annual rent being set aside for municipal expenses. The harbour, which is a part of Tokyo Bay, is good and commodious, somewhat exposed, but enclosed by two breakwaters. There is a pier 2000 ft. long, and two docks were opened in 1897 and 1898, with lengths of 351 ft. and 478 ft. 10 in., and depths of 26 ft. 2 in. and 28 ft. on the blocks at ordinary spring tides. The average depth in the harbour at high water is about 46 ft., with a fall of tide of about 8 ft., the entrance being marked by a lightship and two buoys. The railway connecting Yokohama with Tokyo was the first in Japan, and was constructed in 1872. The value of exports and imports, which in 1880 was £3,792,991 and £3,378,385, and in the ensuing five years averaged £4,638,633 and £4,366,307, had increased in 1905 to £14,861,823 and £19,068,221. Metals and metal goods, rice, wool and woollen goods, and cotton and cotton goods are the chief imports; and silk, silk goods and tea are the chief exports.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yokosuka

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​YOKOSUKA, a seaport and naval station of Japan, on the W. shore of Tokyo Bay, 12 m. S. of Yokohama. The town is connected by a branch line with the main railway from Tokyo. The port is sheltered by hills and affords good anchorage. The site was occupied by a small fishing village until 1865, when the shogun's government established a shipyard here. In 1868 the Japanese government converted the shipyard into a naval dockyard, and subsequently carried out many improvements. In 1884 the port became a first-class naval station; and naval barracks, warehouses, offices, hospitals, &c., were established here. The dockyard was first constructed by French engineers; but after 1873 the work passed entirely into the hands of Japanese engineers.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yezd (province)

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​YEZD, or Yazd, a province of Persia, bounded S. by Kerman, W. by Fars and Isfahan, and N. and E. by the central Persian deserts. It contains an area of about 20,000 sq. m., but its population barely exceeds 100,000, of whom about half inhabit the capital of the province. Its subdivisions are: (1) the city of Yezd and immediate environs, (2) Ardakan, (3) Bafk, (4) Taft, (5) Kuhistan (Pish Kuh, Mian Kuh, Pusht Kuh, on the slopes and in the valleys of the Shir Kuh, a part of the great Central Range of Persia W. of the city of Yezd, and rising to an elevation of 11,000 ft.), and (6) Shahr i Babek. The last is situated far S. near Kerman, and sometimes is regarded as part of that province. The revenues slightly exceed £60,000 a year. Much silk is grown in the district, but is not sufficient for the silk stuffs which Yezd manufactures with its 1000 looms, and raw silk (about 75,000 ℔ yearly) has to be obtained from Khorasan and Gilan. Great quantities of felts (nimads), white and yellow cotton stuffs, the latter a kind of nankeen made of Gossypium herbaceum, are also manufactured and exported. Other exports are opium, madder and almonds. The grain produced suffices for only two or three months' consumption, and supplies have to be brought from Khorasan, so that wheat and barley are dearer than at other places in Persia. The part of the district situated in the plain is much exposed to moving sands, which render cultivation difficult and at times impossible.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yolande of Brienne

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​YOLANDE [or Isabella] OF BRIENNE (1212–1228), the daughter of John of Brienne, who had married Mary, daughter of Conrad of Montferrat, heiress on the death of Amalric II. of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Yolande inherited the throne on her mother's death in 1212, but her father ruled as her guardian. In 1223 she married the emperor Frederick II., the pope hoping by this bond to attach the emperor firmly to the crusade. Immediately upon his marriage Frederick demanded all the rights of sovereignty in the kingdom of Jerusalem, which he claimed to exercise in his wife's name. His action led to difficulties with John, who did not relish the loss of his position. Yolande died in 1228 after the birth of a son, Conrad, and her husband then continued to rule, though not without opposition.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yogi

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​YOGI, a Hindu religious ascetic. The word yoga means union, and first occurs in the later Upanishads; and yogi means one who practises yoga, with the object of uniting his soul with the divine spirit. This union, when accomplished by the individual soul, must enhance its susceptibilities and powers, and so the yogis claim a far-reaching knowledge of the secrets of nature and extensive sway over men and natural phenomena. The most usual manifestation of this power is a state of ecstasy, of the nature of self-hypnotism.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yo-chow Fu

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​YO-CHOW FU, a prefectural city in the Chinese province of Hu-nan, standing on high ground E. of the outlet of Tung-t‘ing Lake, in 29° 18′ N., 113° 2′ E. Pop. about 20,000. It was opened to foreign trade in 1899. The actual settlement is at Chinling-ki, a village 5½ m. below Yo-chow and half a mile from the Yangtsze. From Yo-chow the cities of Chang-sha and Chang-tê are accessible for steam vessels drawing 4 to 5 ft. of water by means of the Tung-t‘ing Lake and its affluents, the Siang and Yuen rivers. The district in which Yo-chow Fu stands is the ancient habitat of the aboriginal San Miao tribes, who were deported into S.W. China, and who, judging from some non-Chinese festival customs of the people, would appear to have left traditions behind them. The present city, which was built in 1371, is about 3 m. in circumference and is entered by four gates. The walls are high and well built, but failed to keep out the T‘aip‘ing rebels in 1853. Situated between Tung-t‘ing Lake and the Yangtsze-kiang, Yo-chow Fu forms a depot for native products destined for export, and for foreign goods on their way inland. The net value of the total trade of the port in 1906 was 747,000 taels.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yezidis

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​YEZIDIS, a sect of devil-worshippers, calling themselves Dasni, who are found in Kurdistan, Armenia and the Caucasus. Their religion has points of connexion with old Iranian and Assyrian beliefs and traces of Manichaeism and Nestorianism. Thus they regard the devil as the creative agent of the Supreme God, a reinstated fallen angel who is the author of evil. They avoid mentioning his name and represent him by the peacock. They regard Christ as an angel in human form and recognize ​Mahomet as a prophet with Abraham and the patriarchs. They believe in a future life and practise both circumcision and baptism. The name is probably derived from the Kurdish and Persian Yazdan, God; though some have connected it with the city of Yezd, or with Yezid, the second Omayyad caliph (720–24). Their sacred book is called Al-Yalvah, and its chief exponent was Shaikh Adi (c. 1200).
See Layard, Ninevah and its Remains (London, 1850); Menant, Les Yezidis (Paris, 1892).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zany

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​ZANY, a fool or silly person. The word came into English in the 16th century from Ital. Zane, mod. Zanni, an abbreviation of the name Giovanni (John). This familiar form of the name was given by Italians to a special type of clown or buffoon who acted as an attendant or follower of the regular ​professional clown on the stage and made clumsy and ludicrous attempts to mimic his performance.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zangwill, Israel

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​ZANGWILL, ISRAEL (1864– ), Jewish man of letters, was born in London on the 14th of February 1864. His early childhood was spent in Plymouth and at Bristol, where he received his first schooling. He was in his ninth year when his parents settled in Spitalfields, and he entered the Jews' Free School, where eventually he became a teacher. Concurrently with his teaching work he took his degree with honours at London University. He had already written a fantastic tale entitled The Premier and the Painter in collaboration with Louis Cowen, when he resigned his position as a teacher owing to differences with the school managers and ventured into journalism. He founded and edited Ariel, The London Puck, and did much miscellaneous work on the London press. He made his literary reputation with a novel, The Children of the Ghetto (1892), which was followed by Ghetto Tragedies (1893); The Master (1895); Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898); The Mantle of Elijah (1901); and other tales and novels of great interest dealing with Jewish life. Children of the Ghetto was produced in a play in New York with success in 1899, and has since been extensively played both in English and Yiddish. Others of his plays are: Merely Mary Ann, played at the Duke of York's theatre, and The Serio-Comic Governess, Nurse Marjorie; and The Melting Pot, all produced in New York. Mr Zangwill was the founder of the International Jewish Territorial Organization (see Zionism).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zanella, Giacomo

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​ZANELLA, GIACOMO (1820-1888), Italian poet, was born at Chiampo, near Vicenza, on the 9th of September 1820, and was educated for the priesthood. After his ordination he became professor at the lyceum of his native place, but his patriotic sympathies excited the jealousy of the Austrian authorities, and although protected by his diocesan, he was compelled to resign in 1853. After the liberation of Venetia, the Italian government conferred upon him a professorship at Padua, and he achieved distinction as a poet on the publication of his first volume of poems in 1868. In 1872 grief for the death of his mother occasioned a mental malady, which led to the resignation of his professorship. After his complete and permanent recovery he built himself a villa on the bank of his native river, the Astichello, and lived there in tranquillity until his death on the 17th of May 1888. His last published volume contains a series of sonnets of singular beauty, addressed to the river, resembling Wordsworth's “Sonnets to the Duddon,” but more perfect in form; and a blank verse idyll, “Il Pettirosso” (“The Redbreast”), bearing an equally strong, though equally accidental, resemblance to the similar compositions of Coleridge. His ode to Dante, and that on the opening of the Suez Canal, are distinguished by great dignity. Of his other compositions, the most individual are those in which, deeply impressed by the problems of his day, he has sought to reconcile science and religion, especially the fine dialogue between Milton and Galileo, where the former, impressed by Galileo's predictions of the intellectual consequences of scientific progress, resolves “to justify the ways of God to man.” Zanella was a broad-minded and patriotic ecclesiastic, and his character is justly held in equal honour with his poetry, which, if hardly to be termed powerful, wears a stamp of peculiar elegance and finish, and asserts a place of its own in modern Italian literature.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zaparos

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​ZAPAROS, a tribe or group of tribes of South American Indians of the river Napo. They occupy some 12,000 sq. m. between the Napo and the Pastaza. Their only industries are hammock plaiting and fishing-net weaving. Polygamy is general. They were a long skirt of bark fibre.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zanardelli, Giuseppe

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​ZANARDELLI, GIUSEPPE (1826-1903), Italian jurisconsult and statesman, was born at Brescia on the 29th of October 1826. A combatant in the volunteer corps during the war of 1848, he returned to Brescia after the defeat of Novara, and for a time earned a livelihood by teaching law, but was molested by the Austrian police and forbidden to teach in consequence of his refusal to contribute pro-Austrian articles to the press. Elected deputy in 1859, he received various administrative appointments, but only attained a political office in 1876 when the Left, of which he had been a prominent and influential member, came into power. Minister of public works in the first Depretis cabinet of 1876, and minister of the interior in the Cairoli cabinet of 1878, he in the latter capacity drafted the franchise reform, but created dissatisfaction by the indecision of his administrative acts, particularly in regard to the Irredentist agitation, and by his theory of repressing and not in any way preventing crime, which led for a time to a perfect epidemic of murders. Overthrown with Cairoli in December 1878, he returned to power as minister of justice in the Depretis cabinet of 1881, and succeeded in completing the commercial code. Abandoned by Depretis in 1883, he remained in opposition until 1887, when he again joined Depretis as minister of justice, retaining his portfolio throughout the ensuing Crispi ministry until the 31st of January 1891. During this period he promulgated the Criminal Code, and began the reform of the magistracy. After the fall of the Giolitti cabinet in 1893, Zanardelli made a strenuous but unsuccessful attempt to form an administration. Elected president of the chamber in 1894 and 1896, he exercised that office with ability until, in December 1897, he accepted the portfolio of justice in the Rudini cabinet, only to resign in the following spring on account of dissensions with his colleague, Visconti-Venosta, over the measures necessary to prevent a recurrence of the tumults of May 1898. Returning to the presidency of the chamber, he again abandoned his post in order to associate himself with the obstructionist campaign against the Public Safety Bill (1899-1900), and was rewarded by being enabled to form an administration with the support of the Extreme Left upon the fall of the Saracco cabinet in February 1901. He was unable to achieve much during his last term of office, as his health was greatly impaired; his Divorce Bill, although voted in the chamber, had to be withdrawn on account of the strong opposition of the country. He retired from the administration on the 2nd of November 1903, and died on the 21st of December following.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vardanes

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​VARDANES, the name of two Parthian kings.
Vardanes I., succeeded Artabanus II., probably his father, in A.D. 40 (Joseph. Ant. xx. 3, 4), but had continually to fight against his rival Gotarzes (q.v.). The coins show that he was in full possession of the throne from 42 to 45. In 43 he forced Seleucia on the Tigris to submit to the Parthians again after a rebellion of seven years (Tac. Ann. xi. 9). Ctesiphon, the residence of the kings on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite to Seleucia, naturally profited by this war; and Vardanes is therefore called founder of Ctesiphon by Ammianus Marc, xxiii. 6. 23. He also prepared for a war against Rome, with the aim of reconquering Armenia (cf. Joseph, Ant. xx. 3, 4), but did not dare to face the Roman legions (Tac. Ann. xi. 10). In a new war with Gotarzes he gained a great success against the eastern nomads. He is praised by Tacitus as a young and highly gifted ruler of great energy (cf. Philostratus, Vita Apollon. Tyan. i. 21. 28), but lacking in humanity. In the summer of 45 he was assassinated while hunting, and Gotarzes became king again.
Vardanes II. rebelled against his father Vologaeses I. in A.D. 54 (Tac. Ann. xiii. 7). We know nothing more about him and it is not certain whether the coins of a young beardless king, which are generally attributed to him, really belong to him (Wroth, Catalogue of the Coins of Parthia, p. L. ff.).  (Ed. M.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Varese

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​VARESE, a town of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Como, 18 m. by rail W. of that town, and 37 m. N.W. of Milan, 1253 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 7692 (town); 17,666 (commune). It is a well-to-do place, beautifully situated near the Lake of Varese, and for this reason a favourite summer and autumn resort of the Milanese, who have numerous country houses in the vicinity. Among them the Villa Litta and the Villa Ponte may be specially mentioned. The principal church is that of S. Victor (rebuilt 1580–1615 and 1795), to which is attached an ancient baptistery (dating from the 9th century but rebuilt in the 13th century). The fine campanile of the church is 246 ft. high. There is an archaeological museum with pre-historic antiquities from the lake-dwellings on an island in the Lake of Varese. To the N.W. (a journey of 21/2 hours) is the pilgrimage church of the Madonna del Monte (2885 ft.), approached by a path which passes fourteen chapels adorned with 17th-century frescoes and groups in stucco illustrating the mysteries of the rosary. Varese is the seat of active silk-spinning, tanning, paper-making and the manufacture of organs and vehicles. Excellent wine is made. Varese is a junction for Porto Ceresio and Laveno.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Varallo Sesia

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​VARALLO SESIA, a town of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Novara, from which it is 34 m. N.N.W. by rail, situated in the valley of the Sesia, 1480 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3330 (town); 4265 (commune). The churches of S Gaudenzio, S. Maria delle Grazie and S Maria di Loreto, all contain works by Gaudenzio Ferrari (1471–1546), who was born in the neighbouring Val Duggia, while the Sacro Monte, a place of pilgrimage rising above the town (1995 ft.), is approached by a path leading past forty-five chapels containing groups of life-size painted terra-cotta figures representing scenes from sacred history, with backgrounds in fresco (by Ferrari and others), to the pilgrimage church built by Pellegrino Tibaldi after 1578. In the works mentioned, as Burckhardt remarks, Ferrari’s whole development may be traced.