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

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​TRIDYMITE, a mineral consisting of silicon oxide or silica, SiO$_2$, but differing from quartz in crystalline form. The crystals are small, thin hexagonal plates or scales, which are usually twinned together in groups of three; hence the name of the mineral, from Greek τρίδυμος, triplet. The apparent hexagonal plates are themselves pseudo-symmetric twins of optically biaxial material, and the exact crystalline form is doubtful. The plates are colourless and transparent and have a vitreous lustre. The hardness is 7 and the specific gravity 2.3 (that of quartz being 2.65). Unlike quartz, it is soluble in a boiling solution of sodium carbonate. Tridymite occurs in the cavities of acid volcanic rocks (rhyolite, trachyte and andesite); the best-known localities are Cerro San Cristobal near Pachuca in Mexico, the Euganean Hills near Padua, and the Siebengebirge on the Rhine. Probably identical with tridymite is the form of silica known as asmanite, found in the meteorite which fell at Breitenbach in the Erzgebirge, Bohemia. (L. J. S.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Triclinium

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​TRICLINIUM, in Roman antiquities, a set of three couches (lecti) arranged round a four-sided dining table, one side of which was left open to provide free access for the attendant slaves. These couches were distinguished as the highest (A, lectus summus), the middle (B, lectus medius) and the lowest (C, lectus imus); the guests who reclined on B had A on their left and C on their right. Each couch was usually occupied by three persons, whose left arm rested on a cushion, the right hand being thus disengaged for purposes of eating. The nine places were allotted in accordance with strict etiquette. A and B were reserved for the guests (B for the most distinguished), C for the host and his family. In A and C the chief place was 1; in B it was 3, which was consequently the place of honour at the banquet. It was called locus consularis (ὑπατικός), probably as being next to the host. Another explanation is that, since it was on the open and unsupported side of the couch, it was chosen in order that, if a consul happened to be present among the guests, he might be able to receive communications, sign documents or transact business with the least inconvenience. It the locus classicus in Horace (Satires, ii. 8, 20-23), which describes the banquet given by Nasidienus in honour of Maecenas, the host appears ​to have resigned his place to Nomentanus, as being more capable of entertaining the guest of the evening. In later republican times, after the introduction of round tables of citrus wood, the three couches were replaced by one of crescent shape (called sigma from the form C of the Greek letter; also stibadium and accubitum), which as a rule was only intended to hold five persons. The two corner seats (cornua) were the places of honour, that on the right being considered superior. The remaining seats were reckoned from left to right, so that the least important seat was on the left side of the most important. The use of the sigma continued till the middle ages. The dining-room itself was also called triclinium, and in the houses of wealthy Romans there were several triclinia suited to the different seasons of the year.
See Marquardt, Das Privatleben der Römer (1886), p. 302.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Trident

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​TRIDENT (Lat. tridens, tri-, tres, three and dens, tooth), a three-toothed or three-pronged fork or spear. It is and has been from primitive times the typical instrument for spearing fish, the Scottish “leister” (Norw. ljoster), and was thus taken as the badge or emblem of the Greek Poseidon, the god of the sea. In Homer (cf. Il. xii. 27; Od. lv. 506 seq.) Poseidon is armed with the τρίαινα (another word is τριόδους, cf. Pind. Ol. ix. 45). The trident as the symbol of the sovereignty of the sea is found as early as Archilochus (c. 700 B.C.); a more familiar example is to be found in Aristophanes (Eq. 839). The emblematically figure of Britannia holds the trident as mistress of the sea. In the gladiatorial shows of ancient Rome the retiarius was armed with a trident as a weapon.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Trick

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​TRICK, a crafty or fraudulent device, deceitful artifice or stratagem, hence an exhibition of skill, especially in sleight of hand or jugglery, the term being also used of a peculiar trait or manner of speech, character or physical habit. A specific use is that for the cards played at a single round, which are taken up and count towards the winning of the game. The origin of the word is ultimately to be found in Lat. tricae, trifles, hindrances, wiles, whence tricari, to delay, shuffle, play tricks, which has also given “intricate,” “extricate,” “intrigue.” The M. Eng. trichen, to cheat or trick, was adapted from the O. Fr. trichier, trechier, whence came trecherie, Eng. “treachery,” a betrayal of faith, perfidy or trickery of the grossest kind. There has been also a confusion, which has influenced the meaning and form of “trick,” with the Dutch trekken, to pull, draw, cf. the South African Dutch trek, a journey, migration, properly the action of drawing a vehicle or travelling by ox-wagon. “Trick” or “tricking” is thus used, in heraldry, as the technical term for the drawing of a coat of arms in monochrome, giving the tinctures by the conventions of vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines, &c.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tricoupis, Spyridion

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​TRICOUPIS, SPYRIDION (1788-1873), Greek author and statesman, son of the primate of Missolonghi, was born on the 20th of April 1788. After studying in Paris and London he became private secretary to the fifth earl of Guilford, who resided in the Ionian Islands. He was a friend of Lord Byron, and pronounced his funeral oration in the cathedral of Missolonghi (1824). During the Greek War of Independence he occupied several important administrative and diplomatic posts, being a member of the provisional government in 1826 and of the national convention at Troezen in 1827, and president of the council and minister of foreign affairs in 1832. He was thrice Greek minister in London (1835-1838, 1841-1843 and 1850-1861), and in 1850 envoy-extraordinary to Paris. After the Revolution he became minister of foreign affairs and of public instruction, and held portfolios in several subsequent short-lived ministries. He died on the 24th of February 1873.
A collection of his earlier religious and political orations was published in Paris in 1836. His chief work is a history of the Greek insurrection, Ἱστορία τῆς ἑλληνικῆς ἐπαναστάσεως (4 vols., London, 1853-1857; 2nd ed., 1862). He also wrote a martial poem, Ὁ δῆμος. Ποίημα κλεπτικόν (Paris, 1821).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vivian, Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron

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​VIVIAN, RICHARD HUSSEY VIVIAN, 1st Baron (1775–1842), British cavalry leader, came of a Cornish family. Educated at Harrow and Exeter College, Oxford, Vivian entered the army in 1793, and less than a year later became a captain in the 28th foot. Under Lord Moira he served in the campaign of 1794 in Flanders and Holland. At the end of the expedition, the 28th bore a distinguished part in Lord Cathcart’s action of Gueldermalsen. In 1798 Vivian was transferred to the 7th Light Dragoons (now Hussars), and in Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division was present at the battles of Bergen and Alkmaar (19th September to 6th October 1799). In 1800 he received his majority, and in 1804 he became lieut.-colonel of the 7th. In command of this regiment he sailed to join Baird at Corunna in 1808, and took part in Lord Paget’s cavalry fights at Sahagun and Benavente. During the retreat of Moore’s army the 7th were constantly employed with the rearguard. Vivian was present at Corunna in 1808, and returned with the remainder of the army to England. It was not until late in 1813 that the 7th returned to the Peninsula, and Vivian (now colonel and A.D.C. to the prince regent) was soon taken away to command a cavalry brigade under Hill. With this corps he served throughout the fighting on the Nive (9th–13th December). At the beginning of 1814 he was transferred to a cavalry brigade of Beresford’s corps, and took a marked part in the action of Gave de Pau and the battle of Orthes. In the advance on Toulouse Vivian fought a brilliant action at Crois d’Orade on the Ers (8th April), when he was very severely wounded. At the beginning of 1815 he was made K.C.B.; he had been a major-general for several months. In April Sir Hussey Vivian was appointed to command a brigade of Uxbridge’s cavalry, and at Waterloo his regiments, with those of Vandeleur’s brigade, made the final charge of the day between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte, sweeping everything before them. This service was rewarded by the thanks of both houses of parliament, the K.C.H. and the orders of Maria Theresa and St Vladimir from the emperors of Austria and Russia. He sat in the House of Commons as member for Truro from 1821 to 1831; he was then made commander of the forces in Ireland, and given the G.C.H. In 1835 he became master-general of the ordnance. In 1837 he received the G.C.B., and in 1841, being then M.P. for East Cornwall, was created Baron Vivian in the English peerage. A year later he died at Baden-Baden. He was twice married (first in 1804), and the title descended in the direct line. His natural son, Sir Robert John Hussey Vivian (1802–1887), was a famous soldier in India, who in 1857 was made K.C.B. and in 1871 G.C.B., having previously attained the rank of general.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vizeu

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​VIZEU, or Viseu, an episcopal city and the capital of the district of Vizeu, Portugal, at the terminus of a branch of the Figueira da Foz-Guarda railway, and on the Ribeira d’Asnos, a sub-tributary of the Mondego. Pop. (1900) 8057. The cathedral, which was founded in the 12th century, contains pictures by the native artist Grāo Vasco (16th century). The city stands near the ruins of the ancient Vacca, or Cava de Viriato, a Roman military colony founded by Decius Brutus and captured by Viriathus (2nd century B.C.). The administrative district of Vizeu coincides with the central and northern parts of the ancient province of Biera (q.v.). Pop. (1900) 402,259; area, 1937 sq. m.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vizier

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​VIZIER, more correctly Vizir (Arabic Wazir), literally “burden-bearer” or “helper,” originally the chief minister or representative of the Abbasid caliphs. The office of vizier, which spread from the Arabs to the Persians, Turks, Mongols, and other Oriental peoples, arose under the first Abbasid caliphs (see Mahommedan Institutions, and Caliphate, C § 1) and took shape during its tenure by the Barmecides (q.v.). The vizier stood between sovereign and subjects, representing the former in all matters touching the latter. This withdrawal of the head of the state from direct contact with his people was unknown to the Omayyads, and was certainly an imitation of Persian usage; it has even been plausibly conjectured that the name is but the Arabic adaptation of a Persian title. In modern usage the term is used in the East generally for any important official under the sovereign.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vivianite

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​VIVIANITE, a mineral consisting of hydrated iron phosphate Fe$_3$(PO$_4$)$_2$+8H$_2$O, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. The crystals possess a perfect cleavage parallel to the plane of symmetry and are usually bladed in habit; they are soft (H=1/2), flexible and sectile. The specific gravity is 2.6. When unaltered and containing no ferric oxide, the mineral is colourless, but on exposure to the light it very soon becomes of a characteristic indigo-blue colour. Crystals were first found in Cornwall (at Wheal Jane, near Truro, associated with pyrrhotite) by J. G. Vivian, after whom the species was named by A. G. Werner in 1817. The mineral had, however, been earlier known as a blue powdery substance, called “blue iron-earth,” met with in peat-bogs, in bog iron-ore, or with fossil bones and shells. (L. J. S.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vizzola Ticino

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​VIZZOLA TICINO, a village of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Milan, 6 m. W. of Gallarate and 31 m. N.W. of Milan, 725 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 469. It is situated on the Ticino, and is remarkable as having one of the largest electric works in Europe, worked by water-power from the Ticino brought by a canal 41/2 m. long, constructed in 1889–91 by the Società Lombarda per Distribuzione di Energia Elettrica. Gallarate, Sesto Calende, Saronno and other neighbouring places are supplied from here with electricity.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Viziadrug

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​VIZIADRUG, Vijaydurg or Gheria, a port on the W. coast of India in Ratnagiri district, Bombay, 170 m, S. of Bombay city. Pop (1901) 2339. It is one of the best harbours on the west coast, being without any bar, and may be entered in all weathers; even to large ships it affords safe shelter during the south-west monsoon. At the beginning of the 18th century the pirate chief Angria made Viziadrug the capital of a territory stretching for 150 m. along the coast and from 30 to 60 m. inland. The fort was taken by Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive in 1756.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vizetelly, Henry

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​VIZETELLY, HENRY (1820–1894), English publisher, was born in London on the 30th of July 1820, the son of a printer. He was early apprenticed as a wood engraver, and one of his first blocks was a portrait of “Old Parr.” Encouraged by the success of the Illustrated London News, Vizetelly in 1843, with his brother James Thomas Vizetelly (1817–1897) and Andrew Spottiswoode (1787–1866), started the Pictorial Times, which was published successfully for several years. In 1853, in partnership with Boyne, he started a threepenny paper called the Illustrated Times, which four years later was merged in the Penny Illustrated Paper. In 1865 Vizetelly became Paris correspondent for the Illustrated London News. During the years he remained in Paris he published several books—Paris in Peril (1882), The Story of the Diamond Necklace (1867) and a free translation of Topin’s Man in the Iron Mask. In 1872 he was transferred to Berlin, where he wrote Berlin under the New Empire (1879). In 1887 he established a publishing house in London, issuing numerous translations of French and Russian authors. In 1888 he was prosecuted for publishing a translation of Zola’s La Terre, and was fined £100; and when he reissued Zola’s works in 1889 he was again prosecuted, fined £200 and imprisoned for three months. In 1893 he wrote a volume of autobiographical reminiscence called Glances Back through Seventy Years, a graphic picture of literary Bohemia in Paris and London between 1840 and 1870. He died on the 1st of January 1894. His younger brother, Frank Vizetelly (1830–1883), was a clever artist and journalist; he went to Egypt as war correspondent for the Illustrated London News and was never heard of after the massacre of Hicks Pasha’s army in Kordofan.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vizianagram

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​VIZIANAGRAM, a town of British India, in the Vizagapatam district of Madras, 17 m. from the seaport of Bimlipatam, on the East Coast railway, 522 m. N.E. of Madras. Pop. (1901) 37,270. It has a small military cantonment. It contains the residence of a zamindar of the same name, who ranks as the first Hindu nobleman of Madras. His estate covers about 3000 sq m., with a population of 900,000. The estimated income is £180,000, paying a permanent land revenue of £34,000. The town possesses many fine buildings, entirely supported by the raja. It has a college and two high schools.
The ruling family, which claims descent from a high official at the court of Golconda, established itself in Vizagapatam in the 17th century. In 1754 Viziarama Raz made an alliance with the French, but his son, on succeeding, fell out with them, captured Vizagapatam from them and ceded it to the British in 1758. The next raja, another Viziarama, was entirely under the influence of his half-brother Sita Ram, whose power, however, became so great a menace that he was forced to retire in 1793. A period of decay now set in. The raja was incompetent, and, his estate having been sequestrated for debt, revolted and was defeated and killed in 1794. The next raja, Narayana Babu, was no more successful, and his estate had been long under the management of the British government when he died in 1845. Viziarama Gajapati Raz, who succeeded him and took over full powers in 1852, was a man of ability, and received the titles of maharaja and K.C.S.I.; as also was his son, the maharaja Ananda Raz, G.C.I.E. He died in 1897, and was succeeded by Raja Pusapati Viziarama Gajapati Raz, during whose minority (till 1904) the estate was again under government administration.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Verdict

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​VERDICT, (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance), the decision of a jury in a criminal or civil cause, given to the court through the foreman of the jury and recorded. In English law verdicts may be "general," i.e. in criminal cases "guilty," or "not guilty," or "special," when there is some question of law of which the jury wish to leave to the consideration of the court; in this case the verdict is given in the form of a statement of facts as found by the jury, and the issue is left to be found by the court in accordance with the law upon such facts as found (see Jury).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Verbena

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​VERBENA. The genus Verbena (vervain) in botany gives its name to the natural order (Verbenaceae) of which it is a member. The species are herbaceous or somewhat shrubby, erect or procumbent, with opposite or whorled leaves, generally deeply cut. The sessile flowers are aggregated into close spikes. Each flower has a tubular, ribbed calyx, a more or less irregular tubular two-lipped corolla, with four (didynamous) stamens springing from the interior of the corolla-tube. The anthers are two-celled, with or without a gland-like appendage at the apex. The ovary is entire or four-lobed, and always four-celled, with a single ovule in each cell; the style is unequally two-lobed at the apex. The fruit consists of four hard nutlets within the persistent calyx. There are about eighty species known, mostly natives of tropical and subtropical America, a very few species occurring also in the Old World. The vervein, or vervain, V. officinalis, native of central and north Asia, Europe and North Africa, and common on dry waste ground in the south of England (rarer in the north), was the object of much superstitious veneration on the part of our pagan ancestors, who attributed marvellous properties to it, provided it were gathered in a particular manner and with much complex ceremonial. The plant is now but lightly esteemed, and its medicinal virtues are wholly discredited. The garden verbenas are derivatives from various South American species, such as V. teucrioides, a native of southern Brazil, and V. chamaedrifolia from Argentina and southern Brazil. The range of colours extends from pure white to rose-coloured, carmine, violet and purple. Striped forms also are cultivated. The lemon-scented verbena of gardens, so much valued for the fragrance of its leaves, was once referred to this genus under the name V. triphylla, subsequently called Aloysia, but is now referred to the genus Lippia as L. citriodora; it differs from Verbena in having two, not four, nutlets in the fruit.
The garden verbenas, although somewhat misprized for some years, have once more become popular as bedding plants, and also for pot culture. They are easily raised from seeds sown in heat in February or March, but choice varieties, like Miss Willmott and others, can only be kept true when raised from cuttings. These are best secured from old plants cut down in the autumn and started into growth in gentle heat and moisture the following spring. They root readily in a compost of sandy loam and leaf soil. Besides the garden varieties, V. venosa, a Brazilian species with bluish-violet flowers, is a popular plant for massing in beds during the summer months.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Verboeckhoven, Eugène Joseph

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​VERBOECKHOVEN, EUGÈNE JOSEPH (1790–1881), Belgian painter, was born at Warneton in West Flanders, and received instruction in drawing and modelling from his father, the sculptor Barthelemy Verboeckhoven. Subsequently he settled in Brussels and devoted himself almost exclusively to animal subjects. His paintings of sheep, of horses and of cattle in landscape, somewhat after the manner of Potter, brought him universal fame, and were eagerly sought for by collectors. Precise and careful finish is the chief quality of his art, which is entirely objective and lacking in inspiration. Verboeckhoven visited England in 1826, Germany in 1828, and France and Italy in 1841, and died at Brussels in 1881. He was a member of the academies of Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, St Petersburg and Amsterdam. Examples of his art are to be found in nearly all the important galleries of Europe and the United States, notably in Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, New York, Boston and Washington. His long life and ceaseless industry account for the enormous number of his pictures in public and private collections and in the art market. In addition to his painted work he executed some fifty etched plates of similar subjects.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Verbruggen, Susanna

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​VERBRUGGEN, SUSANNA (c. 1667–1703), English actress, was the daughter of an actor named Percival, and her first recorded stage appearance was in 1681 in D’Urfey’s Sir Barnaby Whig. She played at Dorset Garden and the Theatre Royal, and in 1686 married William Mountfort (q.v.). By 1690 she was one of the leading actresses in Betterton’s company. About a year after Mountfort’s death, in 1692, she married John Verbruggen (fl. 1688–c. 1707), also an actor of considerable ability.