OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Geikie, James

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​GEIKIE, JAMES (1839–), Scottish geologist, younger brother of Sir Archibald Geikie, was born at Edinburgh on the 23rd of August 1839. He was educated at the high school and university of Edinburgh. He served on the Geological Survey from 1861 until 1882, when he succeeded his brother as Murchison professor of geology and mineralogy at the university of Edinburgh. He took as his special subject of investigation the origin of surface-features, and the part played in their formation by glacial action. His views are embodied in his chief work, The Great Ice Age and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man (1874; 3rd ed., 1894). He was elected F.R.S. in 1875. James Geikie became the leader of the school that upholds the all-important action of land-ice, as against those geologists who assign chief importance to the work of pack-ice and icebergs. Continuing this line of investigation in his Prehistoric Europe (1881), he maintained the hypothesis of five inter-Glacial periods in Great Britain, and argued that the palaeolithic deposits of the Pleistocene period were not post- but inter- or pre-Glacial. His Fragments of Earth Lore: Sketches and Addresses, Geological and Geographical (1893) and Earth Sculpture (1898) are mainly concerned with the same subject. His Outlines of Geology (1886), a standard text-book of its subject, reached its third edition in 1896; and in 1905 he published an important manual on Structural and Field Geology. In 1887 he displayed another side of his activity in a volume of Songs and Lyrics by H. Heine and other German Poets, done into English Verse. From 1888 he was honorary editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adder

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​ADDER, a name for the common viper (Vipera cevus), ranging from Wales to Saghalien island, and from Caithness to the north of Spain. The puff-adder (Bitis s. Echidna arietans) of nearly the whole of Africa, and the death-adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) from Australia to the Moluccas, are both very poisonous (see Viper). The word was in Old Eng. nædre, later nadder or naddre; in the 14th century “a nadder” was, like “a napron,” wrongly divided into “an adder.” It appears with the generic meaning of “serpent” in the older forms of many Teutonic languages, cf. Old High Ger. natra; Goth. nadrs. It is thus used in the Old Eng. version of the Scriptures for the devil, the “serpent” of Genesis.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adana

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​ADANA. (1) A vilayet in the S.E. of Asia Minor, which includes the ancient Cilicia. The mountain districts are rich in unexploited mineral wealth, and the fertile coast-plain, which produces cotton, rice, cereals, sugar and much fruit, and affords abundant pasturage, is well watered by the rivers that descend from the Taurus range. Imports and exports pass through Mersina (q.v.). (2) The chief town of the vilayet, situated in the plain about 30 m. from the sea in N. lat. 37° 1′, E. long. 35° 18′, on the right bank of the Seihan (Sihun, anc. Sarus), which is navigable by small craft as far as the town. Adana is connected with Tersus and Mersina by a railway built in 1887, and has a magnificent stone bridge, which carries the road to Missis and the east, and dates in parts from the time of Justinian, but was restored first in 743 A.D. and called Jisr al-Walid after ​the Omayyad caliph of that name, and again in 840 by the Caliph Mutasim. There are, also, a ruined castle founded by Harun al-Rashid in 782, fine fountains, good buildings, river-side quays, cotton mills and an American mission with church and schools. Adana, which retains its ancient name, rose to importance as a station on the Roman military road to the East, and was at one time a rival of Tarsus. The town was largely rebuilt by Mansur in 758, and during subsequent centuries it often changed hands and suffered many vicissitudes. Its position, commanding the passage of the mountains to the north of Syria, rendered it important as a military station in the contest between the Egyptians and the Turks in 1832. After the defeat of the Turkish army at Konia it was granted to Ibrahim Pasha, and though the firman announcing his appointment named him only muhassil, or collector of the crown revenue, it continued to be held by the Egyptians till the treaty of July 1840 restored it to the Porte. The chief productions of the province are cotton, corn, sesame and wool, which are largely exported. The population of the town is greatly mixed, and, having a large element of nomads in it, varies much from time to time. At its maximum it reaches nearly 50,000.  (D. G. H.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adaptation

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​ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare, to fit to), a process of fitting, or modifying, a thing to other uses, and so altering its form or original purpose. In literature there may be, e.g., an adaptation of a novel for a drama, or in music an arrangement of a piece for two hands into one for four, &c. In biology, according to the doctrine of evolution, adaptation plays a prominent part as the process by which an organism or species of organisms becomes modified to suit the conditions of its life. Every change in a living organism involves adaptation; for in all cases life consists in a continuous adjustment of internal to external relations. Every living organism reacts to its environment; if the reaction is unfavourable, disability leading to ultimate extinction is the result. If the reaction is favourable, its result is called an adaptation. How far such adaptations are produced afresh in each generation, whether or no their effects are transmitted to descendants and so directly modify the stock, to what extent adaptations characteristic of a species or variety have come about by selection of individuals capable, in each generation, of responding favourably, or how far by the selection of individuals fortuitously suitable to the environment, or, how far, possibly by the inheritance of the responses to the environment, are problems of biology not yet definitely solved.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adda

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​ADDA (anc. Addua), a river of North Italy. Its true source is in some small lakes near the head of the Fraële glen, but its volume is increased by the union with several smaller streams, near the town of Bormio, at the Raetian Alps. Thence it flows first S.W., then due W., through the fertile Valtellina (q.v.), passing Tirano, where the Poschiavino falls in on the right, and Sondrio, where is the junction with the Malero, right. It falls into the Lake of Como, at its northern end, and mainly forms that lake. On issuing from its south-eastern or Lecco arm, it crosses the plain of Lombardy, and finally, after a course of about 150 m., joins the Po, 8 m. above Cremona. The lower course of the Adda was formerly the boundary between the territories of Venice and of Milan; and on its banks several important battles have been fought, notably that of Lodi, where Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1796.  (W. A. B. C.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Addams, Jane

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​ADDAMS, JANE (1860–), American sociologist, was born at Cedarville, Illinois, on the 6th of September 1860. After graduating at Rockford (Illinois) Female Seminary (now Rockford College) in 1881, she spent several years in the study of economic and sociological questions in both Europe and America, and in 1889 with Miss Ellen Gates Starr established in Chicago, Illinois, the social settlement known as Hull House, of which she became the head-worker. The success of this settlement, which became a great factor for good in the city, was principally due to Miss Addams’s rare executive skill and practical common-sense methods. Her personal participation in the life of the community is exemplified in her acceptance of the office of inspector of streets and alleys under the municipal government. She became widely known as a lecturer and writer on social problems and published Democracy and Social Ethics (1902), Newer Ideals of Peace (1907), and The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (1909).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Addax

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​ADDAX, a genus of antelopes, with one species (A. nasomaculatus) from North Africa and Arabia. It is a little over 3 ft. high, yellowish white in colour, with a brown mane and a fringe of the same hue on the throat. Both sexes carry horns, ​which are ringed and form an open spiral. The addax is a desert antelope, and in habits probably resembles the gemsbuck. It is hunted by the Arabs for its flesh and to test the speed of their horses and greyhounds; it is during these hunting parties that the young are captured for menagerie purposes.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dinarchus

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​DINARCHUS, last of the “ten” Attic orators, son of Sostratus (or, according to Suidas, Socrates), born at Corinth about 361 B.C. He settled at Athens early in life, and when not more than twenty-five was already active as a writer of speeches for the law courts. As an alien, he was unable to take part in the debates. He had been the pupil both of Theophrastus and of Demetrius Phalereus, and had early acquired a certain fluency and versatility of style. In 324 the Areopagus, after inquiry, reported that nine men had taken bribes from Harpalus, the fugitive treasurer of Alexander. Ten public prosecutors were appointed. Dinarchus wrote, for one or more of these prosecutors, the three speeches which are still extant—Against Demosthenes, Against Aristogeiton, Against Philocles. The sympathies of Dinarchus were in favour of an Athenian oligarchy under Macedonian control; but it should be remembered that he was not an Athenian citizen. Aeschines and Demades had no such excuse. In the Harpalus affair, Demosthenes was doubtless innocent, and so, probably, were others of the accused. Yet Hypereides, the most fiery of the patriots, was on the same side as Dinarchus.
Under the regency of his old master, Demetrius Phalereus, Dinarchus exercised much political influence. The years 317–307 were the most prosperous of his life. On the fall of Demetrius Phalereus and the restoration of the democracy by Demetrius Poliorcetes, Dinarchus was condemned to death and withdrew into exile at Chalcis in Euboea. About 292, thanks to his friend Theophrastus, he was able to return to Attica, and took up his abode in the country with a former associate, Proxenus. He afterwards brought an action against Proxenus on the ground that he had robbed him of some money and plate. Dinarchus died at Athens about 291.
​According to Suidas, Dinarchus wrote 160 speeches; and Dionysius held that, out of 85 extant speeches bearing his name, 58 were genuine,—28 relating to public, 30 to private causes. Although the authenticity of the three speeches mentioned above is generally admitted, Demetrius of Magnesia doubted that of the speech Against Demosthenes, while A. Westermann rejected all three. Dinarchus had little individual style and imitated by turns Lysias, Hypereides and Demosthenes. He is called by Hermogenes ὁ κριθινὸς Δημοσθένης, a metaphor taken from barley compared with wheat, or beer compared with wine,—a Demosthenes whose strength is rougher, without flavour or sparkle.
Editions: (text and exhaustive commentary) E. Mätzner (1842); (text) T. Thalheim (1887), F. Blass (1888); see L. L. Forman, Index Andocideus, Lycurgeus, Dinarcheus (1897); and, in general, F. Blass, Attische Beredsamkeit, iii. There is a valuable treatise on the life and speeches of Dinarchus by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dime

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​DIME (from the Lat. decima, a tenth, through the O. Fr. disme), the tenth part, the tithe paid as church dues, or as tribute to a temporal power. In this sense it is obsolete, but is found in Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible—“He gave him dymes of alle thingis” (Gen. xiv. 20). A dime is a silver coin of the United States, in value 10 cents (English equivalent about 5d.) or one-tenth of a dollar; hence “dime-novel,” a cheap sensational novel, a “penny dreadful”; also “dime-museum.”
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dimension

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​DIMENSION (from Lat. dimensio, a measuring), in geometry, a magnitude measured in a specified direction, i.e. length, breadth and thickness; thus a line has only length and is said to be of one dimension, a surface has length and breadth, and has two dimensions, a solid has length, breadth and thickness, and has three dimensions. This concept is extended to algebra: since a line, surface and solid are represented by linear, quadratic and cubic equations, and are of one, two and three dimensions; a biquadratic equation has its highest terms of four dimensions, and, in general, an equation in any number of variables which has the greatest sum of the indices of any term equal to n is said to have n dimensions. The “fourth dimension” is a type of non-Euclidean geometry, in which it is conceived that a “solid” has one dimension more than the solids of experience. For the dimensions of units see Units, Dimensions of.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dinant

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​DINANT, an ancient town on the right bank of the Meuse in the province of Namur, Belgium, connected by a bridge with the left bank, on which are the station and the suburb of St Medard. Pop. (1904) 7674. The name is supposed to be derived from Diana, and as early as the 7th century it was named as one of the dependencies of the bishopric of Tongres. In the 10th century it passed under the titular sway of Liége, and remained the fief of the prince-bishopric till the French revolution put an end to that survival of feudalism. In the middle of the 15th century Dinant reached the height of its prosperity. With a population of 60,000, and 8000 workers in copper, it was one of the most flourishing cities in Walloon Belgium, until it incurred the wrath of Charles the Bold. Belief in the strength of its walls and of the castle that occupied the centre bridge, thus effectually commanding navigation by the river, engendered arrogance and overconfidence, and the people of Dinant thought they could defy the full power of Burgundy. Perhaps they also expected aid from France or Liége. In 1466 Charles, in his father’s name, laid siege to Dinant, and on the 27th of August carried the place by storm. He razed the walls and allowed the women, children and priests to retire in safety to Liége, but the male prisoners he either hanged or drowned in the river by causing them to be cast from the projecting cliff of Bouvignes. In 1675 the capture of Dinant formed one of the early military achievements of Louis XIV., and it remained in the hands of the French for nearly thirty years after that date. The citadel on the cliff, 300 ft. or 408 steps above the town, was fortified by the Dutch in 1818. It is now dismantled, but forms the chief curiosity of the place. The views of the river valley from this eminence are exceedingly fine. Half way up the cliff, but some distance south of the citadel, is the grotto of Montfat, alleged to be the site of Diana’s shrine. The church of Notre Dame, dating from the 13th century, stands immediately under the citadel and flanking the bridge. It has been restored, and is considered by some authorities, although others make the same claim on behalf of Huy, the most complete specimen in Belgium of pointed Gothic architecture. The baptismal fonts date from the 12th century, and the curious spire in the form of an elongated pumpkin and covered with slates gives a fantastic and original appearance to the whole edifice. The present prosperity of Dinant is chiefly derived from its being a favourite summer resort for Belgians as well as foreigners. It has facilities for beating and bathing as well as for trips by steamer up and down the river Meuse. It is also a convenient central point for excursions into the Ardennes. Although there are some indications of increased industrial activity in recent years, the population of Dinant is not one-eighth of what it was at the time of the Burgundians.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Diluvium

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​DILUVIUM (Lat. for “deluge,” from diluere, to wash away), a term in geology for superficial deposits formed by flood-like operations of water, and so contrasted with alluvium (q.v.) or alluvial deposits formed by slow and steady aqueous agencies. The term was formerly given to the “boulder clay” deposits, supposed to have been caused by the Noachian deluge.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dimity

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​DIMITY, derived from the Gr. δίμιτος “double thread,” through the Ital. dimito, “a kind of course linzie-wolzie” (Florio, 1611); a cloth commonly employed for bed upholstery and curtains, and usually white, though sometimes a pattern is printed on it in colours. It is stout in texture, and woven in raised patterns.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dinajpur

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​DINAJPUR, a town (with a population in 1901 of 13,430) and district of British India, in the Rajshahi division of Eastern Bengal and Assam. The earthquake of the 12th of June 1897 caused serious damage to most of the public buildings of the town. There is a railway station and a government high school. The district comprises an area of 3946 sq. m. It is traversed in every direction by a network of channels and water courses. Along the banks of the Kulik river, the undulating ridges and long lines of ​mango-trees give the landscape a beauty which is not found elsewhere. Dinajpur forms part of the rich arable tract lying between the Ganges and the southern slopes of the Himalayas. Although essentially a fluvial district, it does not possess any river navigable throughout the year by boats of 4 tons burden. Rice forms the staple agricultural product. The climate of the district, although cooler than that of Calcutta, is very unhealthy, and the people have a sickly appearance. The worst part of the year is at the close of the rains in September and October, during which months few of the natives escape fever. The average maximum temperature is 92·3° F., and the minimum 74·8°. The average rainfall is 85·54 in. In 1901 the population was 1,567,080, showing an increase of 6% in the decade. The district is partly traversed by the main line of the Eastern Bengal railway and by two branch lines. Save between 1404 and 1442, when it was the seat of an independent raj, founded by Raja Ganesh, a Hindu turned Mussulman, Dinajpur has no separate history. Pillars and copper-plate inscriptions have yielded numerous records of the Pal kings who ruled the country from the 9th century onwards, and the district is famous for many other antiquities, some of which are connected by legend with an immemorial past (see Reports, Arch. Survey of India, xv.; Epigraphia Indica, ii.).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dinan

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​DINAN, a town of north-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Côtes-du-Nord, 37 m. E. of St Brieuc on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 8588. Dinan is situated on a height on the left bank of the Ranee (here canalized), some 17 m. above its mouth at St Malo, with which it communicates by means of small steamers. It is united to the village of Lanvallay on the right bank of the river by a granite viaduct 130 ft. in height. The town is almost entirely encircled by the ramparts of the middle ages, strengthened at intervals by towers and defended on the south by a castle of the late 14th century, which now serves as prison. Three old gateways are also preserved. Dinan has two interesting churches; that of St Malo, of late Gothic architecture, and St Sauveur, in which the Romanesque and Gothic styles are intermingled. In the latter church a granite monument contains the heart of Bertrand Du Guesclin, whose connexion with the town is also commemorated by an equestrian statue. The quaint winding streets of Dinan are often bordered by medieval houses. Its picturesqueness attracts large numbers of visitors and there are many English residents in the town and its vicinity. About three-quarters of a mile from the town are the ruins of the château and the Benedictine abbey at Léhon; near the neighbouring village of St Esprit stands the large lunatic asylum of Les Bas Foins, founded in 1836; and at no great distance is the now dismantled château of La Garaye, which was rendered famous in the 18th century by the philanthropic devotion of the count and countess whose story is told in Mrs Norton’s Lady of La Garaye. Dinan is the seat of a subprefect and has a tribunal of first instance, and a communal college. There is trade in grain, cider, wax, butter and other agricultural products. The industries include the manufacture of leather, farm-implements and canvas.
The principal event in the history of Dinan, which was a stronghold of the dukes of Brittany, is the siege by the English under the duke of Lancaster in 1359, during which Du Guesclin and an English knight called Thomas of Canterbury engaged in single combat.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dinapur

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​DINAPUR, a town and military station of British India, in the Patna district of Bengal, on the right bank of the Ganges, 12 m. W. of Patna city by rail. Pop. (1901) 33,699. It is the largest military cantonment in Bengal, with accommodation for two batteries of artillery, a European and a native infantry regiment. In 1857 the sepoy garrison of the place initiated the mutiny of that year in Patna district, but after a conflict with the European troops were forced to retire from the town, and subsequently laid siege to Arrah.