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

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​DICHOTOMY (Gr. δίχα, apart, τέμνειν, to cut), literally a cutting asunder, the technical term for a form of logical division, consisting in the separation of a genus into two species, one of which has and the other has not, a certain quality or attribute. Thus men may be thus divided into white men, and men who are not white; each of these may be subdivided similarly. On the principle of contradiction this division is both exhaustive and exclusive; there can be no overlapping, and no members of the original genus or the lower groups are omitted. This method of classification, though formally accurate, has slight value in the exact sciences, partly because at every step one of the two groups is merely negatively characterized and therefore incapable of real subdivision; it is useful, however, in setting forth clearly the gradual descent from the most inclusive genus (summum genus) through species to the lowest class (infima species), which is divisible only into individual persons or things. (See further Division.) In astronomy the term is used for the aspect of the moon or of a planet when apparently half illuminated, so that its disk has the form of a semicircle.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dick, Thomas

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​DICK, THOMAS (1774–1857), Scottish writer on astronomy, was born at Dundee on the 24th of November 1774. The appearance of a brilliant meteor inspired him, when in his ninth year, with a passion for astronomy; and at the age of sixteen he forsook the loom, and supported himself by teaching. In 1794 he entered the university of Edinburgh, and set up a school on the termination of his course; then, in 1801, took out a licence to preach, and officiated for some years as probationer in the United Presbyterian church. From about 1807 to 1817 he taught in the secession school at Methven in Perthshire, and during the ensuing decade in that of Perth, where he composed his first substantive book, The Christian Philosopher (1823, 8th ed. 1842). Its success determined his vocation as an author; he built himself, in 1827, a cottage at Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, and devoted himself wholly to literary and scientific pursuits. They proved, however, owing to his unpractical turn of mind, but slightly remunerative, and he was in 1847 relieved from actual poverty by a crown pension of £50 a year, eked out by a local subscription. He died on the 29th of July 1857. His best-known works are: Celestial Scenery (1837), The Sidereal Heavens (1840), and The Practical Astronomer (1845), in which is contained (p. 204) a remarkable forecast of the powers and uses of celestial photography. Written with competent knowledge, and in an agreeable style, they obtained deserved and widespread popularity.
See R. Chambers’s Eminent Scotsmen (ed. 1868); Monthly Notices Roy. Astr. Society, xviii. 98; Athenaeum (1857), p. 1008. (A. M. C.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dickson, Sir Alexander

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​DICKSON, SIR ALEXANDER (1777–1840), British artillerist, entered the Royal Military Academy in 1793, passing out as second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in the following year. As a subaltern he saw service in Minorca in 1798 and at Malta in 1800. As a captain he took part in the unfortunate Montevideo Expedition of 1806–07, and in 1809 he accompanied Howorth to the Peninsular War as brigade-major of the artillery. He soon obtained a command in the Portuguese artillery, and as a lieutenant-colonel of the Portuguese service took part in the various battles of 1810–11. At the two sieges of Budazoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, the Salamanca forts and Burgos, he was entrusted by Wellington (who had the highest opinion of him) with most of the detailed artillery work, and at Salamanca battle he commanded the reserve artillery. In the end he became commander of the whole of the artillery of the allied army, and though still only a substantive captain in the British service he had under his orders some 8000 men. At Vitoria, the Pyrenees battles and Toulouse he directed the movements of the artillery engaged, and at the end of the war received handsome presents from the officers who had served under him, many of whom were his seniors in the army list. He was at the disastrous affair of New Orleans, but returned to Europe in time for the Waterloo campaign. He was present at Quatre Bras and Waterloo on the artillery staff of Wellington’s army, and subsequently commanded the British battering train at the sieges of the French fortresses left behind the advancing allies. For the rest of his life he was on home service, principally as a staff officer of artillery. He died, a major-general and G.C.B., in 1840. A memorial was erected at Woolwich in 1847. Dickson was one of the earliest fellows of the Royal Geographical Society.
His diaries kept in the Peninsula were the main source of information used in Duncan’s History of the Royal Artillery.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dickson, Sir James Robert

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​DICKSON, SIR JAMES ROBERT (1832–1901), Australian statesman, was born in Plymouth on the 30th of November 1832. He was brought up in Glasgow, receiving his education at the high school, and became a clerk in the City of Glasgow Bank. In 1854 he emigrated to Victoria, but after some years spent in that colony and in New South Wales, he settled in 1862 in Queensland, where he was connected with many important business enterprises, among them the Royal Bank of Queensland. He entered the Queensland House of Assembly in 1872, and became minister of works (1876), treasurer (1876–1879, and 1883–1887), acting premier (1884), but resigned in 1887 on the question of taxing land. In 1889 he retired from business, and spent three years in Europe before resuming political life. He fought for the introduction of Polynesian labour on the Queensland sugar plantations at the general election of 1892, and was elected to the House of Assembly in that year and again at the elections of 1893 and 1896. He became secretary for railways in 1897, minister for home affairs in 1898, represented Queensland in the federal council of Australia in 1896 and at the postal conference at Hobart in 1898, and in 1898 became premier. His energies were now devoted to the formation of an Australian commonwealth. He secured the reference of the question to a plebiscite, the result of which justified his anticipations. He resigned the premiership in November 1899, but in the ministry of Robert Philp, formed in the next month, he was reappointed to the offices of chief secretary and vice-president of the executive council which he had combined with the office of premier. He represented Queensland in 1900 at the conference held in London to consider the question of Australian unity, and on his return was appointed minister of defence in the first government of the Australian Commonwealth. He did not long survive the accomplishment of his political aims, dying at Sydney on the 10th of January 1901, in the midst of the festivities attending the inauguration of the new state.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jashpur

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​JASHPUR, a tributary state of India, in the Central Provinces, having been transferred from Bengal in 1905. The country is divided almost equally into high and low lands. The Uparghat plateau on the east rises 2200 ft. above sea-level, and the hills above it reach their highest point in Ranijula (3527 ft.). The only river of importance is the Ib, in the bed of which diamonds are found, while from time immemorial its sands have been washed for gold. Jashpur iron, smelted by the Kols, is highly prized. Jungles of sál forests abound, harbouring elephant, bison and other wild beasts. Jungle products include lac, silk cocoons and beeswax, which are exported. Area 1948 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 132,114; estimated revenue £8000.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jaro

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​JARO, a town of the province of Iloílo, Panay, Philippine Islands, on the Jaro river, 2 m. N.W. of the town of Iloílo, the capital. Pop. (1903), 10,681. It lies on a plain in the midst of a rich agricultural district, has several fine residences, a cathedral, a curious three-tiered tower, a semi-weekly paper and a monthly periodical. Jaro was founded by the Spanish in 1584. From 1903 until February 1908 it was part of the town or municipality of Iloílo.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarrah Wood

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​JARRAH WOOD (an adaptation of the native name Jerryhl), the product of a large tree (Eucalyptus marginata) found in south-western Australia, where it is said to cover an area of 14,000 sq. m. The trees grow straight in the stem to a great size, and yield squared timber up to 40 ft. length and 24 in. diameter. The wood is very hard, heavy (sp. gr. 1.010) and close-grained, with a mahogany-red colour, and sometimes sufficient “figure” to render it suitable for cabinet-makers’ use. The timber possesses several useful characteristics; and great expectations were at first formed as to its value for shipbuilding and general constructive purposes. These expectations have not, however, been realized, and the exclusive possession of the tree has not proved that source of wealth to western Australia which was at one time expected. Its greatest merit for shipbuilding and marine purposes is due to the fact that it resists, better than any other timber, the attacks of the Teredo navalis and other marine borers, and on land it is equally exempt, in tropical countries, from the ravages of white ants. When felled with the sap at its lowest point and well seasoned, the wood stands exposure in the air, earth or sea remarkably well, on which account it is in request for railway sleepers, telegraph poles and piles in the British colonies and India. The wood, however, frequently shows longitudinal blisters, or lacunae, filled with resin, the same as may be observed in spruce fir timber; and it is deficient in fibre, breaking with a short fracture under comparatively moderate pressure. It has been classed at Lloyds for ship-building purposes in line three, table A, of the registry rules.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jashar, Book of

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​JASHAR, BOOK OF, in Hebrew Sepher ha-yashar, a Hebrew composition mentioned as though well-known in Josh. x. 13 and 2 Sam. i. 18. From these two passages it seems to have been a book of songs relating to important events, but no early collection of the kind is now extant, nor is anything known of it. Various speculations have been put forward as to the name: (1) that it means the book of the upright, i.e. Israel or distinguished Israelites, the root being the same as in Jeshurun; (2) that Jashar (ישר) is a transposition of shîr (שיר, song); (3) that it should be pointed Yashir (ישר, sing; cf. Exod. xv. 1) and was so called after its first word. None of these is very convincing, though support may be found for them all in the versions. The Septuagint favours (1) by its rendering ἐπὶ βιβλίου τοῦ εὐθοῦς in Samuel (it omits the words in Joshua); the Vulgate has in libro justorum in both places; the Syriac in Samuel has Ashīr, which suggests a Hebrew reading ha-shīr (the song), and in Joshua it translates “book of praises.” The Targum on both passages has “book of the law,” an explanation which is followed by the chief Jewish commentators, making the incidents the fulfilment of passages in the Pentateuch. Since it contained the lament of David (2 Sam. i. 18) it cannot have been completed till after his time. If Wellhausen’s restoration of 1 Kings viii. 12 be accepted (from Septuagint 1 Kings viii. 53, ἐν βιβλίῳ τῆς ᾠδῆς) where the reference is to the building of the Temple, the book must have been growing in the time of Solomon. The attempt of Donaldson to reconstruct it is largely subjective and uncritical.
In later times when it became customary to compose midrashic works under well-known names, a book of Jashar naturally made its appearance. It need hardly be remarked that this has nothing whatever to do with the older book. It is an anonymous elaboration in Hebrew of the early part of the biblical narrative, probably composed in the 12th century. The fact that its legendary material is drawn from Arabic sources, as well as from Talmud, Midrash and later Jewish works, would seem to show that the writer lived in Spain, or, according to others, in south Italy. The first edition appeared at Venice in 1625, and it has been frequently printed since. It was translated into English by (or for) M. M. Noah (New York, 1840). A work called The Book of ... Jasher, translated ... by Alcuin (1751; 2nd ed., Bristol, 1829), has nothing to do with this or with any Hebrew original, but is a mere fabrication by the printer, Jacob Hive, who put it forward as the book “mentioned in Holy Scripture.”
Bibliography.—M. Heilprin, Historical Poetry of the Ancient Hebrews (New York, 1879), i. 128–131; Mercati, “Una congettura sopra il libro del Giusto,” in Studi e Testi (5, Roma, 1901). On the medieval work see Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vorträge der Juden (Frankfurt a. M., 1892), 2nd ed., p. 162.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarvis, John Wesley

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​JARVIS, JOHN WESLEY (1780–1840), American artist, nephew of the great John Wesley, was born at South Shields, England, and was taken to the United States at the age of five. He was one of the earliest American painters to give ​serious attention to the study of anatomy. He lived at first in Philadelphia, afterwards establishing himself in New York, where he enjoyed great popularity, though his conviviality and eccentric mode of life affected his work. He visited Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans, entertaining much and painting portraits of prominent people, particularly in New Orleans, where General Andrew Jackson was one of his sitters. He had for assistants at different times both Sully and Inman. He affected singularity in dress and manners, and his mots were the talk of the day. But his work deteriorated, and he died in great poverty in New York City. Examples of his painting are in the collection of the New York Historical Society.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarīr Ibn 'Atīyya ul-Khatfī

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​JARĪR IBN ʽATĪYYA UL-KHATFĪ (d. 728), Arabian poet, was born in the reign of the caliph ʽAli, was a member of the tribe Kulaib, a part of the Tamīm, and lived in Irak. Of his early life little is known, but he succeeded in winning the favour of Hajjāj, the governor of Irak (see Caliphate). Already famous for his verse, he became more widely known by his feud with Farazdaq and Akhtal. Later he went to Damascus and visited the court of Abdalmalik (ʽAbd ul-Malik) and that of his successor, Walīd. From neither of these did he receive a warm welcome. He was, however, more successful with Omar II., and was the only poet received by the pious caliph.
His verse, which, like that of his contemporaries, is largely satire and eulogy, was published in 2 vols. (Cairo, 1896). (G. W. T.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarry, Nicolas

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​JARRY, NICOLAS, one of the best-known 17th century French calligraphers. He was born at Paris about 1620, and was officially employed by Louis XIV. His most famous work is the Guirlande de Julie (1641). He died some time before 1674.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarosite

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​JAROSITE, a rare mineral species consisting of hydrous potassium and aluminium sulphate, and belonging to the group of isomorphous rhombohedral minerals enumerated below:—
| Alunite | K$_2$ | [Al(OH)$_2$]$_6$(SO$_4$)$_4$ |
| Jarosite | K$_2$ | [Fe(OH)$_2$]$_6$(SO$_4$)$_4$ |
| Natrojarosite | Na$_2$ | [Fe(OH)$_2$]$_6$(SO$_4$)$_4$ |
| Plumbojarosite | Pb | [Fe(OH)$_2$]$_8$(SO$_4$)$_4$ |
Jarosite usually occurs as drusy incrustations of minute indistinct crystals with a yellowish-brown colour and brilliant lustre. Hardness 3; sp. gr. 3.15. The best specimens, consisting of crystalline crusts on limonite, are from the Jaroso ravine in the Sierra Almagrera, province of Almeria, Spain, from which locality the mineral receives its name. It has been also found, often in association with iron ores, at a few other localities. A variety occurring as concretionary or mulberry-like forms is known as moronolite (from Gr. μῶρον, “mulberry,” and λίθος, “stone”); it is found at Monroe in Orange county, New York. The recently discovered species natrojarosite and plumbojarosite occur as yellowish-brown glistening powders consisting wholly of minute crystals, and are from Nevada and New Mexico respectively. (L. J. S.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Jarrow

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​JARROW, a port and municipal borough in the Jarrow parliamentary division of Durham, England, on the right bank of the Tyne, 61/2 m. below Newcastle, and on a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901), 34,295. The parish church of St Paul was founded in 685, and retains portions of pre-Norman work. The central tower is Norman, and there are good Decorated and Perpendicular details in the body of the church. Close by are the scattered ruins of the monastery begun by the pious Biscop in 681, and consecrated with the church by Ceolfrid in 685. Within the walls of this monastery the Venerable Bede spent his life from childhood; and his body was at first buried within the church, whither, until it was removed under Edward the Confessor to Durham, it attracted many pilgrims. The town is wholly industrial, devoted to ship-building, chemical works, paper mills and the neighbouring collieries. It owes its development from a mere pit village very largely to the enterprise of Sir Charles Mark Palmer (q.v.). Jarrow Slake, a river bay, 1 m. long by 1/2 m. broad, contains the Tyne docks of the North-Eastern railway company. A great quantity of coal is shipped. Jarrow was incorporated in 1875, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 783 acres.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Butter-Nut

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​BUTTER-NUT, the product of Caryocar nuciferum, a native of tropical South America. The large nuts, known also as saowari or suwarow nuts, are the hard stone of the fruit and contain an oily nutritious seed. The genus Caryocar contains ten species, in tropical South America, some of which form large trees affording a very durable wood, useful for shipbuilding.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Buttercup

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* Plant of Ranunculus bulbosus, showing determinate inflorescence.
BUTTERCUP, a name applied to several species of the genus Ranunculus (q.v.), characterized by their deeply-cut leaves and yellow, broadly cup-shaped flowers. Ranunculus acris and R. bulbosus are erect, hairy meadow plants, the latter having the stem swollen at the base, and distinguished also by the furrowed flower-stalks and the often smaller flowers with reflexed, not spreading, sepals. R. repens, common on waste ground, produces long runners by means of which it rapidly covers the ground. The plants are native in the north temperate to arctic zones of the Old World, and have been introduced in America.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Butterfield, Daniel

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​BUTTERFIELD, DANIEL (1831–1901), American soldier, was born in Utica, New York. He graduated at Union College in 1849, and when the Civil War broke out he became colonel of the 12th New York militia regiment. On the 14th of May 1861 he was transferred to the regular army as a lieutenant-colonel, and in September he was made a brigadier-general U.S.V. He served in Virginia in 1861 and in the Peninsular campaign of 1862, and was wounded at Games’ Mill. He took part in the campaign of second Bull Run (August 1862), and in November became major-general U.S.V. and in July 1863 colonel U.S.A. At Fredericksburg he commanded the V. corps, in which he had served since its formation. After General Hooker succeeded Burnside, Butterfield was appointed chief of staff, Army of the Potomac, and in this capacity he served in the Chancellorsville and Gettysburg campaigns. Not being on good terms with General Meade he left the staff, and was soon afterwards sent as chief of staff to Hooker, with the XI. and XII. corps (later combined as the XX.) to Tennessee, and took part in the battle of Chattanooga (1863), and the Atlanta campaign of the following year, when he commanded a division of the XX. corps. His services were recognized by the brevets of brigadier-general and major-general in the regular army. He resigned in 1870, and for the rest of his life was engaged in civil and commercial pursuits. In 1862 he wrote a manual of Camp and Outpost Duty (New York, 1862). General Butterfield died at Cold Spring, N.Y., on the 17th of July 1901.
A Biographical Memorial, by his widow, was published in 1904.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Butt

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​BUTT. (1) (From the Fr. botte, boute; Med. Lat. butta, a wine vessel), a cask for ale or wine, with a capacity of about two hogsheads. (2) (A word common in Teutonic languages, meaning short, or a stump), the thick end of anything, as of a fishing-rod, a gun, a whip, also the stump of a tree. (3) (From the Fr. but, a goal or mark, and butte, a target, a rising piece of ground, &c.), a mark for shooting, as in archery, or, in its modern use, a mound or bank in front of which are placed the targets in artillery or musketry practice. This is sometimes called a “stop-butt,” its purpose being to secure the ground behind the targets from stray shots. The word is used figuratively of a person or object at which derision or abuse are levelled.