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

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​DEDHAM, a township and the county seat of Norfolk county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., with an area of 23 sq. m. of comparatively level country. Pop. (1890) 7123; (1900) 7457, of whom 2186 were foreign-born; (1910 U.S. census) 9284. The township is traversed by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway, and by interurban electric lines. It contains three villages, Dedham, East Dedham and Oakdale. Dedham has a public library (1854; incorporated 1871). The Dedham historical society was organized in 1859 and was incorporated in 1862. The Fairbanks house was erected in part as early as 1654. Carpets, handkerchiefs and woollen goods are manufactured, and a pottery here is reputed to make the only true crackleware outside the East. Dedham was “planted” in 1635 and was incorporated in 1636. It was one of the first two inland settlements of the colony, being coeval with Concord. The original plantation, about 20 m. long and 10 m. wide, extended from Roxbury and Dorchester to the present state line of Rhode Island: from this territory several townships were created, including Westwood (pop. in 1910, 1266), in 1897. A free public school, one of the first in America to be supported by direct taxation, was established in Dedham in 1645. In the Woodward tavern, the birthplace of Fisher Ames, a convention met in September 1774 and adjourned to Milton (q.v.), where it passed the Suffolk Resolves.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Disorderly House

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​DISORDERLY HOUSE, in law, a house in which the conduct of its inmates is such as to become a public nuisance, or a house where persons congregate to the probable disturbance of the public peace or other commission of crime. In England, by the Disorderly Houses Act 1751, the term includes common bawdy houses or brothels, common gaming houses, common betting houses and disorderly places of entertainment. The keeping of such is a misdemeanour punishable by fine or imprisonment, and in the case of a brothel also punishable on summary conviction by the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885; the letting out for gain for indiscriminate prostitution of a room or rooms in a house will make it as much a brothel in law as if the whole house were let out for the purpose. Where, however, a woman occupies a house or room which is frequented by men for the purpose of committing fornication with her, she cannot be convicted of keeping a disorderly house. See also Prostitution.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dissolution

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​DISSOLUTION (from Lat. dissolvere, to break up into parts), the act of dissolving or reducing to constituent parts, especially of the bringing to an end an association such as a partnership or building society, and particularly of the termination of an assembly. A dissolution of parliament in England is thus the end of its existence, brought about by the efflux of time in accordance with the Septennial Act 1716, or by an exercise of the royal prerogative. This is done either in person, or by commission, if parliament is sitting; if prorogued, then by proclamation. The word is used as a synonym for end or death.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Diss

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​DISS, a market town in the southern parliamentary division of Norfolk, England; near the river Waveney (the boundary with Suffolk), 95 m. N.E. by N. from London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 3745. The town lies pleasantly upon a hill rising above a mere, which drains to the Waveney, having its banks laid out as public gardens. The church of St Mary exhibits Decorated and Perpendicular stone and flint work. There is a corn exchange and the agricultural trade is considerable; brushes and matting are manufactured. The poet and satirist, John Skelton (d. 1529), was rector here in the later part of his life, and is doubtfully considered a native.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dissection

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​DISSECTION (from Lat. dissecare, to cut apart), the separation into parts by cutting, particularly the cutting of an animal or plant into parts for the purpose of examination or display of its structure.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dissenter

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​DISSENTER (Lat. dis-sentire, to disagree), one who dissents or disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, &c. The term “dissenter” is, however, practically restricted to the special sense of a member of a religious body in England which has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church. Strictly, the term includes the English Roman Catholics, who in the original draft of the Relief Act of 1791 were styled “Protesting Catholic Dissenters.” It is in practice, however, restricted to the “Protestant Dissenters” referred to in sec. ii. of the Toleration Act of 1688. The term is not applied to those bodies who dissent from the Established Church of Scotland; and in speaking of members of religious bodies which have seceded from established churches abroad it is usual to employ the term “dissidents” (Lat. dissidere, to dissent). In this connotation the terms “dissenter” and “dissenting,” which had acquired a somewhat contemptuous flavour, have tended since the middle of the 19th century to be replaced by “nonconformist,” a term which did not originally imply secession, but only refusal to conform in certain particulars (e.g. the wearing of the surplice) with the authorized usages of the Established Church. Still more recently the term “nonconformist” has in its turn, as the political attack on the principle of a state establishment of religion developed, tended to give place to the style of “Free Churches” and “Free Churchman.” All three terms are now in use, “nonconformist” being the most usual, as it is the most colourless. (See Congregationalism, &c.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dissociation

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​DISSOCIATION, a separation or dispersal, the opposite of association. In chemistry the term is given to chemical reactions in which a substance decomposes into two or more substances, and particularly to cases in which associated molecules break down into simpler molecules. Thus the reactions NH$_4$Cl⮂NH$_3$ + HCl, and PCl$_5$⮂PCl$_3$ + Cl$_2$ are instances of the first type; N$_2$O$_4$⮂2NO$_2$, of the second (see Chemical Action). Electrolytic or ionic dissociation is the separation of a substance in solution into ions (see Electrolysis; Solution).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dispatch

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​DISPATCH, or Despatch, to send off immediately, or by express; particularly in the case of the sending of official messages, or of the immediate sending of troops to their destination, or the like. The word is thus used as a substantive of written official reports of events, battles and the like, sent by ambassadors, generals, &c., by means of a special messenger, or of express correspondence generally. From the primary meaning of the prompt sending of a message, &c., the word is used of the quick disposal of business, or of the disposal of a person by violence; hence the word means to execute or murder. The etymology of the word has been obscured by the connexion with the Fr. dépêcher, and dépêche, which are in meaning the equivalents of the Eng. verb and substantive. The Fr. word is made up of the prefix de-, Lat. dis-, and the root which appears in empêcher, to embarrass, and means literally to disentangle. The Lat. origin of dépêcher and empêcher is a Low Lat. pedicare, pedica, a fetter. The Fr. word came into Eng. as depeach, which was in use from the 15th century until “despatch” was introduced. This word is certainly direct from the Ital. dispacciare, or Span, despachar, which must be derived from the Lat. root appearing in pactus, fixed, fastened, from pangere. The New English Dictionary finds the earliest instance of “dispatch” in a letter to Henry VIII. from Bishop Tunstall, commissioner to Spain in 1516–1517.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Distaff

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​DISTAFF, in the early forms of spinning, the “rock” or short stick round one end of which the flax, cotton or wool is loosely wound, and from which it is spun off by the spindle. The word is derived from the Old English distaef, the first part of which is connected with dizen, in modern English seen in “bedizen,” to deck out or embellish, originally “to equip the distaff with flax, &c.,” cf. the German dialectal word Diesse, flax. The last part of the word is “staff.” “Distaff” from early times has been used to symbolize woman’s work (cf. the use of “spinster” for an unmarried woman); thus the “distaff” or “spindle” side of a family refers to the female branch, as opposed to the “spear” or male branch. The 7th of January, the day after Epiphany, was formerly known as St Distaff’s day, as women then began work again after the Christmas holiday.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Fernow, Karl Ludwig

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​FERNOW, KARL LUDWIG (1763–1808), German art-critic and archaeologist, was born in Pomerania on the 19th of November 1763. His father was a servant in the household of the lord of Blumenhagen. At the age of twelve he became clerk to a notary, and was afterwards apprenticed to a druggist. While serving his time he had the misfortune accidentally to shoot a young man who came to visit him; and although through the intercession of his master he escaped prosecution, the untoward event weighed heavily on his mind, and led him at the close of his apprenticeship to quit his native place. He obtained a situation at Lübeck, where he had leisure to cultivate his natural taste for drawing and poetry. Having formed an acquaintance with the painter Carstens, whose influence was an important stimulus and help to him, he renounced his trade of druggist, and set up as a portrait-painter and drawing-master. At Ludwigslust he fell in love with a young girl, and followed her to Weimar; but failing in his suit, he went next to Jena. There he was introduced to Professor Reinhold, and in his house met the Danish poet Baggesen. The latter invited him to accompany him to Switzerland and Italy, a proposal which he eagerly accepted (1794) for the sake of the opportunity of furthering his studies in the fine arts. On Baggesen’s return to Denmark, Fernow, assisted by some of his friends, visited Rome and made some stay there. He now renewed his intercourse with Carstens, who had settled at Rome, and applied himself to the study of the history and theory of the fine arts and of the Italian language and literature. Making rapid progress, he was soon qualified to give a course of lectures on archaeology, which was attended by the principal artists then at Rome. Having married a Roman lady, he returned in 1802 to Germany, and was appointed in the following year professor extraordinary of Italian literature at Jena. In 1804 he accepted the post of librarian to Amelia, duchess-dowager of Weimar, which gave him the leisure he desired for the purpose of turning to account the literary and archaeological researches in which he had engaged at Rome. His most valuable work, the Römische Studien, appeared in 3 vols. (1806–1808). Among his other works are—Das Leben des Künstlers Carstens (1806), Ariosto’s Lebenslauf (1809), and Francesco Petrarca (1818). Fernow died at Weimar, December 4, 1808.
A memoir of his life by Johanna Schopenhauer, mother of the philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer, appeared in 1810, and a complete edition of his works in 1829.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ferrand, Antoine François Claude

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​FERRAND, ANTOINE FRANÇOIS CLAUDE, Comte (1751–1825), French statesman and political writer, was born in Paris on the 4th of July 1751, and became a member of the parlement of Paris at eighteen. He left France with the first party of emigrants, and attached himself to the prince of Condé; later he was a member of the council of regency formed by the comte de Provence after the death of Louis XVI. He lived at Regensburg until 1801, when he returned to France, though he still sought to serve the royalist cause. In 1814 Ferrand was made minister of state and postmaster-general. He countersigned the act of sequestration of Napoleon’s property, and introduced a bill for the restoration of the property of the emigrants, establishing a distinction, since become famous, between royalists of la ligne droite and those of la ligne courbe. At the second restoration Ferrand was again for a short time postmaster-general. He was also made a peer of France, member of the privy council, grand-officer and secretary of the orders of Saint Michel and the Saint Esprit, and in 1816 member of the Academy, He continued his active support of ultra-royalist views until his death, which took place in Paris on the 17th of January 1825.
Besides a large number of political pamphlets, Ferrand is the author of L’Esprit de l’histoire, ou Lettres d’un père à son fils sur la manière d’étudier l’histoire (4 vols., 1802), which reached seven editions, the last number in 1826 having prefixed to it a biographical sketch of the author by his nephew Héricart de Thury; Éloge historique de Madame Élisabeth de France (1814); Œuvres dramatiques (1817); Théorie des révolutions rapprochée des événements qui en ont été l’origine, le développement, ou la suite (4 vols., 1817); and Histoire des trois démembrements de la Pologne, pour faire suite à l’Histoire de l’anarchie de Pologne par Rulhière (3 vols., 1820).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ferrar, Nicholas

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​FERRAR, NICHOLAS (1592–1637), English theologian, was born in London in 1592 and educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, graduating in 1610. He was obliged for some years to travel for his health, but on returning to England in 1618 became actively connected with the Virginia Company. When this company was deprived of its patent in 1623 Ferrar turned his attention to politics, and was elected to parliament. But he soon decided to devote himself to a religious life; he purchased the manor of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, where he organized a small religious community. Here, in 1626, he was ordained a deacon by Laud, and declining preferment, he lived an austere, almost monastic life of study and good works. He died on the 4th of December 1637, and the house was despoiled and the community broken up ten years later. There are extant a number of “harmonies” of the Gospel, printed and bound by the community, two of them by Ferrar himself. One of the latter was made for Charles I. on his request, after a visit in 1633 to see the “Arminian Nunnery at Little Gidding,” which had been the subject of some scandalous—and undeserved—criticism.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Fernie

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​FERNIE, an important city in the east Kootenay district of British Columbia. Pop. about 4000. It is situated on the Crow’s Nest branch of the Canadian Pacific railway, at the junction of Coal Creek with the Elk river, and owes its importance to the extensive coal mines in its vicinity. There are about 500 coke ovens in operation at Fernie, which supply most of the smelting plants in southern British Columbia with fuel.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Fernel, Jean François

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​FERNEL, JEAN FRANÇOIS (1497–1558), French physician, was born at Clermont in 1497, and after receiving his early education at his native town, entered the college of Sainte-Barbe, Paris. At first he devoted himself to mathematical and astronomical studies; his Cosmotheoria (1528) records a determination of a degree of the meridian, which he made by counting the revolutions of his carriage wheels on a journey between Paris and Amiens. But from 1534 he gave himself up entirely to medicine, in which he graduated in 1530. His extraordinary general erudition, and the skill and success with which he sought to revive the study of the old Greek physicians, gained him a great reputation, and ultimately the office of physician to the court. He practised with great success, and at his death in 1558 left behind him an immense fortune. He also wrote Monalosphaerium, sive astrolabii genus, generalis horarii structura et usus (1526); De proportionibus (1528); De evacuandi ratione (1545); De abditis rerum causis (1548); and Medicina ad Henricum II. (1554).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Fernando de Noronha

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​FERNANDO DE NORONHA [Fernão de N.], an island in the South Atlantic, 125 m. from the coast of Brazil, to which country it belongs, in 3° 50′ S., 32° 25′ W. It is about 7 m. long and 11/2 wide, and some other islets lie adjacent to it. Its surface is rugged, and it contains a number of rocky hills from 500 to 700 ft. high, and one peak towering to the height of 1089 ft. It is formed of basalt, trachyte and phonolite, and the soil is very fertile. The climate is healthy. It is defended by forts, and serves as a place of banishment for criminals from Brazil. The next largest island of the group is about a mile in circumference, and the others are small barren rocks. The population is about 2000, all males, including some 1400 criminals, and a garrison of 150. Communication is maintained by steamer with Pernambuco. The island takes name from its Portuguese discoverer (1503), the count of Noronha.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ferozeshah

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​FEROZESHAH, a village in the Punjab, India, notable as the scene of one of the chief battles in the first Sikh War. The battle immediately succeeded that of Mudki, and was fought on the 21st and 22nd of December 1845. During its course Sir Hugh Gough, the British commander, was overruled by the governor-general, Lord Hardinge, who was acting as his second in command (see Sikh Wars). At the end of the first day’s fighting the British had occupied the Sikh position, but had not gained an undisputed victory. On the following morning the battle was resumed, and the Sikhs were reinforced by a second army under Tej Singh; but through cowardice or treachery Tej Singh withdrew at the critical moment, leaving the field to the British. In the course of the fight the British lost 694 killed and 1721 wounded, the vast majority being British troops, while the Sikhs lost 100 guns and about 5000 killed and wounded.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dick, Robert

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​DICK, ROBERT (1811–1866), Scottish geologist and botanist, was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire, in January 1811. His father was an officer of excise. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good elementary education at the parish school, Robert Dick was apprenticed to a baker, and served for three years. In these early days he became interested in wild flowers—he made a collection of plants and gradually acquired some knowledge of their names from an old encyclopaedia. When his time was out he left Tullibody and gained employment as a journeyman baker at Leith, Glasgow and Greenock. Meanwhile his father, who in 1826 had been removed to Thurso, as supervisor of excise, advised his son to set up a baker’s shop in that town. Thither Robert Dick went in 1830, he started in business as a baker and worked laboriously until he died on the 24th of December 1866. Throughout this period he zealously devoted himself to studying and collecting the plants, mollusca and insects of a wide area of Caithness, and his attention was directed soon after he settled in Thurso to the rocks and fossils. In 1835 he first found remains of fossil fishes; but it was not till some years later that his interest became greatly stirred. Then he obtained a copy of Hugh Miller’s Old Red Sandstone (published in 1841), and he began systematically to collect with hammer and chisel the fossils from the Caithness flags. In 1845 he found remains of Holoptychius and forwarded specimens to Hugh Miller, and he continued to send the best of his fossil fishes to that geologist, and to others after the death of Miller. In this way he largely contributed to the progress of geological knowledge, although he himself published nothing and was ever averse from publicity. His herbarium, which consisted of about 200 folios of mosses, ferns and flowering plants “almost unique in its completeness,” is now stored, with many of his fossils, in the museum at Thurso. Dick had a hard struggle for existence, especially through competition during his late years, when he was reduced almost to beggary: but of this few, if any, of his friends were aware until it was too late. A monument erected in the new cemetery at Thurso testifies to the respect which his life-work created, when the merits of this enthusiastic naturalist came to be appreciated.
See Robert Dick, Baker of Thurso, Geologist and Botanist, by Samuel Smiles (1878).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth

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​DICKINSON, ANNA ELIZABETH (1842–), American author and lecturer, was born, of Quaker parentage, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of October 1842. She was educated at the Friends’ Free School in Philadelphia, and was for a time a teacher. In 1861 she obtained a clerkship in the United States mint, but was removed for criticizing General McClellan at a public meeting. She had gradually become widely known as an eloquent and persuasive public speaker, one of the first of her sex to mount the platform to discuss the burning questions of the hour. Before the Civil War she lectured on anti-slavery topics, during the war she toured the country on behalf of the Sanitary Commission, and also lectured on reconstruction, temperance and woman’s rights. She wrote several plays, including The Crown of Thorns (1876); Mary Tudor (1878), in which she appeared in the title rôle; Aurelian (1878); and An American Girl (1880), successfully acted by Fanny Davenport. She also published a novel, Which Answer? (1868); A Paying Investment, a Plea for Education (1876); and A Ragged Register of People, Places and Opinions (1879).