OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Reading

Edition of 1802.
​READING, is the art of delivering written language, with precision, energy, and a proper adaptation of voice.
This art is one of the most pleasing in domestic or civilized life; yet there are few, comparatively speaking, who possess, or endeavour to acquire it, so as to be enabled to read fluently; and, by placing the emphasis as well as the accents on proper words, to convey the full meaning of an author to the hearer. Hence they become frequently indistinct, and sometimes unintelligible.
It would exceed our limits, to point out the faults or imperfections that prevail in the general method of reading, both at home and in the pulpit; yet we deem it our duty to observe, that the principal indistinctness arises frorn too great precipitation of speech, which is acquired by a vitiated mode of teaching or communicating this art to children. The first object of British school-masters should be, to render their pupils familiarly acquainted with written language, so that they may be enabled to ​pronounce the printed text of books with the greater facility. Thus, juvenile scholars would not be induced to imagine that, in proportion as they advance in the ready articulation of syllables and words, the true excellence, or beauty of reading, consists wholly in the rapidity with which they are enabled to utter sounds, and to imitate the mechanism of language. Such defect may, however, be rectified, or avoided, by allotting certain hours for reading aloud, in a slow and distinct manner, and in the presence of a person, who is competent to point out errors, or to remind the reader, in case he should relapse into his former volubility.
There are numerous precepts that relate to this useful art; but we cannot specify and illustrate them, here, by proper examples. Those of our readers, who are studious of improvement, will meet with excellent instructions in Mr. Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution, (8vo. 7s.); and especially in Mr. Walker's Elements of Elocution, (2 vols. 8vo. 12s.); in which proper rules are given, in clear and perspicuous language, and enforced by extracts from the best English writers.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Receipt

Edition of 1802.
​RECEIPT, in Commerce, is an acquittance or discharge in writing; the purport of which is, that the party has received a certain sum of money, either in full for the whole of a debt, in part, or on account.
As designing persons might attempt to evade the stamp-duty, the legislature has provided that no receipt shall be valid, unless it be written on stamped paper, according to the value or amount of the payment to be made. Besides, there are various penalties imposed by different acts of parliament, on ​the parties giving and receiving unstamped acknowledgments. We have, therefore, subjoined the following table.
receipts.
| For | 2l. | and less than | 20l. | ---2d. |
| — | 20 | ——— | 50 | ---4d. |
| — | 50 | ——— | 100 | ---6d. |
| — | 100 | ——— | 500 | ---1s. |
| — | 500 and upwards | 500 and upwards | ----2s. | ----2s. |
| In full of all demands | In full of all demands | In full of all demands | ----2s. | ----2s. |
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Ray-Fish

Edition of 1802.
​RAY-FISH, or Raja, L. a genus of the finny tribe, subsisting on muscles, small fish, &c. comprising nine species, of which the following are the most remarkable.
1. The batis. See Skate.
2. The aspera, or Rough Ray, is found in Loch Broom, in Scotland. From the point of the nose to the end of the tail, it measures upwards of five feet in length. The upper part of the body is of an ash-brown colour, streaked with white; spotted with black; and covered with small spines. The tail is furnished with three rows of large spines, such as are likewise on the fins, and lower surface of the body. This fish, we believe, is eaten only in times of scarcity.
3. The torpedo, Electric Ray, or cramp-fish, is often caught in Torbay, Devonshire, at the depth of about forty fathoms. It attains a prodigious size, and frequently weighs upwards of 80lbs. Its head and body are nearly circular; the upper parts being ash-brown; and the lower belly white. This animal feeds upon fish, which it stupefies by its electric stroke.—The cramp-fish also gives a violent shock to those who tread upon, or take it in their hands; a phenomenon which is attributed to two sets of very small cylindrical vessels that lie beneath the skin; one being electrified positively, and the other negatively, apparently at the pleasure of the fish.
4. The clavata. See Thornback.
5. The pastinaca, or Sting-Ray, is also found in the British Seas. Its body is perfectly smooth, mucilaginous, almost round, and much thicker than any other ray-fish. This species sheds its spine, which is renewed annually; it is caught with danger to the pursuers; and is not only remarkable on account of the severe wounds it inflicts (which are very difficult to cure; though they are not venomous, as was formerly believed), but likewise esteemed a good dish, when young and tender. Numbers are taken near Heligoland, at the mouth of the Elbe; and Funke informs us, that their flat bodies, in general, exceed two feet in breadth, though only an inch thick; but that they sometimes attain a very considerable size, weighing several cwt.—The smooth ray-fish is thence exported in a dried state; and from its liver is obtained a white species of train-oil.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Red-Breast

Edition of 1802.
​RED-BREAST, or Robin-Red-Breast, Motacilla rubecula, L. a little bird, the body of which is of a greenish ash colour; and the forehead, throat, neck, and breast, are marked with a rufous orange shade.
This familiar and diminutive creature inhabits Britain, and the whole Continent of Europe.—It abounds in several provinces of ​France, where numbers are caught for the table, being there esteemed a great delicacy.
Red-breasts construct their nests either in some low bush near the ground, or in retired parts of old buildings. The female lays twice annually, from five to six dusky-white eggs, marked with reddish spots.
Insects are the favourite and general food of these birds: there are none of the feathered tribe more tame and useful than the Red-breast, which closely attends the gardener, when at work with the spade, with the view of obtaining worms: and, frequently in the winter season, enters houses, where the doors or windows are open, when it picks up the crumbs from the table, while the family are at dinner.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Red-rot

Edition of 1802.
​Red-rot: See Sundew, the Round-leaved.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Marshall, Benjamin

​MARSHALL, BENJAMIN (1767?–1835), animal painter, born about 1767, exhibited thirteen pictures, chiefly portraits of racehorses and their owners, at the Royal Academy, 1801–12 and 1818–9. His portraits of sporting characters included those of J. G. Shaddick, 1806, and Daniel Lambert, 1807. Two pictures of fighting cocks, exhibited in 1812, were engraved in mezzotint by Charles Turner in the same year with the titles of 'The Cock in Feather' and 'The Trimm'd Cock.' Other engraved pictures are 'Hap-hazard' and 'Muly Moloch,' racehorses belonging to the Earl of Darlington, engraved as a pair by W. and G. Cooke, 1805, from pictures at Raby Castle; 'The Earl of Darlington and his Foxhounds,' by T. Dean, 1805, and the companion subject, 'Francis Dukinfield Astley and his Harriers,' by R. Woodman, 1809; 'Sir Teddy,' mezzotint by Charles Turner, 1808; 'Sancho,' a pointer belonging to Sir John Shelley, etched by Charles Turner in 1808; and 'Diamond,' a racehorse, engraved in mezzotint by W. Barnard in 1811.
Sixty paintings of sportsmen, horses, and dogs by Marshall were engraved by John Scott for Wheble's 'Sporting Magazine,' vols. vii-lxxxi., and eight types of horses by Marshall, also engraved by Scott, appeared in 'The Sportsman's Repository,' 1820. Marshall's exhibited and engraved works represent but a small proportion of the commissions which he carried out for patrons of the turf and masters of hounds throughout the country. A number of his pictures of horses are in the collection of Sir Walter Gilbey. About 1800-10 Marshall was living at 23 Beaumont Street, Marylebone. He had various later addresses in London, but was often described as 'Marshall of Newmarket,' where he chiefly lived. He died in ​the Hackney Road, at the age of sixty-eight, on 24 July 1835.
C. D.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Marryat, Florence

​MARRYAT, FLORENCE, successively Mrs. Church and Mrs. Lean (1838–1899), novelist, born at Brighton on 9 July 1838, was sixth daughter and tenth child of Captain Frederick Marryat [q. v.] and his wife Catherine, daughter or Sir Stephen Shairp of Houston, Linlithgowshire. She was educated at home, and was always a great reader. On 13 June 1854, at the age of sixteen, she married at Penang T. Ross Church, afterwards colonel in the Madras staff corps, with whom she travelled over nearly the whole of India. She had by him eight children. She outlived him, and in 1890 married, as her second husband, Colonel Francis Lean of the royal marine light infantry.
Her first novel, 'Love's Conflict,' written to distract her mind in the intervals of nursing her children with scarlet fever, appeared in 1865. Between that date and the ​year of her death she published some ninety novels, many of which, notwithstanding their mediocre character, were translated into German, French, Swedish, Flemish, and Russian, and became popular in America. From 1872 to 1876 she edited the monthly periodical called 'London Society.'
In 1872 she published in two volumes the 'Life and Letters of Captain Marryat;' it does not present a complete portrait of her father; the scanty material is supplemented by too many trifling details. In the latter years of her life she was much attracted to spiritualism. Although a Roman catholic, she received permission from her director, Father Dalgairn of the Brompton oratory, to pursue researches of the kind in the cause of science. 'There is no Death,' published in 1891, gives a detailed account of the various media with whom she came in contact, and of the séances she attended. Although it bears evident marks of the author's sincerity, it is difficult to believe that a large element of fiction does not enter into the volume. Other books dealing with the subject are 'The Risen Dead' 1893) and 'The Spirit World' (1894). 'Tom Tiddler's Ground,' a book of travel (1886), is an irresponsible account of America.
A woman of varied accomplishments, she added to the rôles of author and novelist those of playwright, comedy actress, operatic singer, giver of lectures and entertainments, and manager of a school of journalism. She acted in a drama of her own, entitled 'Her World,' produced in London in 1881. She died at St. John's Wood, London, on 27 Oct. 1899.
[Men and Women of the Time, 1899; Allibone's Dict., Suppl. ii. 983; Athenæum, 4 .Nov. 1899; Times, 28 Oct. 1899.]
E. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Malcolm, George

​MALCOLM, Sir GEORGE (1818–1897), general, born at Bombay on 10 Sept. 1818, was the only son of David Malcolm, a Bombay merchant, who was the brother of Admiral Sir Pulteney and General Sir John Malcolm [q. v.] He was commissioned as ensign in the E.I.C. service on 10 June 1836, and was posted to the 1st Bombay native infantry on 18 July 1837. He served in the Afghan war of 1839 as deputy-assistant commissary-general and baggagemaster with the Bombay division, and was present at the capture of Ghazni and occupation of Kabul. In August 1840, at the head of a detachment of Sind horse, he joined the force sent under Major Clibborn to relieve Kahan in Baluchistan, took part in the attempt to force the Nafusk pass, and was mentioned in despatches for his gallantry. He was also engaged in the operations against Nusseer Khan and the Brahoes and the capture of their camp near Kanda on 1 Dec. He received the medal.
He became lieutenant on 31 Aug. 1840. He served under Colonel John Jacob [q. v.] during the subjugation of Sind, and was present at the battle of Shadadpur and the capture of Shahpur. In the second Sikh war he commanded the 2nd Sind horse, and was ​present at the siege of Multan and the battle of Gujrat. He was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette, 19 April 1849), received the medal, and on becoming captain in his regiment (1st Bombay native infantry) he was given a brevet majority on 22 June 1849. He became lieutenant-colonel on 28 Nov. 1854.
He served in the Persian war of 1856-7, and commanded a small field force during the Indian mutiny. On 29 Nov. 1857 he stormed the fortified village of Halgalli. He took possession of Shorapur on 9 Feb. 1858, and on 2 June he captured the fort of Nargund, the strongest in the South Maratha country. He was mentioned in despatches, received the medal, and was made C.B. on 21 March 1859. He became colonel in the army on 30 Aug. 1860, and major-general on 15 Dec. 1867. In the expedition to Abyssinia in 1868 he commanded the second division, which guarded the line of communications. He was included in the vote of thanks of parliament, was made K.C.B. on 14 Aug. 1868, and received the medal. He was promoted lieutenant-general on 29 May 1875, and general on 1 Oct. 1877, and was placed on the unemployed supernumerary list on 1 July 1881. He received the G.C.B. on 29 May 1886.
He died at Leamington on 6 April 1897. On 19 Oct. 1852 he married Wilhelmina Charlotte, youngest daughter of the Rev. Henry Alright Hughes. She survived him. In 1868 he printed for private circulation at Karachi 'Remarks on the Indian Army' (eighteen pages), in which he dwelt on the danger of relying on European troops and of neglecting and discrediting the native army, as had been the tendency since the mutiny.
[Times, 7 April 1897; Stocqueler's Memorials of Afghanistan, pp. 112-21; Malleson's Indian Mutiny, iii. 126, &c.; Burke's Landed Grentry; Official Record of the Expedition to Abyssinia.]
E. M. L.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Mackay, Alexander

​MACKAY, ALEXANDER (1833–1902), promoter of education in Scotland, born at Bonar Bridge, Sutherland, on 22 Feb. 1833, was son of William Mackay, tailor and clothier, of Bonar Bridge, by his wife Elizabeth Macgregor. Educated at Bonar Bridge parochial school, he passed to St. Andrews University, where he was a prizeman, graduated M.A., and subsequently in 1891 was admitted to the honorary degree of LL.D. After a short engagement as a teacher at Cameron in Fifeshire he removed to Torryburn, where he was parish schoolmaster for twenty-six years. There he carried on the best Scottish teaching traditions and made a special effort to train boys for the colonies. From 1862 till his death he was an elder of the established church. On the passing in 1861 of the Parochial and Burgh Schoolmasters Act, which refashioned the old system of Scottish education, Mackay devoted himself to the development of ​educational methods and administration and in the organisation of the teaching profession. A further stop in advance was made in 1872 by the great Compulsory Education (Scotland) Act. To a weekly paper, 'Educational News,' established at Edinburgh on 1 Jan. 1876 by William Ballantyne Hodgson [q. v.] and other enlightened educational leaders as the official organ of Scottish teachers, Mackay became a chief contributor, and on 1 July 1878 undertook its editorship, at first without salary. He improved the financial position of the paper, and received a salary from 1881. Under his control the paper, in which he wrote on a wide range of themes, did much to increase the efficiency of the statutory system of education and to improve the position of the teaching profession. From 1876 till death he was treasurer of the Educational Institute of Scotland, was president in 1881, and greatly extended the influence of the body. In 1897 he was elected a member of the school board of Edinburgh and was re-elected in 1900. He was convener of the evening school committee. A conservative in politics, he possessed much force of character, independence of mind, and clarity of judgment. He died at 13 Warriston Crescent, Edinburgh, on 4 Dec. 1902. In 1863 he married Jane Watt, who survived him with a son. Major Mackay, and four daughters. Mackay published several works of value in the teaching profession. They include : 1. 'Foreign Systems of Education.' 2. Æsthetics in Schools.' 3. 'A History of Scotland.' 4. 'A Plea for our Parish Schools.' 5. 'Free Trade in Teaching.'
[The Times, 8 Dec. 1902; Scotsman, 5 Dec. 1902; Educational News, 13 Dec. 1902 (with portrait); information from the family; Scottish Educational Statutes.]
J. E. G. de M.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Earth

Edition of 1802.
​EARTH, in general, signifies that solid, incombustible substance which forms the basis of the globe we inhabit.
Chemists have, hitherto, made us acquainted with eight different species of simple earths, namely, 1. The siliceous, or flint; 2. calcareous, or lime; 3. magnesian, or talc; 4. argillaceous, or clay; 5. ponderous, or barytes (Derbyshire spar); 6. Strontian (from a place of that name in Scotland); 7. Circon, or jargon of Ceylon; and 8. glucine earth, very lately discovered by Vauquelin, and also called sweet earth of beryl.—We cannot enter into an analysis of the different earths here enumerated, and shall, therefore, content ourselves with stating, that simple earths are rarely found in a state of purity; that all the strata of rocks (which compose in a manner "the shell of this globe," on the surface of which the vegetable mould is immediately incumbent) principally consist of siliceous, argillaceous, calcareous, or other compound earths derived from the primitive kinds before specified; that stones are only earths in an indurated state; that the characteristic difference between earths and alkalis arises from the insolubility of the former, while the latter may be dissolved in water or other fluids; and, lastly, that most of these earths unite with acids, and neutralise them, like alkalis.
As we treat of those species of earth, which may be usefully employed in domestic economy, under their respective heads of the alphabet (see Clay, Flint, Lime, &c.), we cannot in this place enlarge upon the subject.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Eau-de-luce

Edition of 1802.
​EAU-DE-LUCE, a kind of liquid volatile soap, of a strong pungent smell, which is prepared in the following manner: Ten or twelve grains of white soap are dissolved in four ounces of rectified spirit of wine; after which the solution is strained. A dram of rectified oil of amber is then added, and the whole filtrated: with this solution should be mixed such a proportion of the strongest volatile spirit of sal-ammoniac, in a crystal ​glass bottle, as will, when sufficiently shaken, produce a beautiful milk-white liquor. If a kind of cream should settle on the surface, it will be requisite to add a small quantity of the spirituous solution of the soap.—Those who may wish to have this liquor perfumed, may employ lavender, or Hungary water, instead of the spirit of wine.
This celebrated composition is, however, seldom obtained in a genuine state, when purchased at the shops. Its use, as an external remedy, is very extensive; for it has not only been employed for curing the bites of vipers, wasps, bees, gnats, ants, and other insects, but also for burns, and even the bite of a mad dog, though not always with uniform success. Besides, it affords one of the safest stimulants in cases of suffocation from mephitic vapours, and in that state of apoplexy (which see) termed serous, as likewise after excessive intoxication, and in all those paralytic complaints, where the vessels of the skin, or the muscular fibre, require to be excited into action. Nevertheless, it ought to be used with due precaution.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Economy

Edition of 1802.
​ECONOMY, a term of extensive signification, and if its meaning be properly understood and practised, the result cannnot fail to be attended with the happiest effects. It is, in particular, applied to rural, domestic, animal, political, and other objects, but more generally to the first mentioned, which form the basis of the present work.
As, by our plan, we are confined to the alphabetical order, in which the different subjects of economy are discussed, according to their greater or less importance, we cannot, consistently, enlarge upon its theory. Those readers who are seriously inclined to adopt practicable rules of economy and frugality, will consult the particular articles connected these measures: others, who wish to acquire more extensive information on rural and domestic economy in general, will be highly gratified by the perusal of Mr. J. Bannister's Synopsis of Husbandry (8vo. 9s. 1800), and especially the collection of the Reports of the Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor; a work which merits a place in every family library.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Earth-worm

Edition of 1802.
​EARTH-WORM, or Lumbricus, L. a well known insect, which is destitute of feet; it is of an oblong form; round shape, and covered with a soft, slender skin, marked with annular ridges and furrows. It is common in all parts of this country, at little depths beneath the surface of the earth; and is not unfrequently found in the human intestines, as well as in those of the lower animals; in which state it has been supposed to be a different creature, and is therefore called by various names.—See Worms.
Earth-worms were formerly reputed to be of great virtue in medicine; but are at present more usefully employed in feeding poultry and other birds.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Ear-wig

Edition of 1802.
​EAR-WIG, or Forficula auricularis, L. a well known insect, which has received its name from penetrating into the human ear, where it causes the most acute pains, and even, as some have asserted, eventual death.
Various remedies have been applied to extract this noxious insect, such as the holding of a slice of apple to the ear; pouring of Madeira wine or brandy into that organ, &c. But the safest, and we conceive, the best remedy is, to pour olive-oil into the part affected, and to avoid on every occasion sleeping on the ground, particularly during the autumnal months.
Ear-wigs are likewise extremely destructive in gardens, especially where carnations, nuts, or filberts, pears and apples are reared. They are so peculiarly fond of the flowers first mentioned, that if they be not timely prevented, they will entirely destroy them, by ​consuming the sweet part at the bottoms ot the petals or leaves. To prevent these depredations, the usual practice is, to put the bowl of a tobacco-pipe, or the claws of lobsters, upon the sticks supporting the flowers, because ear-wigs creep into cavities and dark places during the day. The placing of hollow reeds behind the twigs of wall-trees, has been found of considerable service, if they be examined and cleared every morning. A visit at midnight, however, is preferable, as more vermin may then be destroyed in one hour, than can be exterminated in one week by the other means; and the garden will in a short time be, in a very considerable degree, if not totally, freed from their depredations.
# Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Earth-nut

Edition of 1802.
​EARTH-NUT, a native plant of two species, namely, the Bunium bulbocastanum, or Great Earth-nut; and the flexuosum, or Common Earth-nut, or Pig-nut. Both are perennial plants, growing in sandy or gravelly meadows, pastures, orchards, and woods: they flower in the month of May or June.
The roots of these plants are at present searched for only by hogs, which devour them with avidity; but as they are very little inferior to chesnuts, we think they might form an agreeable addition to our winter desserts, and be eaten either raw, boiled, or roasted.