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

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​WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. veðr, and Ger. Wetter and Gewilter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived “wind”), the condition of the atmosphere in regard to its temperature, presence or absence of wind or cloud, its dryness or humidity, and all the various meteorological phenomena (see Meteorology). The term “weathering” is used in geology of the gradual action of the weather upon rocks, and is also applied, in architecture, to the inclination or slope outwards given to cornices, string courses and window sills, to throw off the rain.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Weasel

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​WEASEL (Putorius nivalis), the smallest European species of the group of mammals of which the polecat and stoat are well-known members (see Carnivora). The weasel is an elegant little animal, with elongated slender body, back much arched, head small and flattened, ears short and rounded, neck long and flexible, limbs short, five toes on each foot, all with sharp, compressed, curved claws, tail rather short, slender, cylindrical, and pointed at the tip, and fur short and close. The upper-parts, outside of limbs and tail, are uniform reddish brown, the under-parts white. In cold regions the weasel turns white in winter, but less regularly and only at a lower temperature than the stoat or ermine, from which it is distinguished by its smaller size and the absence of the black tail-tip. The length of the head and body of the male is usually about 8 in., that of the tail 2½ in.; the female is smaller. The weasel is generally distributed throughout Europe and Northern and Central Asia; and is represented by a closely allied animal in North America. It possesses all the active, courageous and bloodthirsty disposition of the rest of the genus, but its diminutive size prevents it attacking and destroying any but the smaller mammals and birds. Mice, rats, water-rats and moles, as well as frogs, constitute its principal food. It is generally found on or near the surface of the ground, but it can not only pursue its prey through holes and crevices of rocks and under dense tangled herbage, but follow it up the ​stems and branches of trees, or even into the water, swimming with perfect ease. It constructs a nest of dried leaves and herbage, placed in a hole in the ground or a bank or hollow tree, in which it brings up its litter of four to six (usually five) young ones. The mother will defend her young with the utmost desperation against any assailant, and has been known to sacrifice her own life rather than desert them.  (R. L.*)
The Weasel (Putorius nivalis).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Weaver, James Baird

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​WEAVER, JAMES BAIRD (1833–) American lawyer and political leader, was born at Dayton, Ohio, on the 12th of June 1833. He studied law at Cincinnati, Ohio, and served on the Federal side in the Civil War, becoming colonel in November 1862; he was mustered out in May 1864, and in March 1865 was breveted brigadier-general of volunteers. He was district-attorney for the second Judicial District of Iowa in 1866–1870 and an assessor of internal revenue in Iowa in 1863–1873; and was a representative in Congress in 1879–1881 and in 1885–1889, being elected by a Greenback-Democratic fusion. In 1880 he was the candidate of the Greenback party for president and received a popular vote of 308,578; and in 1892 he was the candidate of the People's party, and received 22 electoral votes and a popular vote of 1,041,021.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Weapon

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​WEAPON (O. Eng. wæpen, cf. Du. wapen, Ger. Wappe, also Wappen, a coat of arms, heraldic shield), any instrument of offence or defence, more usually a term confined to offensive or attacking instruments. The general sketch of the history and development of weapons of offence and defence is given under Arms and Armour; particular weapons are treated under such heads as Halberd, Lance, Spear, Sword, Gun, Pistol, Rifle, Ordnance and Machine-guns.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Webb, Matthew

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​WEBB, MATTHEW (1848–1883), English swimmer, generally known as “Captain Webb,” was born at Dawley in Shropshire on the 18th of January 1848, the son of a doctor. While still a boy he saved one of his brothers from drowning in the Severn, and, while serving on board the training ship in the Mersey, he again distinguished himself by saving a drowning comrade. He served his apprenticeship in the East India and China trade, shipped as second mate for several owners, and in 1874, was awarded the first Stanhope gold medal by the Royal Humane Society for an attempt to save a seaman who had fallen overboard from the Cunard steamship “Russia.” In 1875 Captain Webb abandoned a sea-faring life and became a professional swimmer. On the 3rd of July he swam from Blackwall Pier to Gravesend, a distance of 20 m., in 43/4 hours, a record which remained unbeaten until 1899. In the same year, after one unsuccessful attempt, he swam the English Channel, on the 24th of August, from Dover to Calais in 213/4 hours. For the next few years Webb gave performances of diving and swimming at the Royal Aquarium in London and elsewhere. Crossing to America, he attempted, on the 24th of July 1883, to swim the rapids and whirlpool below Niagara Falls. In this attempt he lost his life.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Wear

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​WEAR, a river of Durham, England, rising in the Pennine chain near the Cumberland border, and traversing a valley about 60 m. in length to the North Sea, with a drainage area of 458 sq. m. A series of streams draining from the hills between Killhope Law and Burnhope Seat (2452 ft.) are collected at Wearhead, up to which point the valley is traversed by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Hence eastward, past the small towns of St John's Chapel and Stanhope, and as far as that of Wolsingham, Weardale is narrow and picturesque, sharply aligned by high-lying moorland. Below, it takes a south-easterly bend as far as Bishop Auckland, then turns northward and north-eastward, the course of the river becoming extremely sinuous. The scenery is particularly fine where the river sweeps round the bold peninsula which bears the cathedral and castle of the city of Durham. The valley line continues northerly until Chester-le-Street is passed, then it turns north-east; and soon the river becomes navigable, carrying a great traffic in coal, and having its banks lined with factories. At the mouth is the large seaport of Sunderland.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Advent

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​ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, “the coming of the Saviour”), a holy season of the Christian church, the period of preparation for the celebration of the nativity or Christmas. In the Eastern church it lasts from St Martin’s Day (11th of November), and in other churches from the Sunday nearest to St Andrew’s Day (30th of November) till Christmas. It is uncertain at what date the season began to be observed. A canon of a council at Saragossa in 380, forbidding the faithful to be absent from church during the three weeks from the 17th of December to the Epiphany, is thought to be an early reference to Advent. The first authoritative mention of it is in the Synod of Lerida (524), and since the 6th century it has been recognized as the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. With the view of directing the thoughts of Christians to the first coming of Christ as Saviour, and to his second coming as Judge, special lessons are prescribed for the four Sundays in Advent. From the 6th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as that of Lent; but in the Anglican and Lutheran churches the rule is now relaxed. In the Roman Catholic church Advent is still kept as a season of penitence. Dancing and festivities are forbidden, fasting enjoined and purple vestments are worn in the church services.
In many countries Advent was long marked by diverse popular observances, some of which even still survive. Thus in England, especially the northern counties, there was a custom (now extinct) for poor women to carry round the “Advent images,” two dolls dressed one to represent Christ and the other the Virgin Mary. A halfpenny was expected from every one to whom these were exhibited, and bad luck was thought to menace the household not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve at the latest.
In Normandy the farmers still employ children under twelve to run through the fields and orchards armed with torches, setting fire to bundles of straw, and thus it is believed driving out such vermin as are likely to damage the crops. In Italy among other Advent celebrations is the entry into Rome in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian pifferari or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of the Holy Mother. The Italian tradition is that the shepherds played on these pipes when they came to the manger at Bethlehem to do homage to the Saviour.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adventists, Second

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​ADVENTISTS, SECOND, members of religious bodies whose distinctive feature is a belief in the imminent physical return of Jesus Christ. The first to bear the name were the followers of William Miller, and adherents have always been more numerous in America than in Europe. There is a body of Seventh Day Adventists who observe the old Sabbath (Saturday) rather than the Christian Sunday. They counsel abstemious habits, but set no time for the coming of Christ, and so are spared the perpetual disappointments that overtake the ordinary adventist. They have some 400 ministers and 60,000 members.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adultery

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​ADULTERY (from Lat. adulterium), the sexual intercourse of a married person with another than the offender’s husband or wife. Among the Greeks, and in the earlier period of Roman law, it was not adultery unless a married woman was the offender. The foundation of the later Roman law with regard to adultery was the lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis passed by Augustus about 17 B.C. (See Dig. 48. 5; Paull. Rec. Sent. ii. 26; Brisson, Ad Leg. Jul. de Adult.) In Great Britain it was reckoned a spiritual offence, that is, cognizable by the spiritual courts only. The common law took no further notice of it than to allow the party aggrieved an action of damages. In England, however, the action for “criminal conversation,” as it was called, was nominally abolished by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857; but by the 33rd section of the same act, the husband may claim damages from one who has committed adultery with his wife in a petition for dissolution of the marriage, or for judicial separation. In Ireland the action for criminal conversation is still retained. In Scotland damages may be recovered against an adulterer in an ordinary action of damages in the civil court, and the latter may be found liable for the expenses of an action of divorce if joined with the guilty spouse as a co-defender.
Adultery on the part of the wife is, by the law of England, a ground for divorce, but on the part of the husband must be either incestuous or bigamous, or coupled with cruelty or desertion for two or more years. In the United States adultery is everywhere ground of divorce, and there is commonly no prohibition against marrying the paramour or other re-marriage by the guilty party. Even if there be such a prohibition, it would be unavailing out of the state in which the divorce was granted; marriage being a contract which, if valid where executed, is generally treated as valid everywhere. Adultery gives a cause of action for damages to the wronged husband. It is in some states a criminal offence on the part of each party to the act, for which imprisonment in the penitentiary or state prison for a term of years may be awarded.
In England, a complete divorce or dissolution of the marriage could, until the creation of the Court of Probate and Divorce, be obtained only by an act of parliament. This procedure is still pursued in the case of Irish divorces. In Scotland a complete divorce may be effected by proceedings in the Court of Session, as succeeding to the old ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the commissioners. A person divorced for adultery is, by the law of Scotland, prohibited from intermarrying with the paramour. In France, Germany, Austria and other countries in Europe, as well as in some of the states of the United States, adultery is a criminal offence, punishable by imprisonment or fine. (See Divorce.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Advantage

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​ADVANTAGE, that which gives gain or helps forward in any way. The Fr. avant (before) shows the origin and meaning of this word, the d having subsequently crept in and corrupted the spelling. It is often contracted to “vantage.” In some games (e.g. lawn tennis) the term “vantage” is used technically in scoring (“deuce” and “vantage”; “vantage sets”). A position which gives a better chance of success than its surroundings is called a “vantage ground.” In an unfavourable sense the word “advantage” is used to express a mean use made of some favourable condition (e.g. to take advantage of another man’s misfortunes).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adventure

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​ADVENTURE (from Lat. res adventura, a thing about to happen), chance, and especially chance of danger; so a hazardous enterprise or remarkable incident. Thus an “adventurer,” from meaning one who takes part in some speculative course of action, came to mean one who lived by his wits and a person of no character. The word is also used in certain restricted legal connexions. Joint adventure, for instance, may be distinguished from partnership (q.v.). A bill of adventure in maritime law (now apparently obsolete) is a writing signed by the shipmaster declaring that goods shipped in his name really belong to another, to whom he is responsible. The bill of gross adventure in French maritime law is an instrument making a loan on maritime security.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adullam

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​ADULLAM, a Canaanitish town in the territory of the tribe of Judah, perhaps the modern ʿAīd-el-Mā, 7 m. N.E. of Beit-Jibrīn. It was in the stronghold (“cave” is a scribal error) of this town that David took refuge on two occasions (1 Sam. xxii. 1; 2 Sam. v. 17). The tradition that Adullam is in the great cave of Khareiṭūn (St Chariton) is probably due to the crusaders. From the description of Adullam as the resort of “every one that was in distress,” or “in debt,” or “discontented,” it has often been humorously alluded to, notably by Sir Walter Scott, who puts the expression into the mouth of the Baron of Bradwardine in Waverley, chap. lvii., and also of Balfour of Burley in Old Mortality. In modern political history the expression “cave of Adullam” (hence “Adullamites”) came into common use (being first employed in a speech by John Bright on the 13th of March 1866) with regard to the independent attitude of Robert Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke), Edward Horsman and their Liberal supporters in opposition to the Reform Bill of 1866. But others had previously used it in a similar connexion, e.g. President Lincoln in his second electoral campaign (1864), and the Tories in allusion to the Whig remnant who joined C. J. Fox in his temporary secession. From the same usage is derived the shorter political term “cave” for any body of men who secede from their party on some special subject.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Advancement

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​ADVANCEMENT, a term technically used in English law for a sum of money or other benefit, given by a father during his lifetime to his child, which must be brought into account by the child on a distribution of the father’s estate upon an intestacy on pain of his being excluded from participating in such distribution. The principle is of ancient origin; as regards goods and chattels it was part of the ancient customs of London and the province of York, and as regards land descending in coparcenary it has always been part of the common law of England under the name of hotch-pot (q.v.). The general rule was established by the Statutes of Distribution. The conditions under which cases of advancement arise are as follows: There must be a complete intestacy; the intestate estate must be that of the father; and the advancement must have been made in the lifetime of the father. Land which belongs or would belong to a child as heir at law or customary heir need not be brought in to the common fund, even though such land was given during the father’s life. The widow can gain no advantage from any advancement. No child can be forced to account for his or her advancement, but in default thereof he will be excluded from a share in the intestate’s estate. As to what is an advancement there has been much conflict of judicial opinion. According to one view, nothing is an advancement unless it be given “on marriage or to establish the child in life.” The other and probably the correct view is that any considerable sum of money paid to a child at that child’s request is an advancement; thus payment of a son’s debts of honour has been held to be an advancement. On the other hand, trivial gifts and presents to a child are undoubtedly not advancements.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adventitious

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​ADVENTITIOUS (from Lat. adventicius, coming from abroad), a quality from outside, in no sense part of the substance or circumstance: a man’s clothes, or condition of life, his wealth or his poverty, are called by Carlyle “adventitious wrappages,” as being extrinsic, superadded and not a natural part of him. In botany the word means that which is not normal to the plant, which appears irregularly and accidentally, e.g. buds or roots out of place, or strange spots and streaks not native to the flower.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bolton, Dukes of

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​BOLTON, DUKES OF. The title of duke of Bolton was held in the family of Powlett or Paulet from 1689 to 1794. Charles Powlett, the 1st duke (c. 1625–1699), who became 6th marquess of Winchester on his father’s death in 1675, had been member of parliament for Winchester and then for Hampshire from 1660 to 1675. Having supported the claim of William and Mary to the English throne in 1688, he was restored to the privy council and to the office of lord-lieutenant of Hampshire, and was created duke of Bolton in April 1689. An eccentric man, hostile to Halifax and afterwards to Marlborough, he is said to have travelled during 1687 with four coaches and 100 horsemen, sleeping during the day and giving entertainments at night. He died in February 1699, and was succeeded by his elder son, Charles, 2nd duke of Bolton (1661–1722), who had also been a member of parliament for Hampshire and a supporter of William of Orange. He was lord-lieutenant of Hampshire and of Dorset, a commissioner to arrange the union of England and Scotland; and was twice a lord justice of the kingdom. He was also lord chamberlain of the royal household; governor of the Isle of Wight; and for two short periods was lord-lieutenant of Ireland. His third wife was Henrietta (d. 1730), a natural daughter of James, duke of Monmouth. According to Swift this duke was “a great booby.” His eldest son, Charles, 3rd duke of Bolton (1685–1754), was a member of parliament from 1705 to 1717, when he was made a peer as Baron Pawlet of Basing. He filled many of the public offices which had been held by his father, and also attained high rank in the British army. Having displeased Sir Robert Walpole he was deprived of several of his offices in 1733; but some of them were afterwards restored to him, and he raised a regiment for service against the Jacobites in 1745. He was a famous gallant, and married for his second wife the singer, Lavinia Fenton (d. 1760), a lady who had previously been his mistress. He died in August 1754, and was succeeded as 4th duke by his brother Harry (c. 1690–1759), who had been a member of parliament for forty years, and who followed the late duke as lord-lieutenant of Hampshire. The 4th duke’s son, Charles (c. 1718–1765), who became 5th duke in October 1759, committed suicide in London in July 1765, and was succeeded by his brother Harry (c. 1719–1794), an admiral in the navy, on whose death without sons, in December 1794, the dukedom became extinct. The other family titles descended to a kinsman, George Paulet (1722–1800), who thus became 12th marquess of Winchester. In 1778 Thomas Orde (1746–1807) married Jean Mary (d. 1814), a natural daughter of the 5th duke of Bolton, and this lady inherited Bolton Castle and other properties on the death of the 6th duke. Having taken the additional name of Powlett, Orde was created Baron Bolton in 1797, and the barony has descended to his heirs.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bolzano, Bernhard

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​BOLZANO, BERNHARD (1781–1848), Austrian priest and philosopher, was born at Prague on the 5th of October 1781. He distinguished himself at an early age, and on his ordination to the priesthood (1805) was appointed professor of the philosophy of religion in Prague University. His lectures, in which he endeavoured to show that Catholic theology is in complete harmony with reason, were received with eager interest by the younger generation of thinkers. But his views met with much opposition; and it was only through the protection of the archbishop, Prince Salm-Salm, that he was enabled to retain his chair. In 1820 he was accused of being connected with some of the students’ revolutionary societies, and was compelled to resign. Several doctrines extracted from his works were condemned at Rome, and he was suspended from his priestly functions, spending the rest of his life in literary work. He died at Prague on the 18th of December 1848. The most important of his numerous works are the Wissenschaftslehre, oder Versuch einer neuen Darstellung der Logik, advocating a scientific method in the study of logic (4 vols., Sulzbach, 1837); the Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft (4 vols., Sulzbach, 1834), a philosophic representation of all the dogmas of Roman Catholic theology; and Athanasia, oder Gründe für die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (2nd ed., Mainz, 1838). In philosophy he followed Reinhard in ethics and the monadology of Leibnitz, though he was also influenced by Kant.
See Lebensbeschreibung des Dr Bolzano (an autobiography, 1836); Wisshaupt, Skizzen aus dem Leben Dr Bolzanos (1850); Palágy, Kant und Bolzano (Halle, 1902).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bombardier

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​BOMBARDIER, originally an artilleryman in charge of a bombard; now a non-commissioned officer in the artillery of the British army, ranking below a corporal.