Freemasonry is a term applied to the organization of a society calling themselves free and accepted masons, and all the mysteries therewith connected. This society, if we can reckon as one a number of societies, many of which are unconnected with each other, though they have the same origin and a great similarity in their constitution, extends over almost all parts of the globe, and is consequently of the greatest service to travellers who are members of the craft. According to its own peculiar language it. is founded on the practice of social and moral virtue. It claims the character of charity in the most extended sense; and brotherly love, relief, and truth are inculcated in it. Fable and imagination have traced back the origin of freemasonry to the Roman Empire, to the Pharaohs, the temple of Solomon, the Tower of Babel, and even to the building of Noah's ark. In reality it took its rise in the middle ages along with other incorporated crafts. Skilled masons moved from place to place to assist in building the magnificentsacred structures - cathedrals, abbeys, etc - which had their origin in these times, and it was essential for them to have some signs by which, on coming to a strange place, they could be recognized as real craftsmen and not impostors.
Freemasonry in its modified and more modern form dates only from the 17th century. The modern ritual is said to have been partly borrowed from the Rosicrucians and knights templars, and partly devised by Elias Ashmole, the founder of the Ashmolean Museum. Freemasonry, thus modified, soon began to spread over the world. In 1725 it was introduced into France by Lord Berwentwater; and in 1733 the first American lodge was established. The United Grand Lodge of England recognizes only two species of Freemasonry - the Craft and the Royal Arch; Scotch, Irish, American, and Continental lodges acknowledge higher degrees; but these, with the exception of the Mark Degree and not universal. In ordinary freemasonry there are three grades - those of apprentice, fellow-craft and master-mason - each of which has its peculiar initiation ceremonies; the last of these grades, however, is necessary to the attainment of the full rights and privileges of brotherhood.
At the end of the 20th century the Freemasonry were linked national organisations open to men and women over 21, united by the possession of a common code of morals and beliefs, and of certain traditional 'secrets'. Apart from requiring a belief in the ' Great Architect of the Universe' and acceptance of its moral code, English Freemasons maintain strict impartiality in politics and religion.
Freemasonry assumed a political and anticlerical character; it has been condemned by the papacy, and in certain countries was suppressed by the State. Both in Britain and the USA the freemasons maintain hospitals and institutions for their sick or aged members, and schools for their orphans. Research Freemasonry
In an organism, circulation is the flowing of sap or blood through the veins or channels, by means of which the perpetual and simultaneous movements of composition and decomposition manifested in organic life are carried on. Although Galen, who had observed the opposite directions of the blood in the arteries and veins, may be said to have been upon the very point of discovering the circulation, the discovery was reserved for William Harvey, who in 1628 pointed out the continuity of the connections between the heart, arteries, and veins, the reverse directions taken by the blood in the different vessels, the arrangements of valves in the heart and veins so that the blood could flow only in one direction, and the necessity of the return of a large proportion of blood to the heart to maintain the supply.
In 1661 Malpighi exhibited microscopically the circulation in the web of a frog's foot, and showed that the blood passed from arteries to veins by capillaries or intermediate vessels. This finally established the theory with regard to animals, but the movements of sap in vegetables were only traced with difficulty and after numerous experiments.
Many physiologists were reluctant to ascribe the term 'circulation' to this portion of the economy of plants; but though sap, unlike the blood, does not exhibit movements in determinate vessels to and from a common centre, a definite course is observable. In the stem of a dicotyledonous tree, for example, the sap describes a sort of circle, passing upwards from the roots through the newer woody tissue to the leaves, where it is elaborated under the action of air and light; and thence descending through the bark towards the root, where what remains of it is either excreted or mixed with the new fluid, entering from the soil for a new period of circulation.
In infusorial animalcules the movement of the fluids of the body is maintained by that of the animal itself and by the disturbing influence of nutritive absorption. In the Coelentera (zoophytes, etc) the movement receives aid besides from the action of cilia on the inner walls of the body. The Annelids, as the earth-worm, possess contractile vessels traversing the length of the body. The Insects, Crustaceans, Myriapods, and Spiders have a dorsal tube, a portion of which may be specially developed as a heart. The blood is driven to the tissues, in some cases along arterial trunks, being distributed not in special vessels, but simply through the interstices of the tissues. From the tissues it is conveyed, it may be by special venous trunks to a venous sinus which surrounds the heart and opens into it by valvular apertures. The Mollusca have the heart provided with an auricle and a ventricle, as in the snail and whelk; two auricles, one on either side of the ventricle, as in the fresh-water mussel; or two auricles and two ventricles, as in the ark-shells. Among the ascidians, which stand low in that division of animals to which the molluscs belong, the remarkable phenomenon is encountered of an alternating current, which is rhythmically propelled for equal periods in opposite directions.
All vertebrated animals (except Amphioxus) have a heart, which in most fishes consists of an auricle and ventricle, but in the mud-fishes (Lepidosiren) there are two auricles and one ventricle; and this trilocular heart is found in the amphibians, and in most reptiles except the crocodiles, which, like birds and mammals, have a four-chambered organ consisting of two auricles and two ventricles. In these two last-named classes the venous and arterial blood are kept apart; in the trilocular hearts the two currents are mixed in the ventricle. Research Circulation
Eli was one of the Hebrew judges, the predecessor of Samuel. He was high-priest and judge for forty years, but was less successful as head of his own household. His two sons having been slain and the ark taken in battle by the Philistines, the news proved so severe a shock that he fell and broke his neck, at the age of ninety-eight. Little is really known of the history of Eli, since he is only shown to us in the weakness of old age, unable to control his sons Hophni and Phinehas, whose wickedness disgusted and alienated the people. Research Eli
Harrison Ford is an American actor. He was born in 1942 at Chicago, Illinois. A failure at school, he dropped out and became an actor, winning fame with his role as 'Hans Solo' in the 1977 film 'Star Wars' and continuing to play the starring role as 'Indian Jones' in the 1981 'Raiders of The Lost ark' and its two sequels. Research Harrison Ford More pictures of Harrison Ford
In Hebrew mythology, the deluge or great flood was the universal inundation which, according to the Mosaichistory, took place to punish the great iniquity of mankind. It was produced, according to Genesis, by a rain of forty days; and covered the earth 15 cubits above the tops of the highest mountains, and killed every living creature except Noah, with his family, and the animals which entered the ark by the command of God. Many other nations mention, in the mythological or prehistoric part of their history, inundations which, in their essential particulars, agree with the Scriptural account of Noah's preservation, each nation localizing the chief events and actors as connected with itself. Research Deluge
In Greek mythology, Deucalion was the son of Prometheus. Warned by his father of a coming flood,
Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha built an ark. After the waters had subsided, they were instructed by a god to throw stones over their shoulders which then became men and women. Research Deucalion
The Armoured Ramp Carrier (ARK) was a British bridgingtank based on a Churchill Tank with the turret removed, and timbered trackways across the top. The ARK was driven into position and two folding ramps lowered providing a bridge for other vehicles. The ARK was unarmed, manned by a crew of four and powered by a Bedford twin-six petrol engine giving a top speed of 20 kmh. Research ARK
Operation Catapult was an attack on part of the French fleet at Mers-El- Kebir, on the 3rd of July 1940, during the Second World War. A British force including HMS Hood, HMS Resolution, HMS Valiant, HMS Active and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal attacked after the refusal by the French to agree to British conditions. A number of French ships were seriously damaged and over 1100 French were killed. Research Operation Catapult
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Freemasonry
