A constitution is the fundamental law of a state, whether it be a written instrument of a certain date, as that of the United States of America, or an aggregate of laws and usages which have been formed in the course of ages, like the English constitution. The ideal constitution is that established by a free sovereign people for their own regulation, though the expediency of other forms at various stages of national development cannot but be recognized. The chief of these are: 1. Constitutions granted by the plenary power of absolute monarchs, or constitutions octroyees; such as Louis XVIII's Charte. 2. Those formed by contract between a ruler and his people, the contract being mutually binding - a class under which, in a great degree, the British constitution must be placed. 3. Those formed by a compact between different sovereign powers, such as the constitutions of the German Empire, of the United Provinces of Holland, and of the Swiss Confederation.
In regard to political principles, constitutions are; 1. Democratic, when the fundamental law guarantees to every citizen equal rights, protection, and participation, direct or indirect, in the government, such as the constitutions of the United States and of some cantons of Switzerland. 2. Aristocratic, when the constitution recognizes privileged classes, as the nobility and clergy, and intrusts the government entirely to them, or allows them a very disproportionate share in it. Such a constitution was that of Venice, and such at one time those of some Swiss cantons, for instance, Bern. 3. Of a mixed character. To this, latter division belong some monarchical constitutions, which recognize the existence of a king whose power is modified by other branches of government of a more or less popular cast. The British constitution belongs to this division. Research Constitution
Cotton-spinning is a term employed to describe in the aggregate all the operations involved in transforming raw cotton into yarn. The word 'spinning' has also a more limited signification, being used to denote the concluding process of the series. The following affords a general notion of the nature and order of the successive operations carried on in the manufacture of cottonyarn:
(1) Mixing, the blending of different varieties of raw cotton, in order to secure economical production, uniform quality and colour, and an even thread in any desired degree.
(2) Cleaning, an operation partly effected in mixing, partly by scutching, the cotton being prepared in the form of a continuous lap or rolled sheet for the next process.
(3) Carding, an operation in which the material is treated in its individual fibres, which are taken from the lap, further cleansed, and laid in a position approximately parallel to each other, forming a thin film, which is afterwards condensed into a sliver - a round, untwisted strand of cotton.
(4) Drawing, the drawing out of several slivers to the dimensions of one, so as to render the new sliver more uniform in thickness, and to place the fibres more perfectly in parallel order.
(5) Stubbing, the further drawing or attenuation of the sliver, and slightly twisting it in order to preserve its cohesion and rounded form.
(6) Intermediate or second stubbing, a repetition of the former operation and further attenuation, not necessary in the production of coarse yarns.
(7) Having, a continuation of the preceding, its principal object being to still further attenuate the sliver, and give it a slight additional twist.
(8) Spinning, which completes the extension and twisting of the yarn. This is accomplished either with the throstle or the mule. By means of the former machine the yarn receives a hard twist, which renders it tough and strong. By means of the latter yarns of less strength are produced, such as warps of light fabrics and wefts of all kind.
Up to the middle of the 18th century the only method of spinning known was that by the hand-wheel, or the still more primitive distaff and spindle. In 1767 a poor weaver of the name of Hargreaves, residing at Stanhill, near Blackburn, in Lancashire, invented a machine for spinningcotton, which he named a spinning-jenny. It consisted at first of eight spindles, turned by a horizontal wheel, but was afterwards greatly extended and improved, so as to have the vertical substituted for the horizontal wheel, and give motion to from fifty to eighty spindles. In 1769 Arkwright, originally a barber's apprentice, took out a patent for spinning by rollers. From the circumstances of the mill erected by Arkwright at Cromford, in Derbyshire, being driven by water-power, his machine received the name of the water-frame, and the thread spun on it that of water-twist. The next important invention in cotton-spinning was that of the mule, introduced by Samuel Crompton, of Bolton, in 1775, and so called from its combining the principle of the spinning-jenny of Hargreaves with the roller-spinning of Arkwright.
Numerous improvements in cotton-spinning have been subsequently introduced up to the present day, but they are all, more or less, modifications of Arkwright's spinning-frame and Crompton's mule-jenny. Among the principal of these may be mentioned the throstle, an extension and simplification of the original spinning-frame, introduced about the year 1810. Research Cotton-Spinning
Decade is sometimes used for the number ten, or for an aggregate of ten. The books of Livy's Roman history are divided into decades. In the French revolution, decades, each consisting of ten days, took the place of weeks in the division of the year. The term is now usually applied to an aggregate of ten years. Research Decade
In grammar, declension is the aggregate of the inflections or changes of form which nouns, pronouns, and adjectives receive in certain languages according to their meaning or relation to other words in a sentence, such variations being comprehended under the three heads of number, gender, and case, the latter being the most numerous. Research Declension
In botany aggretae is a term applied to flowers composed of many small florets having a common undivided receptacle, the anthers being distinct and separate, the florets commonly standing on stalks, and each having a partial calyx. Research Aggregate
In biology, blastomere is the term applied to each segment into which the ovum divides after impregnation. The segments may remain united as a single cell-aggregate, or some or all of them may become separate organisms. Research Blastomere
Anilisim or aniline poisoning, is a name given to the aggregate of symptoms which often showed themselves in those employed in aniline works at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century, resulting from the inhalation of aniline vapours. It may be either acute or chronic. In a slight attack of the former kind, the lips, cheeks, and ears become of a bluish colour, and the person's walk may be unsteady; in severe cases there is loss of consciousness. Chronic anilism is accompanied by derangement of the digestive organs and of the nervous system, headaches, eruptions on the skin, muscular weakness, etc. Research Anilism
In electronics, background noise is the aggregate of random noise in a sound-reproducing system, arising from such causes as radio interference, valve and other circuit noise, record scratch, etc. and not from the signal being reproduced. Research Background Noise
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iPlanet Market Maker provides a range of components that market makers can use to aggregate supplier catalogues; run forward and reverse auctions; participate in online negotiations; implement multiple pricing models; customize and deliver content to participants; offer business directories; and provide sophisticated memberships. Research iPlanet Market Maker
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Constitution
