The guillotine is an engine for beheading people at one stroke. It was invented during the Middle Ages, and adopted with improvements by the National Assembly of France during the first revolution on the proposal of a Dr Joseph Guillotine who proposed its use to prevent unnecessary pain, and after whom it is named.
In this apparatus decapitation is effected by means of a steel blade loaded with a mass of lead, and sliding between two upright posts, grooved on their inner sides, the person's neck being confined in a circular opening between two planks, the upper one of which also slides up or down. The condemned is strapped to a board and rapidly moved up so as to place the neck of the condemned within the semi- circle of the lower plank, the other being raised for the purpose. On the right of the table is a large basket or trough of wicker-work for the reception of the body. Under the place where the head rests is a rectangular trough for its reception. The knife is fixed to the cap or lintel on the top of the posts by a claw in the form of a figure eight, the lower part of which opens as the upper- part closes. This claw is acted upon by a lever to which a cord is attached. When the head of the condemned is in position the cord is pulled, and by the action of the lever the knife falls, descending by the grooves of the upright posts and falling upon the neck of the condemned just behind the planks which keep the head in position. The scaffold which is surrounded by an open railing is raised two metres from the ground.
The name guillotine is also given to a type of knife used for cutting paper. Research Guillotine
In terms of furniture, Queen Anne refers to a style of furniture popularised around the early 18th century of which there are a few distinctive features: the use of walnut; the use of the cabriole leg, which is a leg shaped in the form of a double curve with the upper part being convex and the lower part concave, and the leg ending in either a claw-and-ball or a paw foot and the use of marquetry, inlay, veneering, and lacquer work and carvings of scallop shells, scrolls, Oriental figures, animals, and plants to decorate furniture of the time. Chairs of the Queen Anne period often had a curved back (a splat back) so as to fit the small of the back. Research Queen Anne
The Alaudidae are the Lark family of Conirostral birds. They are characterized by a bill forming an elongated cone, the mandibles of equal length, the upper convex, slightly curved. The nostrils are at the base of the bill, oval, and partly covered by small feathers directed forwards. The feathers of the head are capable of being erected so as to form a crest. The first primary is very short, the second shorter than the third which is the longest in the wing. The toes are divided to the base. The hind claw is nearly straight and longer than the toes. They are granivorous birds, frequenting open fields, and singing during their flight. They nest and feed on the ground. They take dust baths instead of water baths. Research Alaudidae
Baryonyx was a dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Remains of Baryonyx were found in 1983 in a clay pit in southern England. Baryonyx was about 9 metres long, had a long and flat skull similar to that of a crocodile, and a large slashing claw, though whether the claw was on the foot or hand is not known. The presence of fish scales in the stomach of the specimen discovered suggest a carnivoredinosaur that ate fish, and possibly other animals. Research Baryonyx
Bird's-foot is a common name for several plants, especially papilionaceous plants of the genus Ornithopus, their legumes being articulated, cylindrical, and bent in like a claw. Research Bird's-Foot
The cassowary (Casuaridae) are a family of ruminating birds of the order Casuariformes. They are similar to the ostrich, but have characteristic feet with three toes, the inner toe possessing a long sharp claw, unusually strong legs, a bare head and neck and a helmet on the head which is larger on the male than the female. Cassowary are found in the woods of New Guinea, New Britain, north Queensland and Ceram. Research Cassowary
The cheese-fly (Piophila casei) is a small black fly, akin to the house-fly, blow-fly, etc. It lays its eggs in the cracks of cheese. The maggot, knowns as the cheese-hopper, is furnished with two horny claw-shaped mandibles, which it uses both for digging into the cheese and for moving itself, having no feet. Its leaps are performed by a jerk, first bringing itself into a circular attitude, when it can project itself twenty to thirty times its own length. Research Cheese-Fly
Dromaeosaurus was a small dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. Remains of
Dromaeosaurus were first discovered in 1914 at Red Deer River in Canada. It was a carnivore, about 1,8 metres long, and walked on its hindlegs the foot of which was equipped with a special sharp claw. Research Dromaeosaurus
Eustreptospondylus was a carnivorousdinosaur of the order Saurischia that lived in the Jurasic period. Eustreptospondylus was about seven metres long, walked on its two hind legs and had a large head armed with sharp teeth. The feet were bird-like, furnished with three toes in front and one short toe behind, all armed with a claw. The forelegs had three fingers to each hand. Remains of Eustreptospondylus were found at Oxfordshire, England and were named and partly classified in 1964. Research Eustreptospondylus
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