A barouche was a 19th century four-wheeled carriage with a falling top, with a seat outside for the driver, and two inside capable of accommodating two people sitting facing each other. Research Barouche
A brake was a large four-wheeled, horse-drawn, pleasure vehicle, open or with a removable cover, with facing side-seats and one or two seats arranged crosswise in front. Research Brake
A Fohn wind is a warm, dry wind blowing down the sides of mountains facing away from the prevailing wind. It is best known in the valleys of the northern Alps. Other fohn winds are the Chinook (the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, Canada and the USA); the Nor'Wester (New Zealand) and the Samoon (Iran). Research Fohn Wind
A governess cart was a low-hung, small, two-wheeled, one-horse carriage carrying four passengers on two inward-facing seats with a door at the rear. The governess cart was usually drawn by a pony or quiet cob and while uncomfortable, was a safe mode of transport and derived its name from its use in conveying children. Research Governess Cart
A hyperbola is a plane curve, one of the conic sections, formed by a plane that cuts both nappes of a right circular cone but does not pass through the vertex of the cone. A hyperbola has two U- shaped non-intersecting branches, identical in form, with the open parts facing in opposite directions; the arms of each branch separate as they recede. A hyperbola is also defined as the locus of all points, such that the difference between the distances from any point on the hyperbola to two fixed points, called the foci, is equal to a constant. Each branch contains one focus in its interior area; the line joining the foci intersects each branch in a point called a vertex. This line, or the segment between the vertices, is called the transverse axis. The line perpendicular to the transverse axis and passing through the point midway between the vertices, midway between the foci, is the conjugate axis. The two axes meet at the centre of the hyperbola, which is symmetric with respect to each axis and the centre.
A hyperbola has two asymptotes passing through the centre; an asymptote of a curve is a straight line with the property that the distance between it and the curve approaches zero as the curve recedes to infinity. A rectangular or equilateral hyperbola has asymptotes that are perpendicular to each other. The hyperbola has useful and important properties. In particular, the angle formed at a point on the hyperbola by the lines joining the point to the foci is bisected by the tangent to the hyperbola at that point. In astronomy, some orbits are hyperbolic in shape. The modern navigational device the loran also uses
hyperbolas. Research Hyperbola
The Necker cube is a line drawing showing the 12 edges of a transparent cube, so that it can be seen alternately facing in two different directions. It is an example of an ambiguous figure. Research Necker Cube
A sociable was an open, private, four-wheeled carriage with two seats set facing each other. A sociable was a kind of tricycle for two riders, in which they sat side-by-side, thus distinguishing it from a tandem in which one ride sits behind the other. Research Sociable
A wagonette was a four-wheeled, horse-drawn, pleasure vehicle, open or with a removable cover, with facing side-seats and one or two seats arranged crosswise in front. Research Wagonette
The cherry gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii) is a hymenopterous insect of the family Cynipidae widespread throughout Europe and Asia Minor, that produces spherical leaf galls on various species of oak. The galls are mostly to be seen between July and October and are attached to either the main leaf vein or one of the stronger side veins by a very short stem. The gall is at first green-yellow in colour later turning yellow and then red on the side facing the sun before becoming brown and wrinkled. The larvae develops within the gall, feeding upon the galltissue and pupates within the gall. Two generations appear within a year, the first all female that reproduce parthenogenetically the second male and female. Research Cherry Gall Wasp
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Barouche
