A Parsons table is a square or rectangular table with straight, square legs of the same width as the top is thick, the legs extending from the corners of the top flush with the edges so as to appear jointless. Research Parsons Table
A tram is a passenger vehicle, similar to a bus, which runs along rails on public roads. The rails are flush with the road's surface allowing other motor vehicles to also use the roads at the same time. Research Tram
Spider (Araneidae) is an order of animals of the class Arachnida, all having eight legs. Most spiders are terrestial, but some live in fresh water.
The spiders have a body that is divided into two parts: the head and breast, fused into one piece; and the abdomen, usually all in one piece, and only in rare cases with hints of segmentation. Between these two parts there is typically a narrow waist. The region corresponding to the head bears two pairs of mouth parts: a pair of two-jointed poison-jaws or chelicerae; and a pair of sensitive, usually six-jointed pedipalps.
All spiders have a poisonous bite, but the bite is not severe except in a few tropical forms. The poison of the bird-catching spider (Mygale) kills a bird in a few minutes. In male spiders the tip of the pedipalp is complicated, it becomes a reservoir for spermatozoa at the mating season, and is used to transfer them into the female, where they fertilise the eggs just prior to the eggs being laid. In the main the pedipalps are organs of touch, with very sensitive tactile qualities.
On the top of the head are several pairs of simple short-sighted eyes. From the region corresponding to the thorax there arise four pairs of seven-jointed legs, ending in minute curved claws, by means of which spiders grip the surface on which they creep. At the end of the abdomen there are between four and six minute appendages transformed into spinnerets, from which the silken threads emerge. Each spinneret resembles the rose of a watering-can, and contains numerous minute tubes known as spinning-spools through which the silk issues. There may be hundreds of these spinning-spools and each is connected with an internal gland which produces the silk. The gland is enclosed in a muscular envelope, the contraction of which acting like a syringe, forces the liquid silk down a duct and out at the spinning-spool. There are sometimes three kinds of glands, producing different kinds of silk, and it rests with the spider to use more or fewer at one time, thereby adjusting the thickness of the thread produced. The thread is a fusion of many jets of liquid silk, which solidifies instantly it is exposed to the air.
A small minority of spiders breathe by two pairs of lung-books; all the rest breathe by two lung-books and by two or four tracheae like those of insects. The air enters the compartments of the lung-books through an external slit flush with the skin. In the partitions between the compartments of the lung-books the blood circulates and is purified. Research Spider
The catamaran was an experimental British torpedo created in 1804 in an attempt to destroy the French shipping at Boulogne. It consisted of a lead- lined wooden chest, having a flat top and bottom and wedge-shaped ends. It contained barrels of gunpowder and clockwork machinery, and was so weighted s to float with its surface flush with that of the water. It had to be towed to its destination. Research Catamaran
The English-Spanish Naval War was fought from 1585 to 1604 between England and Spain, and was due in no small part to religion, Elizabeth of England being protestant, Philip II of Spain catholic. Philip had delayed attacking England for thirty years because he was not anxious to rush into a conflict, of which the result might be doubtful, and which would in any case involve considerable expense. However, the English sailors had, for over twenty years, been conducting piratical raids on Spanish ships and Spanish ports, the climax of which was Sir Francis Drake's destructive raid on the West Indies in 1585. Elizabeth's interference in the Netherlands had become intolerable. And the Pope was urging Philip to embark on a war which he regarded as a crusade to destroy a heretic government. The execution of Mary Queen of Scots in February 1587 removed whatever doubts remained in Philip's mind. He had always questioned the wisdom of placing Mary on the English throne, for Mary was French, not Spanish, by upbringing and sympathy. Besides this, her son, James VI of Scotland, who was presumably the heir to both kingdoms, was a Protestant. But Mary had, not long before her death, disinherited James, and passed on her claims to the English throne to Philip himself. After that, Philip hesitated no longer. He gave orders for a great Armada to be prepared in all the ports of Spain.
It was while these preparations were being made that Drake made the Raid on Cadiz. The result of this raid justified the boast of Fenner (Drake's friend) that twelve of Her Majesty's ships were a match for all the galleys in the king's service. But all his countrymen did not share Fenner's confidence. To many, perhaps to most, the danger seemed appalling. England was without allies, a small country, with no regular army, standing alone against the might of the greatest empire in the world, an empire on which, it was boasted, 'the sun never set'. Philip was the master of the New World, and of a considerable portion of the Old. By annexing Portugal in 1580 he had absorbed the
dominions of his only serious rival in America and the Indies. The famous Spanish infantry were thought to be unbeatable. And it was these very soldiers, commanded by one of the greatest generals in history - the Duke of Parina - who were waiting to invadeEngland. Philip' s plan was to conquer England from the Netherlands, where Parma's army, 30,000 strong, was mustered. Parma built flat-bottomed boats at Antwerp in sufficient numbers to convey his army to England. When the Dutch blockaded the mouth of the Scheldt he caused a canal to be dug, so that the boats could be moved to Dunkirk. But, as Parma well knew, to cross to England was impossible without a protecting fleet. It was for this purpose that the Armada was provided. It was thought that a large Spanish fleet could easily dispose of a smaller number of English vessels, and that then the way would be clear for Parma to invadeEngland. But this plan of invasion was never carried into effect, for the Spanish fleet, though slightly superior in numbers, was hopelessly inferior in every other respect.
The English fleet was smaller than the Armada, but comprised of real ships of war, all heavily armed with guns. The Armada entered the English Channel on Saturday the 20th of July 1588 and on Monday the 29th of July, was fought the Battle of Gravelines. The English naval war with Spain continued until after Elizabeth's death, when peace was made by James I in 1604. Elizabeth knew that war is very costly. But, in the first flush of the victory over the Armada, the war party, led by Walsingham and Drake, was in the ascendant. Early in 1589, therefore, the offensive was taken against Spain with the Expedition to Portugal. In 1591 Admiral Lord Thomas Howard was sent to the Azores, with Sir Richard Grenville as second in command. Arriving there, the Admiral learnt that the Spaniards had mustered a large battle fleet to escort their treasure-ships home. He wisely decided to retreat, as he was completely outnumbered. Sir Richard Grenville, however, in the Revenge, remained - to wage his immortal fight with one ship against the whole Spanish fleet. So formidable were the English guns that the Revenge put up a fight lasting a day and a night before she surrendered. Then a stormarose which sank the Revenge together with over a hundred of the enemy- warships and treasure-ships. The years 1595 to 1597 saw a vigorous revival of the prosecution of the Spanish war. Elizabeth, alarmed at the news that Philip was preparing another Armada, sent once more for her old sailors. Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake undertook a raid on the Spanish possessions in the West Indies in 1595, but it was a failure. As he once more sailed his ship on Nombre de Dios Bay, Drake found that the Spaniards were considerably stronger than in the great days of his youth. Hawkins died at sea, and soon afterwards Drake himself died of a sickness which had already carried off large numbers of his men. He was buried at sea, in the waters that washed the Spanish Main, where his name had been a word of
ror for a generation.
The next year another fleet sailed from England under LordHoward of Effingham, Lord Thomas Howard, and Sir Waiter Raleigh. Essex commanded the army of 8000 men which it carried. This fleet destroyed the shipping in Cadiz harbour; Essex and his men landed and took the town, which they gave to the flames. Philip swore vengeance, and, against the advice of his captains, dispatched another Armada to England in the late autumn of 1596. It was, however, destroyed by a storm and never even sighted the English coast. The next year Essex and Raleigh went off on the 'Islands Voyage' - to the Azores. They missed the Spanish treasure-fleet by a few hours, quarrelled bitterly, and returned home empty- handed to face a wrathful queen. By way of reply Philip, who was now a dying man, ordered a third Armada to sail, but it suffered the same fate as its predecessor. The Islands Voyage was the last effort of the war as far as Elizabeth was concerned, though English privateers continued to attack Spanish merchant ships. The damage they did was considerable, and the main Spanish fleet from America could only cross the Atlantic with a large convoy of warships. Research English-Spanish Naval War
The Consolidated Vultee Valiant (USAAF designation BT-13 and BT-15) was an American two-seater basic trainer aircraft used by the US Army Air Corps during the Second World War. The BT-13 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of all-metal, flush-riveted metal skin construction powered by a 450 hpPratt and WhitneyWasp Junior or a Wright Whirlwind engine that gave it speeds up to 293 kmh over a range of 1680 km. It had a Hamilton Standard 2-position variable pitch propeller and was equipped with full navigation and night-flying instruments. Research Vultee BT-13
Cribbage is a fairly complex card game usually for two players, but also played in pairs by four players. Cribbage is thought to have been invented by Sir John Suckling in the first half of the 17th century and is very popular in London, and pubs throughout Britain where it is played for money and in competition leagues. Two distinct varieties of singles cribbage are played, with players receiving either five or six cards to their hand. A third, seven card variety is described, but the author has never encountered it.
Standard cribbage is played with the whole deck of cards. It may be played by two, three, or four persons; and when by two, five or six cards may be dealt to each. Five-card cribbage played by two persons is the most scientific game. Sixty-one-points make the game; there are no tricks and no trumps, the object being to make pairs, fifteens, sequences, or the go, or prevent the adversary from doing the same. Court cards and tens count as ten each, and all the rest count for the number of 'pips' upon them. Every pair, that is, every couple of cards of the same value belonging to different suits (two aces, two fours, two kings, etc), counts two; and when there are three or four similar cards, as many pairs are counted as there are different combinations of the cards taken two at a time. Every combination of cards, the united pips of which make up fifteen, counts two. A sequence consists of three or more cards of any suit following one another in rank, and counts one for each card.
When the player whose turn it is to play cannot play a card without going beyond thirty-one, the other player scores one for having been the nearest to thirty-one. This is called scoring one for ' the go.' The remaining cards after thirty-one, or the next point to it, is made, are thrown up, and each player's cards are counted. When all the cards in a hand, either with or without the turn-up card, are of one suit, or when all the cards in the crib, with the turn-up card, are of one suit, it is called a flush, and counts one for each card. When the turn-up card is a knave the, dealer scores two ('two for his heels'). When a knave of the same suit with the turn-up card is found in the hand of either player, the player in whose hand it is scores one ('one for his nob').
There are variations on the play. In most cases, a singles game is played until a 31 limit is reached, and a pairs game until all cards have been played, with additional 31 limits being encountered. However, a popular variety extends the idea of playing until all cards have been played to the singles game, also. While the luck of the deal can contribute to the game, there is also sufficient scope for skilful selection of cards to be discarded and played to allow a player with poor luck but experience to beat a lucky but inexperienced player. This level of skill in cribbage has enabled it to be licensed for the playing of moderate stakes in licensed premises in the United Kingdom. Research Cribbage
The discus is a standard field event for men and women on the programme of all major athletics championships. Throwing the discus was first contested in the ancient Greek Olympic Games in about 708 BC. The discus is circular, tapering from its thickest point at the centre to the rim and is constructed of wood with metal plates set flush into the sides. Research Discus
Abbreviations
Research Parsons Table
