The common dolphin or Fraser's dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is a widely distributed pelagic mammal of the family Delphinidae, order Cetacea, found in all waters of tropical and warm temperate seas. They often accompany ships and play around boats and ride the bow-waves of large whales such as the fin whale. They are distinguished by a V-shaped black or dark grey saddle with a downward-orientated apex on the sides directly below the dorsal fin and a conspicuous white thoracic patch. The common dolphin feeds on small fish including blue whiting, pilchards, whiting, pollack and lantern fish and can dive to depths of 280 metres and stay under for as long as eight minutes. They are social animals, congregating in mixed sex schools of between ten and a few thousand animals. Research Common Dolphin
Firefly is a popular name for winged insects possessing much luminosity. Except the lantern-fly, the fireflies are all coleopterous, and are members of two nearly allied families, the Elateridae or skipjacks, and Lampyridae, to which the glowworm belongs. The British glow-wormhaa too little luminosity to entitle it to the name of firefly, but the Lampyris italica, and Lampyris corusca of Canada are allied to it. True fireflies are found only in the warmer regions of the earth. The Slater or Pyrophorus noctilucus of South America and the West Indies is one of the most brilliant, giving out its light from two eye-like tubercles on the thorax. Their light is so powerful that small print may be read by it, and in Haiti, Jamaica and elsewhere they are sometimes used to give light for domestic purposes, eight or ten confined in a phial emitting sufficient light to enable a person to write. Research Firefly
Hemiptera is an order of four-winged insects, having a suctorial proboscis, the outer wings, or wing-covers, are either entirely formed of a substance intermediate between the elytra of beetles and the ordinary membranous wings of most insects, or leathery at the base and transparent towards the tips (hemelytra). In one group (the Aphides) all the wings when present are membranous. The true wings are straight and unplaited, Some feed on vegetable and some on animal juices. Those having the upper wings of a uniform substance throughout (whether leathery or transparent) have been constituted into a section, and by some naturalists into an order named Homoptera; those having them partly leathery and partly transparent constitute the section or order Heteroptera. To the Hemiptera belong the plant-lice, boat-fly, cochineal insect, locust, bug, lantern-fly, etc. Research Hemiptera
Winter Cherry (Physalis alkekengi) also known as the Cape Gooseberry and Chinese Lantern, is a perennialherbaceous plant of the family Solanacea, a native to China and the Caucasus, with a creeping root, wedge-shaped oval leaves borne on long stalks, and an orange-coloured berry borne in the enlarged calyx which assumes the same hue after the white petals have been shed. Research Winter Cherry
Camera obscura was the original name, used around 1900, for what we now call simply a camera. The original camera obscura was an optical instrument employed for exhibiting the images of objects in their forms and colours, so that they may be traced and a picture drawn, or may be represented by photography. A simple camera obscura is presented by a darkened chamber into which no light is permitted to enter excepting by a small hole in the window-shutter. A picture of the objects opposite the hole will then be seen on the wall, or on a white screen placed opposite the opening. Rays of light passing through a convex lens being reflected from a mirror (which is at a slope of 45 degrees) to a glass plate where they form an image that may be traced. Another arrangement is a kind of tent surrounded by opaque curtains, and having at its top a revolving lantern, containing a lens with its axis horizontal, and a mirror placed behind it at a slope of 45 degrees, to reflect the transmitted light downwards on to the paper. Research Camera Obscura
Dissolving Views were a form of early cinematographic entertainment in which paintings upon glass magnified and thrown with great distinctness upon a screen by means of one or two projectors (magic lanterns) with strong lenses, and illuminated by oxyhydrogen light. If one lantern was used the picture was drawn out of focus gradually, and a second substituted, which was brought gradually into focus, thus producing the haze and brilliancy which gained this sort of exhibition its name. When two projectors (lanterns) were used, they were placed side by side with their lens tubes slightly convergent, so that the images could be superposed on the screen. By means of a revolving shutter either lantern could be wholly or partially shut off and the image of other lanterns be correspondingly disclosed. Research Dissolving Views
A lantern sleeve is a sleeve which flares from the top towards the elbow and then tapers towards the wrist, being full in the middle of the arm and fitted at the top and wrist. Research Lantern Sleeve
A buoy is a floating object used to mark channels for shipping or warn of hazards to navigation.
Buoys come in different shapes, such as a pole (spar buoy), cylinder (car buoy), and cone (nun buoy) . Light buoys carry a small tower surmounted by a flashinglantern, and bell buoys house a bell, which rings as the buoy moves up and down with the waves. Mooring buoys are heavy and have a ring on top to which a ship can be tied. Research Buoy
The Eiffel tower is a structure named after its builder and is one of the most iconic sights of Paris. At the time of its construction it was by far the loftiest structure in existence, surpassing the WashingtonObelisk, the next highest by 430 feet. It cost about 260,000 pounds to build, and was erected partly at the cost of the state, partly by funds provided by Eiffel himself, who formed a company for the purpose - the company drawing funds through the fees which visitors had to pay. The top may be reached by stairs and lifts. The first stage or platform is at the height of 189 feet, and forms a quadrilateral 213 feet square, fitted up as a restaurant. The next platform is at the height of about 380 feet, and is 98 feet square. The third platform is at the height of 906 feet, and is large enough to accommodate a good number of persons, affording a magnificent view. The lantern higher up is supplied with powerful electric search-lights, and on the very summit is a small area utilized chiefly for scientific observations. The tower has been utilized for various scientific purposes (the fall of bodies, vibration of the pendulum, pressure of the air, etc). Research Eiffel Tower
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Common Dolphin
