The cental was a weight of 100 pounds legal in Britain since 1879 and used primarily for corn. The term was invented by Danson, a barrister, in order to meet the need for a uniform measure in the Liverpool corn trade. It was first introduced in February 1859, and legalised twenty years later. Research Cental
A colony is a settlement formed in one country by the inhabitants of another. Colonies may either be formed in dependence on the mother country or in independence. In the latter case the name of colony is retained only in a historical sense. Properly, perhaps, the term should be limited to a settlement which carries on a direct cultivation of the soil, as in the former British colonies of Canada and Australia in contrast to the former in Hindustan or Malta which were the mere superposition on the natives of a ruling race which took little or no part in the general industry of the country.
The motives which lead to the formation of colonies, and the manner of their formation, are various. Sometimes the ambition of extending territory and the desire of increasing wealth have been the chief impulses in colonization; but colonies became a necessity for the redundant population of European states in the 19th century.
Among ancient nations the principal promoters of colonization were the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Romans; the greatest colonizers in modern times have been the English and the Spaniards, next to whom may be reckoned the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French. The Germans during the 19th century contributed largely to the tide of emigration, particularly in the direction of America;
but did little directly as colonizers.
The Phoenician colonies were partly caused by political dissensions and redundant population, but were chiefly commercial, serving as entrepots and ports of repair for Phoenician commerce along the coasts of Africa and Spain, in the latter of which they numbered, according to Strabo, more than two hundred. But it was in Africa that the most famous arose, Carthage, the greatest colonizing state of the ancient world.
The Greek colonies, which were widely spread in Asia Minor and the islands of the Mediterranean, the coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, in South Italy and Sicily, were commonly independent, and frequently soon surpassed the mother states in power and importance.
The colonies of Rome were chiefly military, and while the empire lasted were all in strict subordination to the central government. As the Roman power declined the remains of them amalgamated with the peoples among whom they were placed, thus forming in countries where they were sufficiently strong what are known as the Latin races, with languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian) which are merely modifications of the old Roman tongue.
Before America and the way by sea to the East Indies were discovered, the only colonies belonging to European states were those of the Genoese, Pisans, and Venetians in the Levant and the Black Sea, flourishing establishments on which the mercantile greatness of Italy in those days was largely built.
The Portuguese were the first great colonizers among modern states. In 1419 they discovered Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verde Islands; the Congo and the Cape of Good Hope followed; and before the century was out Vasco de Gama had landed at Calicut on the Malabar coast of India. The first Portuguese colonies were garrisons along the coasts where they traded: Mozambique and Sofala on the east coast of Africa, Ormuz and Muscat in the Persian Gulf, Goa and Damao on the west coast of India. Colonies were established in Sri Lanka in 1505, in the Moluccas in 1510. Brazil was discovered in 1499, and this magnificent possession fell to Portugal, and was colonized about 1530. Bad government at home and the subjection of the country to Spain caused the loss of most of the Portuguese colonies.
Soon after the Portuguese the Spaniards commenced the work of colonization. In 1492 Columbus, on board of a Spanish vessel, discovered the island of San Salvador. Haiti, or San Domingo, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba were soon colonized, and before the middle of the 16th century Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, New Granada (Colombia), Peru, and Chili were subdued, and Spain took the first rank amongst the colonizing powers of Europe. But the Spaniards never really attempted to develop the industrial resources of the subject countries. The pursuit of mining for gold or silver occupied the colonists almost exclusively, and the enslaved natives were driven to work themselves to death in the mines. Cities were founded, at first along the coasts, for the sake of commerce and as military posts; afterwards also in the interior, in particular in the vicinity of the mines, as Vera Cruz, Cumana, Porto Bello, Carthagena, Valencia, Caracas; Acapuico and Panama, on the coast of the Pacific; Lima, Goncepcion, and Buenos Aires. The colonial intercourse with Spain was confined to the single port of Seville, afterwards to that of Cadiz, from which two squadrons started annually - the galleons, about twelve in number, for Porto Bello; and the fleet, of fifteen large vessels, for Vera Cruz. When the power of Spain declined, the colonies declared their independence, and thus were formed the republics of Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, etc. Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands passed to the United States in 1898; the Caroline Islands, etc, were sold to Germany in 1899; and by 1900 hardly any colony remained to Spain.
The hate of Philip II, who prohibited Dutch vessels from the port of Lisbon, forced the Dutch to import directly from India or lose the large carrying trade they had acquired. Several companies were soon formed, and in 1602 they were united into one, the Dutch East India Company, with a monopoly of the East Indiatrade and sovereign powers over all conquests and colonies in India. The Dutch now rapidly deprived the Portuguese of nearly all their East Indian territories, settled a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1650, established a West India Company, made extensive conquests in Brazil between 1623 and 1660, which were soon lost, and more permanent ones on some of-the smaller West India Islands, as San Eustatia, Curacoa, Saba, etc. The growing power of the British and the loss of Holland's independence during the Napoleonic wars were heavy blows to the colonial power of the nation. But the Dutch still possesed numerous colonies in the East Indies at the start of the 20th century, among which the more important were Java, Sumatra, Dutch Borneo, the Molucca Islands, and part of New Guinea, also several small islands in the West Indies, and Surinam.
No colonizing power of Europe had a career of such uniform prosperity as Great Britain. The English attempts at colonization began nearly at the same time with the Dutch. After many fruitless attempts to find a north-east or north-west passage to the East Indies, English vessels found their way round the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies in 1591. The East India Company was established in 1600. English commerce with India, however, was not at first important, and they possessed only single factories on the continent up until the beginning of the 18th century. The ruin of the Mogul Empire in India after the death of Aurengzebe in 1707 afforded the opportunity for the growth of British power, as the British and French were compelled to interfere in the contentions of the native princes and governors. The French appeared at first to maintain the superiority; but the British in turn got the upper hand, and the victory of Clive at Plassey in 1756 laid the foundation of an exclusive British sovereignty in India. By the middle of the next century the British territory embraced, with the exception of a few dependent states, nearly the whole of India, and this vast territory was still under the government of the East India Company - a mercantile company, controlled indeed by parliament, but exercising many of the most important functions of an independent sovereignty. On the suppression of the Indian mutiny in 1857-1858 the government of India was transferred to the crown by act of parliament in 1858.
The discoveries of the Cabots, following soon after the voyages of Columbus, gave the English crown a claim to North America, which, though allowed to lie dormant for nearly a century, was never relinquished, and which, in the reign of Elizabeth I, led to colonization on a large scale. Walter Raleigh's settlement on Roanoke Island (North Carolina) in 1585 failed to become permanent, but in 1607 the colonists sent out by the London Company to Chesapeake Bay founded Jamestown, on the James River, in Virginia. The next great settlement was that of the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed on the 21st of December 1620, in Massachusetts Bay. The colonization of New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island, soon followed. In the State of New York and the Hudson River Territory the British found the Dutch already in possession; but in 1664 they seized the colony of New Amsterdam by force, changing its name to New York in honour of James, Duke of York. Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, and colonized with Quakers in 1682; Maryland in 1631 by a party from Virginia; Carolina in 1670 and Georgia in 1732 by colonies from England.
Colonies were early established in the West India Islands, including Barbados, half of St. Christopher's in 1625, and soon after many smaller islands. Newfoundland was taken possession of in 1583, colonized in 1621 and 1633. Canada was surrendered to Britain at the Peace of Paris in 1763. In 1764 began the disputes between Britain and its North American colonies, which terminated with the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, Canada remaining a British dependency.
Australia was discovered in the beginning of the 17th century. The first Australasian settlements of Britain were penal colonies. New South Wales, discovered in 1770, was established as a penal colony in 1788; Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), discovered by Tasman in 1642, followed in 1803; West Australia, also first used as a penal settlement, became a free colony in 1829; Victoria was colonized in 1835, and made an independent colony in 1851; South Australia was settled in 1836. In 1851 the discovery of gold in Victoria gave a great impetus to the Australian Colonies. Queensland was made a separate colony from N.ew South Wales in 1859. New Zealand, discovered by Tasman in 1642, began to be used for whale-fishery about 1790, was settled in 1839, and made a colony in 1840. In 1874 the Fiji Islands, and in 1884 part of New Guinea, were annexed as crown colonies. In South AfricaCape Colony, first settled by the Dutch in 1652, finally became a British colony in 1815. Natal followed in 1843. Later annexations were Bechuanaland in 1885, Zululand in 1887, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1888-89, and the Orange River Colony and Transvaal in 1900. In Western Africa were the colonies of the Gold Coast, Gambia, and SierraLeone - ancient possessions of the British crown; with Lagos and Nigeria acquired in 1885 and after. Other possessions were British East Africa (Kenya), with Uganda and Somaliland. Gibraltar was acquired in 1704, Malta in 1800.
According to their government relations with the crown the colonies were arranged under three heads: (1.) Crown colonies, in which the crown had the entire control of legislation, while the administration was carried on by public officers under the control of the home government. (2.) Colonies possessing representative institutions but not responsible government, in which the crown had no more than a veto on legislation, but the home government retained the control of public officers. (3.) Colonies possessing representative institutions and responsible government, in which the crown had only a veto on legislation, and the home government had no control over any officer except the governor. All colonies were, however, disabled from such acts of independent sovereignty as the initiative in war, alliances, and diplomacy generally.
France was somewhat late in establishing colonies. Between 1627 and 1636 the West Indian islands of St Christopher's, Guadeloupe, and Martinique were colonized by private persons. Champlain was the pioneer of the French in the exploration of the North American continent, and founded Quebec in 1608. Colbert purchased several West India islands, as Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Lucia, etc, and sent out colonists in 1664 to Cayenne. In 1670 the East India Company formed by Colbert founded Pondicherry, which became the capital of extensive possessions in the East Indies. At the beginning of the 18th century France had extensive settlements in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, the most flourishing of the West India islands, and she seemed to have a prosperous career before her in India. Ere long, however, the rival interests of British and French colonists brought about a conflict which terminated in the loss of Canada and other North American possessions, as well as many of the West India Islands, while the dominion of India passed into the hands of the British.
During the 19th century Germany made an effort to take rank as a colonial power, and acquired in Africa the territories of Damaraland, Great Nama Land, etc, on the south-west coast, north of Cape Colony; the Cameroons District; a large portion of territory formerly claimed by the Sultan of Zanzibar, extending inland to Victoria Nyanza, etc; also in the Pacific a portion of New Guinea, then subsequently called Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, the BismarckArchipelago, Marshall Islands, etc.
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
A day is either the interval of time during which the sun is continuously above the horizon, or the time occupied by a revolution of the earth on its axis, embracing this interval (the period of light) as well as the interval of darkness. The day in the latter sense may be measured in more than one way. If we measure it by the apparent movement of the stars, caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis, we must call day the period between the time when a star is on the meridian and when it again returns to the meridian: this is a sidereal day. It is uniformly equal to 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.098 seconds. But more important than this is the solar day, or the interval between two passages of the sun across the meridian of any place. The latter is about 4 minutes longer than the former, owing to the revolution of the earth round the sun, and it is not of uniform length, owing to the varying speed at which the earth moves in its orbit and to the obliquity of the ecliptic. For convenience an average of the solar day is taken, and this gives us the mean solar or civil day of 24 hours, the difference between which the actual solar day at any time is the equation of time.
The length of the days and nights at any place varies with the latitude and season of the year, owing to the inclination of the earth's axis. In the first place, the days and nights are equal (twelve hours each) all over the world on the 21st of March and the 21st of September, which dates are called the vernal (spring) and autumnal equinoxes. Again, the days and nights are always of equal length at the equator, which, for this reason, is sometimes called the equinoctial line. With these exceptions, we find the difference between the duration of the day and the night varying more and more as we recede from the equator, and at the poles the year consists of one day of six months' duration, and one night of the same.
The Babylonians began the day at sun-rising; theJews at sun-setting; the Egyptians and Romans at midnight, as do most modern peoples. The civil day in most countries is divided into two portions of twelve hours each. The abbreviations PM. and AM. (the first signifying post meridiem, Latin for afternoon; the latter ante meridiem, forenoon) are requisite, in consequence of this division of the day. The Italians in some places reckon the day from sunset to sunset, and enumerate the hours up to twenty-four; the Chinese divide it into twelve parts of two hours each.
For astronomical purposes the day is divided into twenty-four hours instead of two parts of twelve hours. Formerly it began at noon, but since the 1st of January 1885, the day of twenty-four hours begins at midnight at Greenwich Observatory; and this reckoning is now generally adopted for astronomical purposes elsewhere than at Greenwich. The Greenwich day practically determines the date for all the world. At mid-day at Greenwich the date (day of the week and month) is everywhere the same, though there are all possible differences in naming the hour of the day. But mid-day at Greenwich is the only instant at which we ever have the same date all over the world. The meridian of midnight, which is then at 180 degrees east or west, goes on revolving, gradually bringing a new date to every place to the west of that line, but obviously not bringing that new date to the places immediately to the east of that line until twenty-four hours after. From this it follows that whereas places on the one side of the globe never have a different date except when midnight lies between them, places on the opposite side of the globe, and on different sides of the meridian of 180 degrees east Or west never have the same date except when midnight lies between them. The actual difference of time between Wellington in New Zealand and Honolulu in Hawaii is only about two hours; yet a person at Wellington may date a letter 9 o'clock AM 26th June, while another writing at the same instant at Honolulu dates his 11 o'clock AM 25th June.
Domestic servants, also known as domestics, are members of a household employed to assist with the running of various aspects of the household. During the 18th century in England servants were commonplace, with almost all employed families able to afford servants, or rather domestic drudges, who were supplied from the workhouses and charity schools and treated little better than slaves for the most part. While in apprenticeship female domestic drudges, or scullery-maids also known as scullions, were not paid and could not leave their mistress. Even less fortunate were charwomen, employed for odd work or single days to assist in the kitchen and paid with just a few scraps of food and a few coals.
Page boys, usually black, were employed by the fashionable women of 18th century London to precede her and hand refreshments to her guests. Footmen were similarly employed more for show than labour to impress the guests and people one met on ones travels, hence they received their slang name of 'fart catchers', from their position of walking behind their master or mistress, dressed up in fancy clothes provided by the household as a form of uniform for the job.
By the 19th century conditions had improved for some servants, though for the lower staff they were still appalling. In the mid-19th century Mrs Beeton, the famous author, lists domestic servants in order of rank as follows:
Households would employ a election of servants varying upon the household income, a very wealthy household employing a full selection of servants, a less fabulously wealthy household maybe just employing a housekeeper, a cook or a maid-of-all-work. A chamberlain being only employed by the king or noblemen of very high position. In the mid-19th century most households which employed servants employed two or three male servants, comprising a servant out of livery, or a butler, a footman and a coachman, or a coachman and a groom where the household had more than two or three horses. A popular mis-conception is that cooks are, and were, always female. Not so. Male cooks were also employed in the 19th century and were paid more than their female counterpart.
Each domestic servant had their own scope of duties or responsibilities, though these overlapped depending upon the number of domestic servants employed. A butler, for example, where only one footman was employed would be required to perform some of the duties of a valet, to pay bills and to superintend the other servants.
19th century English society was warned against abusing its servants, for, as Mrs Beeton puts it; "The sensible master and kind mistress know, that if servants depend on them for their means of living, in their turn they are dependent on their servants for very many of the comforts of life; and that, with a proper amount of care in choosing servants, and treating them like reasonable beings, and making slight excuses for the shortcomings of human nature, they will, save in some exceptional case, be tolerably well served, and in most instances, surround themselves with attached domestics." It was possible for domestic servants to progress up the ranks, usually through leaving one position and seeking a higher appointment at another employer. In order to achieve this a servant required a good reference from their employer, and this encouraged a degree of honesty in a position with a lot of opportunity for misappropriation.
The Great War instigated a great deal more equality in British society and the use of domestic servants greatly reduced, though it was still not extinct in the 21st century. Research Domestic Servants
Embalming is the process of filling and surrounding with aromatic and antiseptic substances any bodies, particularly corpses, in order to preserve them from corruption. The ancient Egyptians employed the art on a great scale, and other peoples, for example the Assyrians and Persians, followed them, but by no means equalled them in it. The ancient Peruvians appear to have injected and washed the corpses with the fluid that flows from imperfectly burned wood, which would of course contain pyroligneous acid, creosote, and other antiseptics. Pliny alludes to the use of a similar fluid by the Egyptians for embalming. In later times bodies have been preserved, a long time by embalming, especially when they have remained at a low and uniformtemperature, and have been protected from the air. The body of Edward I was buried in WestminsterAbbey in 1307, and in 1770 was found entire. Canute died in 1036; his body was found very fresh in 1776 in WinchesterCathedral. The bodies of William the Conqueror and of Matilda his wife were found entire at Caen in the 16th century. Of the various later artificial means of preserving bodies, impregnation with corrosive sublimate appears to be one of the most effective, next to immersion in spirits. An injection of sulphate of zinc into the bloodvessels is said to be very effective. Research Embalming
Gill sans is a sans serifalphabet designed by Eric Gill, and probably influenced by the alphabet produced by Edward Johnston for the London Underground in 1918. Gill sans letters are more uniform than German sans serif. Research Gill Sans
The case of Hylton vs United States was a legal action in the US. In 1795 Hylton, of Virginia, was presented by the District Attorney before the CircuitCourt for refusing to pay duty upon certain carriages, which, he averred, were kept for his own private use. The decree was against the defendant, and the case was transferred to the Supreme Court of the United States. The argument turned entirely upon the question of the tax being direct or indirect. The court decided it to be
indirect since it must be incapable of apportionment and could not be uniform. Accordingly judgment was affirmed for the defendant. Research Hylton vs United States
Jacobinism, as a belief in a nationally uniform and centralised government, hostile to the division of parcellization of sovereignty remains in current political usage, especially in France. Robespierre's Jacobins established a revolutionary dictatorship when France was at war with and encircled by the reactionary European powers. Their conduct of government, through the Committee of Public Safety, gave rise to a different meaning of Jacobinism in which the Reign of Terror from 1793 to 1794 was seen as the logical end- product. In this sense Jacobinism is understood as a form of elitist insurrectionary politics, in which an elite possessed of true social and political knowledge, believes itself entitled to seize and hold political power in the name of the people. Thus Jacobinism is used pejoratively to describe groups which advocate the overthrow of the state or regime without regard to the will of the people or the majority and in this sense,
Jacobinism is often seen as a forerunner of Bolshevism. Jacobinism is also sometimes used to describe the practice of those who engage in nation- building, forging national homogeneity out of diverse peoples, without much regard to their consent. Research Jacobinism
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cental
