Admiral is any of several species of butterfly in the same family (Nymphalidae) as the tortoiseshells. The red admiral Vanessaatalanta, wingspan six centimetres, is found worldwide in the northern hemisphere. It migrates south each year from northern areas to subtropical zones.
The Camberwell beauty (Vanessa antiopa or Nymphalis antiopa) is a European butterfly of the brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) family found in lowlands, mountains, forests, watersides and parks. Occasionally the Camberwell Beauty visits Britain, and was named on account of formerly being seen at Camberwell before the area was developed in the late 19th century. Research Camberwell Beauty
The Peacock Butterfly (Vanessaio or Inachis io) is a medium-sized British, European and Asian butterfly of the family brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) family with a prominent eyespot on each reddish-brown wing. The caterpillars feed on stinging nettles. Research Peacock Butterfly
Vanessa is a genus of butterflies belonging to the family Nymphalidae, and including some handsome and conspicuous species. The club of the antennae is short and bold, and the eyes are extremely hairy. Research Vanessa
Dr George Berkeley was an Irish philosopher and missionary. He was born in 1685 and died in 1753. He was educated and became a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1707. He went to England in 1713, and soon came to be on friendly terms with Steele, Addison, Arbuthnot, and Jonathan Swift.
In 1713 he went to the Continent as chaplain to LordPeterborough, and travelled as far as Leghorn, but did not stay long. He went abroad again in 1716, this time as tutor to a young man, and his stay lasted four years, the greater part of the time being spent in Italy. In 1721 he was appointed chaplain to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Grafton. By a legacy from Miss Vanhomrigh (Jonathan Swift's Vanessa) in 1723 his fortune was considerably increased.
In 1724 he became Dean of Derry. Between 1721 and 1724 he held several offices in Dublin University, and in 1721 had been made DD. He now published his proposals for providing the American plantations with a better supply of religious teachers, and for the conversion of the American natives to Christianity by the establishment of a college in the Bermuda Islands; and subscriptions having been raised, he set sail for Rhode Island in 1728, proposing to wait there until a promised grant of 20,000 pounds had been obtained from the government. The scheme, which was not particularly promising, never got a start, however, and in 1732 he returned to London, where he stayed about two years.
In 1734 he obtained the bishopric of Cloyne, where he spent almost the whole of the remainder of his life. In 1752, giving up the cares of his bishopric, he went to England, and he died suddenly at Oxford in 1753.
George Berkeley holds an important place in the history of philosophy. His new theory of vision was his first remarkable contribution to the subject of philosophy or psychology. In it he maintains that sight gives us nothing beyond sensations that are quite incomplete in themselves, and must be supplemented by tactual sensations, or sensations derived from the sense of touch, and that sight by itself can tell us nothing of distance. By his idealistic metaphysical theory he maintains that the belief in the existence of an exterior material world is false and inconsistent with itself;
that those things which are called sensible material objects are not external but exist in the mind, and are merely impressions made on our minds by the immediate act of God, according to certain rules termed laws of nature, from which he never deviates; and that the steady adherence of the Supreme Spirit to these rules is what constitutes the reality of things to his creatures, and so effectually distinguishes the ideas perceived by sense from such as are the work of the mind itself or of dreams, that there is no more danger of confounding them together on this hypothesis than on that of the existence of matter.
Berkeley was admirable as a writer; as a man he was said by his friend Pope to be possessed of 'every virtue under heaven'. His most celebrated philosophical works are: Essay towards a new Theory of Vision, 1709; a Treatise concerning the Principles of HumanKnowledge, 1710, in which his philosophical theory is fully set forth; Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, 1713; Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher, 1732; and Theory of Vision, vindicated and explained, 1733. Another publication of some note in its day was Siris, Philosophical Reflections and Inquiries concerning the Virtues of Tar-water, 1744. Tar-water, the use of which he had learned in America, he regarded as a sort of panacea, good for man and beast, at all times and in all circumstances and all ailments. Other works of his are of a mathematical and theological order. The only complete collection is that of Professor A. CampbellFraser, first edition, three volumes, 1871, with a fourth volume containing Life and Letters; second edition, much improved, with new prefaces, annotations, and Life, 1901. Research George Berkeley
Samuel Barber was an American composer. He was born in 1910 at West Chester and died in 1981. He trained at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. One of the best-known American composers of the neo-romantic school, he received the Prix de Rome in 1935, Pulitzer Travelling Scholarships in music in 1935 and 1936, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1945, and the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1958 and 1963. Among his compositions for orchestra are the overture to The School for Scandal written in 1933, Adagio for Strings written in 1936, and two symphonies written in 1936 and 1944; concertos for violin written in 1940, cello written in 1945, and piano written in 1962; and the ballets Medea written in 1946. He also composed works for chorus, chamber ensemble, and piano, and he is noted for his songs. His first opera, Vanessa written in 1958, has been recorded. His second opera, Anthony and Cleopatra written in 1966, was commissioned for the opening performance at the new Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Research Samuel Barber
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Camberwell Beauty
