A Catechism of Familiar Things; Their History, and the Events Which Led to Their Discovery. With a Short Explanation of Some of the Principal Natural Phenomena. For the Use of Schools and Families. Enlarged and Revised Edition.

The earliest accounts of music which we possess are to be found in the Bible, in which the state of the world before the flood is noticed. Jubal is said to have been "the father...

The art of building or erecting edifices fit for the habitation of man, to defend him from the weather, and for his domestic comfort and convenience; for devotion, trade, and ot...

The purest and most precious of metals: it is sometimes found in solid masses, as in California, Peru, Hungary, &c.; in a shape resembling the branches of plants; in thin plates...

Electricity manifests itself in a variety of ways, but all may be arranged under two heads, _viz._, 1, as a charge; 2, as a current. By means of friction, many bodies become ele...

Of soda or potash, and various oily substances; it is so useful for domestic and other purposes, that it may be regarded as one of the necessaries of life; immense quantities of...

Of clay, dried by the heat of the sun, or burnt in kilns; their color varies with the different degrees of heat to which they are subjected in burning. In the East, bricks were...

It is supposed that they were first known about the thirteenth century, and invented by a monk of Pisa, in Italy, named Alexander de Spina. Spectacles are composed of two circul...

A white, powdery sediment procured from the bottom of vessels in which flour or meal has been steeped in water. Pure starch is of a fine white color, without taste or smell; it...

The roots of a climbing plant growing in tropical climates. The root of the yam is wholesome and well-flavored; nearly as large as a man's leg, and of an irregular form. Yams ar...

Moisture collected from the atmosphere by the action of cold. During the day, the powerful heat of the sun causes to arise from the earth and water a moist vapor, which, after t...

The Asbestus, a mineral substance of a whitish or silver color. There are several species of this mineral, which are distinguished by different names, according to the appearanc...

The full-grown flower-buds of the Caper Tree, a small shrub, generally found growing out of the fissures of rocks, or among rubbish, on old walls and ruins, giving them a gay ap...

A transparent, solid, brittle, factitious body, produced by fusing sand with an alkali. The essential ingredients of glass are silex and potash, or soda; a few other substances...

No, on vines like other grapes, except that the leaves are somewhat thicker, and the grapes much smaller: they have no pips, and are of a deep red, or rather black color.

A downy or woolly substance, enclosed in the pod, or seed-vessel, of the cotton-plant. The commercial classification of cotton is determined--1, by cleanliness or freedom from s...

Of felt and wool. Dress hats for men's wear, were formerly made of beaver-fur, but the increasing scarcity of this article led to the introduction of silk plush as a substitute,...

A stuff composed of silk and wool woven together in a loom. It was first made at Milan, and thence sent abroad; great quantities are now made in England and other countries.

Yes. Attraction has received different names, according to the circumstances under which it acts: The force which keeps the particles of matter together to form bodies or masses...

It is tall and straight, without branches, and generally about thirty or forty feet high; at the top are twelve leaves, ten feet long, and half a foot broad; above the leaves, g...

Corn signifies a race of plants which produce grain in an ear or head, fit for bread, the food of man; or the grain or seed of the plant, separated from the ear.

Light is a mere form of vibration like sound, and like sound it requires some source to set this vibration going, and some medium to carry this vibration as air carries sound.