- Anglo-Saxon dress
A somewhat remarkable feature of Anglo-Saxon dress of the eighth century was the long super-tunic with long sleeves, worn in travelling or during cold weather. The sleeves not only cover the hands, but reach considerably below the tips of the fingers. - Angora goat
Angora goat Shortly after the Angora goat became known in Europe, efforts have started to acclimatize it on our continent. So far, there has been no reason to complain about the results of these experiments, which have led to the breeding of this breed in Spain, Italy, France and Sweden; it is even said that the wool of animals born in France is finer than that of their ancestors. - Ani, a scribe
Ani, a scribe 1450 B.C. - Anlaff entering the Humber
he Danes by this time had formed settlements in Ireland as well as England, and we are told that one of their kings, named Anlaff, whom some think to be identical with Anlaff, the son of Sithric, others a different person, arrived from Ireland with many ships, and was joined by Owen of Cumberland, and Constantine, the king of the Scots. According to a late, and not very trustworthy, account of the campaign, it would appear that it was arranged so secretly that Anlaff entered the Humber with a fleet of six hundred sail, and invaded Northumbria before Athelstan had any intelligence of his landing; and with such forces, and the assistance of the Danes settled there, he easily became master of several small ill-guarded towns. - Anna Jameson
- Anou or Dagon
- Antennæ of Goniodes
- Apple Bob
- Aprecocks
To dry Apricocks. Take them when they be ripe, stone them, and pare off their rindes very thin, then take halfe as much Sugar as they weigh, finely beaten, and lay them with that Sugar into a silver or earthen dish, laying first a lay of Sugar, and then of Fruit, and let them stand so all night, and in the morning the Sugar will be all melted, then put them into a Skillet, and boyle them apace, scumming them well, and as soon as they grow tender take them off from the fire, and let them stand two dayes in the Syrupe, then take them out, and lay them on a fine plate, and so dry them in a Stove. - Archangel Blue Cat
Archangel Blue Cat - Archer
"A little care at first will save you a great deal of trouble and annoyance. When you begin to shoot, learn at once to stand firmly on your feet, the left slightly advanced, the head easily poised, the upper portion of the body gently inclined forward, and the shoulders neither lifted nor drooped. Hold the bow vertically with the left hand, the arm extended straight. Nock the arrow well on the string, draw with all the fingers of your right hand till you feel your right ear, fix your eyes steadily on the target and let fly. The arrow rests on the left hand, and is drawn to the head. The nock end of the shaft is held between the first and second fingers of the right hand and upon the string, which is drawn to the right ear by all the fingers being hooked stiffly over it. The release must be smart and clear, giving the arrow a strong, even flight. - Archlute
Archlute Wood, inlaid with ivory and tortoise-shell, engraved. Two sets of tuning pegs, the lower containing fourteen, and the higher, ten. On the middle of the neck is an ovl plate of mother-of-pearl, bering the German inscription, Gott der Herr ist Sonne und Schield ("God, the Lord, is sun and shield.") About 1700 - Arenicola piscatorium
- Argonaut
- Argynnis Aphrodite
- Armourer
- Arms of Fifteenth Cetury
- Art Critic
Art Critic - Ashantee warrior
In 1807, not far from the scene of Clapperton's landing a few years later, a brave but fierce people appeared on the Gold Coast. The Ashantees, coming none knew exactly whence, flung themselves upon the Fantees, and, after horrible massacres, in 1811 and 1816, established themselves in the whole of the country between the Kong mountains and the sea. - Ashanti Ivory Trumpet
Negro Trumpet. Ivory. From the regions of the White Nile The large ivory trumpet is used by the Niam-Niams, and other negro tribes, for transmitting signals in times of war. - Asiatic Bow
- Asiatic Cithara
- Assala
Assala snake swallowing a bird whole - Assasination at Ford's Theatre
- Assasination of Edward the Martyr
Assasination of Edward the Martyr - Assembly
- Assurbanipal at the chase.
- Assyrian
Assyrian - Assyrian Bas-relief
Layard's "Nineveh." Beards were curled and probably dyed and powdered, the powder, however, being gold. As a matter of fact, gold was employed in various ways as an enrichment to the hair. - Assyrian inscription
- Asylum for Houseless Poor
- Bacchus
Bacchus was the Roman god of agriculture, wine and fertility, equivalent to the Greek god Dionysus. - Bailiewick
- Baking Bread
Baking bread in an outdoor baking oven about 1650. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.) - Baking Bread in Murray Bay
Baking Bread in Murray Bay - Balista
- Balista
- Ballast Heavers
- Ballet
Representation of a Ballet before Henri III. and his Court, in the Gallery of the Louvre.--Fac-simile of an Engraving on Copper of the "Ballet de la Royne," by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx (folio, Paris, Mamert Patisson, 1582.) - Ballista - Caesar covered his landing in Britain with fire from catapults and ballistas.
The ballista had horizontal arms like a bow. The arms were set in rope; a cord, fastened to the arms like a bowstring, fired arrows, darts, and stones. Like a modern field gun, the ballista shot low and directly toward the enemy. - Barber
- Barnacle Geese
- Barrister
- Barry Cornwall
- Bashful lady
- Basin maker
- Beans
Take Beanes, the rinde or the upper skin being pul'd off, bruise them, and mingle them with the white of an Egg, and make it stick to the temples, it keepeth back humours flowing to the Eyes. To dissolve the Stone; which is one of the Physitians greatest secrets. Take a peck of green Beane cods, well cleaved, and without dew or rain, and two good handfulls of Saxifrage, lay the same into a Still, one row of Bean cods, another of Saxifrage, and so Distill another quart of water after this manner, and then Distill another proportion of Bean codds alone, and use to drink oft these two Waters; if the Patient be most troubled with heat of the Reins, then it is good to use the Bean codd water stilled alone more often, and the other upon comming downe of the sharp gravell or stone. - Bear
Bear - Bear Cub
Bear Cub - Bearded man waiting for dinner
Bearded man waiting for dinner - Beastly Beard
Beastly Beard - Before the tribunal
The amende honorable which was called simple or short, took place without the assistance of the executioner in the council chamber, where the condemned, bareheaded and kneeling, had to state that "he had falsely said or done something against the authority of the King or the honour of some person" - Beggar
Beggar playing the Fiddle, and his Wife accompanying him with the Bones.--From an old Engraving of the Seventeenth Century. - Beheading
Beheading.From the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552. - Beisa
Beisa - Belted tail
Belted tail - Beluchistan warriors
Beluchistan warriors. (Fac-simile of early engraving.) They are a pastoral people, and have the faults and virtues of their class. If they are hospitable, they are also indolent, and pass their time in gambling and smoking. As a rule, they content themselves with one or two wives, and are less jealous of their being seen by strangers than are other Mussulmen. They have a large number of slaves of both sexes, whom they treat humanely. They are excellent marksmen, and passionately fond of hunting. Brave under all circumstances, they take pleasure in "razzias," which they call "tchépaos." As a rule, these expeditions are undertaken by the Nherouis, the wildest and most thievish of the Belutchis. - Benjamin Franklin
American independence, the beginnings of which we have just been considering, was accomplished after a long struggle. Many brave men fought on the battle-field, and many who never shouldered a musket or drew a sword exerted a powerful influence for the good of the patriot cause. One of these men was Benjamin Franklin. He was born in Boston in 1706, the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen children. His father was a candle-maker and soap-boiler. Intending to make a clergyman of Benjamin, he sent him, at eight years of age, to a grammar-school, with the purpose of fitting him for college. The boy made rapid progress, but before the end of his first school-year his father took him out on account of the expense, and put him into a school where he would learn more practical subjects, such as writing and arithmetic. The last study proved very difficult for him. - Bessemer Converting Vessel
a, a, a, tuyères; b, air-space; c, melted metal A very important development of the manufacture of steel followed the introduction of the 'Bessemer process,' by means of which a low carbon or mild cast-steel can be produced at about one-tenth of the cost of crucible steel. It is used for rails, for the tires of the wheels of railway carriages, for ship-plates, boiler-plates, for shafting, and a multitude of constructional and other purposes to which only wrought iron was formerly applied, besides many for which no metal at all was used. - Bessemer Process
Sir Henry Bessemer says: 'It is this new material, so much stronger and tougher than common iron, that now builds our ships of war and our mercantile marine. Steel forms their boilers, their propeller shafts, their hulls, their masts and spars, their standing rigging, their cable chains and anchors, and also their guns and armour-plating. This new material has covered with a network of steel rails the surface of every country in Europe, and in America alone there are no less than 175,000 miles of Bessemer steel rails.' These steel rails last six times longer than if laid of iron.'