120 



THE CENTURY BOOR OF FACTS. 



FAMILIAR ALLUSIONS. 



Abderit. Democritus, the original laughing philoso- 

 pher, was born in Abdera, a Thracian city. From him 

 a scoffer o~* person given to continual laughing is called 

 an Abderite. 



Abraham's Bosom. The rest of the blessed dead. 



Abyla and Calpe, the Pillars of Hercules, the exit 

 from the Mediterranean. 



Academics. Plato's disciples were so called from 

 the Academy. 



Academy. (Academe.) Plato founded his school in 

 a gymnasium of this name near Athens, 368 B. C. 



Academy, The French. A French scientific body 

 limited to forty members. 



Acadia. Formerly the name of Nova Scotia. i 



Adam's Apple. A part of the throat where, it is 

 said, a piece of the forbidden fruit lodged. 



Admirable Crichton, The. James Crichton, an 

 accomplished Scotchman of the sixteenth century. 



Admiral. The highest rank in the Navy. 

 1 :ncid. An epic poem, by Virgil. 



Ages. The five ages of the world according to He- 

 siod, are the Golden, the Silver, the Brazen, the Heroic, 

 and the Iron.. 



Alabama. A Confederate privateer built in Eng- 

 land. Sunk by the Kearsargc June 19, 1864. 



Aladdin's Window, To Finish. Trying to com- 

 plete another's work. Aladdin's palace was perfect 

 except one window left for the Sultan to finish, but his 

 treasure failed him. 



Albany Regency. Name applied sixty years ago to 

 some Democrats at Albany, N. Y. 



Albino. A person with white skin and hair and red 

 eyes. The Portuguese so called the white negroes. 



Albion. England, so called from the chalky white 

 cliffs. 



Aldine Press. Founded by Aldus Manutius at 

 Venice in 1496. Editions of the" classics issued from 

 this press were called the Aldine editions. This term is 

 now applied to some elegant editions of English works. 



Alexandrian Library. Was founded by Ptolemy 

 Philadelphia. It contained 400,000 manuscripts, and was 

 burned 47 B. ('. 



Alexandrine Age. 323-640, when Alexandria was the 

 seat of the highest culture. 



Alhambra. A magnificent palace and a fortress 

 built by the Moors at Granada, in Spain. 



All. Hallows. All Saints' day, November 1st. 



Allah. Arabic name of God. 



Almacks. Assembly room in London where the most 

 exclusively aristocratic balls were given. 



Almighty Dollar. A phrase first used by Irving in 

 his Creole Village, and which has become quite com- 

 mon. The title ~of a play. 



Alsatia. A quarter in London where criminals take 

 refuge. 



Alto-Relievo. Figures in marble or castings pro- 

 jecting one half or more from the tablet. 



Ambrosia. Food of the Gods. 



Anachronism. An error in computing time. 



Anacreontics. Poems composed in the manner of 

 Anacreon, a great poet noted for his exact imitation of 

 nature. 



Anclen Regime. The French Government previous 

 to the revolution of 1798. 



Angling, The Father of. I zaak Walton. 



Annus Mirabilis. (VVonderful year.) A. D. 1666. 

 Noted for the great fire in London, the Plague, and an 

 Englisb victory over the Dutch. 



Antoninus, The Wall of. Was built by the Romans 

 in A. D. 140 across Scotland between the Clyde and the 

 Frith of Forth ; an embankment of earth. 



Apollo Belvedere. One of the most beautiful and 

 perfect representations of the human form is the statue 

 of Apollo in the Belvedere Gallery of the Vatican 

 Palace at Rome. 



Appian Way. The road from Rome to Capua. The 

 oldest Roman road. 



Apples of Sodom. Beautiful fruit, but full of ashes. 

 Applied figuratively to the disappointment of sin. 



Apple, Golden. Prize for beauty disputed before 

 Paris, between Juno, Pallas, and Venue; awarded by 

 him to Venus. 



Arabesque. Decoration in Moorish stylo. 



Arcadian. A shepherd; a Greek grazing country 

 named Arcadia has furnished this word to the poets. 



Argo. The ship in which Jason and his fifty-four 

 companions sailed when going to Colchis for the Golden 



Argonauts. The adventurers on the Argo. 



Argus-eyed. Crafty, watchful. Argus had a hun- 

 dred eyes; the jealous Juno put him on detective duty 

 over lo. 



Armada, The Spanish. A fleet of 130 ships gath- 

 ered by Philip II. of Spain for the invasion of England 

 in 1588. Queen Elizabeth was l.u>\ preparing for resist 

 ance when the news came that a storm had completely 

 wrecked the Armada. 



Artesian Well. Boring in the earth until water i- 

 reached that will flow spontaneously. Their tirst USP 

 was in Artois, France. 



Aryans. The stem of the Indo-European peoples. 



Astor Library. Founded by John Jacob Astor in 

 New York City. 



Athens, The Modern. Boston. 



Augustan Age. As the most flourishing period of 

 the Roman literature was during the time or Augustus, 

 that name is given to any age wherein literature is lire- 

 eminent. 



Auld Reekie. Edinburgh, Scotland. 



Avaloii. King Arthur'sburial place, Glastonbury. 



Ayrshire Poet, The. Burns. Born 1759, died K'.HJ 

 Hisbirthplace was near Ayr in Scotland. 



Barnburners. A name given some years ago to 

 radical Democrats, a leading man amongst whom was 

 John Van Buren. 



Babylonish Captivity. The seventy years' captivity 

 of the Jews at Babylon, 608-538 B. C. 



Baconian Philosophy. The inductive philosophy 

 of Lord Bacon. 



Balmoral Castle. A Scotch castle owned by Queen 

 Victoria, where she spends most of her time in summer. 



Bank of England. Founded 1694.. 



Bard of Avon. Shakespeare, so cailed from his home 

 being Stratford-on-Avon. 



Barmecide's Feast. A mockery, a delusion, and a 

 sham. Barmecide asked a starving beggar to dinner, 

 and seated him at a table of empty dishes. 



Basilisk. A mythical serpent with power to kill by 

 merely looking at'its victim. 



Basso Relievo. Figures in marble and casting that 

 project but a little from the plane. 



Bastile. French prison and fortress. People were 

 incarcerated here by lettre de cachet, without notice 01 

 trial. Destroyed by a mob, 1789. 



Battle of the Books. Satire by Dean Swift compar- 

 ing ancient and modern literature". 



Battle of the Kegs. A practical joke on the British 

 General Loring. Detailed in a ballad of the Revolution- 

 ary War. 



Battery, The. A park in New York City adjoining 

 the river. 



Beacon Street. The aristocratic residence street of 

 Boston. 



Beauty and the Beast. A fairy tale. Beauty lives 

 with the Beast to save her father's life. By her love she 

 disenchants the Beast, who proves to be a great Prince. 



Bedlam. A mad-house. 



Bee, The Attic. Plato; so called from his hone; ed 

 style. 



Bee, The Busy. An example of communal Industry. 



Beelzebub. A Philistine deity. 



Begging the Oueotion. Assuming as true what you 

 are to prove. 



Belle France, La. Beautiful France. 



Belgravia. Fashionable quarter of London. 



Bell the Cat. In a convention of mice it was pro- 

 posed to hang a bell on the cat's neck, to give warning 

 of her coining. No one would serve on the committee. 



Bell, The Passing. Rung formerly when persons 

 were dying. 



Beloved IMsciple, The. St. John. 



Bess, Good <Jueen. Queen Elizabeth. 



Bibliotheque National. (National Library.) At 

 Paris; contains over 1,000,000 books, 150,000 MSS. 



Billingsgate. Coarse language. Such as is used at- 

 the fish market of Billingsgate in London ; a fishwife's 

 toiiiiiie being said to lie remarkably expressive. 



Black Death. A-plagiie which desolated Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa in the fourteenth century. 



Black Friday. Gold panic Sept. 24. 1S6!>. Immense 

 fortunes lost and won same day. Investigation could 

 never discover the true cause of it. 



Black Hole of Calcutta. Dark prison cell wherein 

 Surajah Dowlah shut up 146 British soldiers; only 23 

 lived till morning. 



Black Prince, The. Edward, Prince of Wales, son 

 of Edward III. 



