QUICK MATCH 



QUILLER-COUCH 



Quick Match. Simple fuse 

 which burns rapidly and can be 

 used for the ignition of gunpowder 

 and similar explosives. It is 

 generally prepared by boiling loose 

 strands of cotton wick in a strong 

 solution of gunpowder and gum, 

 allowing them nearly to dry, and 

 then, whilst they are " tacky, " 

 duating them over with mealed 

 gunpowder. If unconfmed this 

 material burns at the rate of about 

 twelve seconds per yard, but if 

 enclosed in a tube burns much 

 faster. Formerly it was used for 

 both military and industrial blast- 

 ing, but for this purpose has been 

 entirely superseded by electric 

 detonators, safety fuse, etc. It is 

 now chiefly employed for fire- 

 works, and to convey ignition 

 rapidly to various components in 

 certain types of shell. 



Quicksand. Name given to a 

 loose sand in which heavy bodies 

 easily sink. Such sands are com- 

 posed of small particles and water 

 and do not coalesce under pressure. 

 They are most usually found near 

 the mouths of rivers and in glacial 

 deposits, and are generally small 

 in extent. A heavy body on a 

 quicksand behaves, as regards 

 sinking, very much as it does in 

 any fluid. If animals and human 

 beings did not struggle when 

 caught in one it is probable that 

 they would not sink completely. 

 ^Quicksilver. Old English term, 

 still used, for the metal mercury 

 (q.v.). It was obviously suggested 

 by the resemblance of mercury to 

 silver and b}' its extraordinarily 

 mobile character. 



Quietism. Form of mysticism 

 which has arisen at various times 

 and in various branches of the 

 Church. Its distinctive principle 

 is passivity and dependence on 

 the manifestation of the Will of 

 God as a guiding rule of life. 

 Hence the Quietist practises entire 

 resignation of self in thought, 

 desire, and deed, and in this way 

 seeks such union with God that the 

 Will of God shall take the place of 

 his own will, and his life be 

 identified with the divine opera- 

 tion. Quietism has arisen in con- 

 nexion with various systems of 

 philosophy and with several non- 

 Christian religions, such as Bud- 

 dhism. Meditation is the one 

 essential practice of Quietism, but 

 it differs from what is usually, 

 known by that term. 



Christian meditation is an active 

 mental process by which some 

 doctrine or fact is recalled by the 

 memory, reflected upon by the 

 imagination, apprehended by the 

 reason, and its lessons accepted 

 by the will and adopted in the life. 

 Quietism, on the other hand, 



teaches that meditation is not an 

 act of the memory and reason, but 

 is an inward, passive apprehension 

 resulting from union with God 

 apart from any exertion of the 

 mind. It may be described as a 

 kind of mental sleep which tends to 

 self-hypnotism. 



The name Quietism first came 

 into use through the teachings of 

 a Spanish priest, Miguel de Molinos 

 (q.v.), whose book, The Spiritual 

 Guide, published in 1675, ran 

 through twenty editions in various 

 languages in six years, and made 

 converts of many eminent Roman 

 cardinals and prelates. It was pub- 

 lished in English in 1699. 



Madame Guyon taught Quietism 

 in France and was imprisoned for 

 it in 1688 and again in 1695. She 

 influenced Fenelon and gained 

 adherents in France and Switzer- 

 land, but was strongly opposed by 

 Bossuet. In Great Britain Quiet- 

 ism rever made considerable head- 

 way, but the " inward light " of the 

 Quakers has points in common 

 with it. The objections raised by 

 orthodox theologians to the system 

 are that it tends to supersede 

 faith in the Christian verities and 

 to depreciate good works, and even 

 constitutes a danger to souls by 

 rejecting all exertion in religion, 

 and entirely excluding any struggle 

 against evil habits or endeavour 

 to attain good ones, or to help one's 

 fellows. See Hesychasts ; Mysticism ; 

 consult also Molinos the Quiet- 

 ist, J. Bigelow, 1882; Christian 

 Mysticism, W. R. Inge, 1899. 



Quilimane, KILIMANE, OR 

 QUELIMANE. Port in Portuguese 

 East Africa. It is situated N. of 

 the delta of the river Zambezi and 

 313 m. S.W. of Mozambique. It 

 possesses an excellent harbour, but 

 is at present undeveloped, al- 

 though an important rly. is being 

 constructed to the Nyasaland Pro- 

 tectorate. Pop. 2,000, including 

 about 400 Europeans. 



Quill (Mid. E. quille, feather; 

 etym. doubtful). Word used in 

 several senses. ( 1 ) A piece of small 



ttibe or reed used by weavers to 

 wind thread upon, and by others to 

 carry wound silk or other thread. 

 (2) A plectrum of quill, as of a 

 goose, for plucking the strings of a 

 musical instrument of the zither 

 type. In an instrument of the 

 harpsichord type, a piece of crow- 

 quill, fixed on a jack, set in motion 

 by the keys. (3) A small pipe or 

 tube, particularly a small water 

 pipe. (4) The hollow shaft of a 

 seal engraver's lathe, in which the 

 cutting tools are held during their 

 rotation, the stones being held 

 against them. (5) In mining, a 

 quill is a train for igniting a blast. 

 It comprises a quill filled with slow- 

 burning powder, but is now super- 

 seded by a safety fuse. ( 6 ) The float 

 of a fishing line. ( 7 ) A faucet or tap, 

 as of a barrel. (8) A pen for writ- 

 ing, made by sharpening and split- 

 ting the hollow stem of a feather. 

 The spines of hedgehogs and porcu- 

 pines are called quills. See Pen. 



Quiller- Couch, SIR ARTHUR 

 THOMAS (b. 1863). British novelist 

 and critic. Born at Fowey, Corn- 

 wall, Nov. 21, 

 1863, he was 

 educated at 

 Clifton and 

 Trinity Col- 

 lege, Oxford. 

 H e achieved 

 great success 

 with his first 

 novel, Dead 







<> - 



Quilimane, Portuguese East Africa. 



Man's Rock, 1887, written under 

 the pseudonym of Q, and enhanced 

 his reputation with many novels 

 and stories. These include The As- 

 tonishing History of Troy Town, 

 1888; The Splendid Spur, 1889; 

 The Blue Pavilions, 1891 ; The De- 

 lectable Duchy, 1893; The Ship 

 of Stars, 1899 ; Fort Amity, 1904 ; 

 Major Vigoureux, 1907; and Nicky 

 Nan, Reservist, 1915. His earlier 

 writing was much under the in- 

 fluence of R. L. Stevenson, and in 

 1897 he was entrusted with the 

 task of completing 

 j Stevenson's u n - 

 finished novel, St. 

 Ives, pub. 1899 v c 



Sir A. Quiller- 

 Couch's fine liter- 

 ary taste and 

 judgement are 

 strikingly m a n i- 

 fested in his critical 

 studies, such as 

 Adventures in 

 Criticism, 1896, 

 and in his antho- 

 logies, The Oxford 

 Books of English 

 Verse, of Ballads, 

 The Town Hall i and of Victorian 



