QUE 



COS 



Q U I 



tified rock, consisting of quartz of a gra- 

 nular form, united sometimes to other 

 crystalline elements. 



QUA'SI CON'TRACT. In civil law, an act 

 which has not the strict form of a con- 

 tract, but has the force of one, as if (quasi) 

 the forms had been all complied with. 



QUASIMO'DO. In the Moman Catholic 

 calendar, the first Sunday after Easter. 



QUAS.QUASS. A fermented liquor drunk 

 by the peasantry of Russia, and made 

 by pouring warm water on rye or bar- 

 ley meal. It is reckoned an excellent 

 antiscorbutic. 



QCAS'SIA. A genus of trees. Decandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. order Gruinales. There 

 are two species, both natives of South 

 and North America and "West Indies: 

 that which affords the bitter quassia of 

 the shops is a beautiful tree. The bitter 

 extract has been considered as a principle 

 tut generis, and named quassine. The term 

 quassia is derived from quassi, the name 

 of a slave who first used it, with uncom- 

 mon success, as a secret remedy for the 

 malignant endemic fevers which fre- 

 quently prevail in Surinam. 



QUAS'SINE, I The bitter extract of quas- 



QUAS'SITE. ) sia amara and excelsa. It 

 crystallises in very small white prisms. 

 Its solutions are colourless and intensely 

 bitter. 



QUATRE'FOIL (French). Tour-leaved 

 grass : a favourite bearing in coat armour. 



measure of time equal to half a crotchet, 



or the eighth part of a semi-breve. 2. 



A shake performed by the voice or on an 

 instrument. 



QUEB'RADAS (Spanish). The name given 

 by the Spaniards to the enormous per- 

 pendicular rents of the Andes. The word 

 has been adopted by geographers, &c. 



QUEENS OR QUEEN POSTS. In carpentry, 

 the name given to those coupled bearers, 

 G G, framed with one straining beam be- 



G 



tween them, for supporting roofs of from 

 30 to 40 feet span, instead of the single 

 king-posts used in roofs of from 20 to 30 

 feet span. 



QUEEN 'S-YELLOW. An old name of Tur- 

 bith mineral (yellow sub-sulphate of 

 mercury.) 



QUER'CITHIN. The yellow colouring 

 matter of quercitron bark. It crystallises 

 in yellow spangles. 



QUER'CITRON. A dye-stuff. The inner 

 baik of the Quercus tinctoria, a tree which 

 Vows spontaneously in North America, 



and has bern introduced into France and 

 Bavaria. Its colouring matter ii (;ut.'- 

 citrin. 



QUER'CUS. The oak. A genus of trees. 

 Monctcia Folyandria. Natural; order 

 Ainentace.ce. There are about 60 species, 

 besides varieties. The ccmmon oak (Q.. 

 robur), and durmast (Q,. pubescent), are 

 natives of Britain ; the evergreen, black, 

 white, Italian, and Turkey oaks, are na- 

 tives of the south of Europe, as is also 

 the cork-tree and kermes. America has 

 33 species, of which the live oak is per- 

 haps the most valuable for ship-building. 



QDES'TIONIST. A candidate for a bache- 

 lor's degree at Cambridge. 



QUEST-MEN. In law, persons chosen to 

 inquire into abuses and misdemeanors, 

 especially such as relate to weights and 

 measures. 



QUIS'TUS. In law, land which does not 

 descend by hereditary right, being ac- 

 quired by one's own labour and industry. 



QUICK'-BEAM, \ The wild sorb (Sorbut 



QUICK'EN-TREE. ) aucuparia) or moun- 

 tain ash. 



QUICK-LIME. Lime in its most active 

 and caustic state, before it is slaked; 

 and prepared by exposing any carbonate 

 of lime, as common limestone, marble, 

 chalk, &c., to a full red-heat for some 

 time, whereby the carbonic acid and 

 water are expelled, and a simple oxide of 

 calcium left. 



QUICK-MATCH. A combustible prepara- 

 tion used by artillerymen. It is formed 

 of cotton strands dipped in a boiling com- 

 position of vinegar, saltpetre, and powder. 



QUICK'SET-HEDOE is a general name 

 for all living hedges, but, in a stricter 

 sense, the name is applied only to those 

 planted with hawthorn, or Crateegus orya- 

 caiitha, under which name these young 

 plants or sets are sold by the nursery- 

 gardeners. 



QUICK-SIL'VEH, argentitm vivwn. A 

 name for mercury. See MERCURY. 



QUICK-WORK signifies all that part of 

 a ship which is under water when she is 

 laden. The term is also applied to that 

 part of the side which is above the sheer- 

 rail. 



QUID'DITY. In the school philosophy, 

 essence. That which is a proper answer 

 to the question quid est t The term is 

 now used to designate any trifling nicety 

 or cavil. 



QUID PRO QUO. A Latin phrase, used 

 to denote that one thing is made use of 

 to supply the defect of another. A gvid 

 pro quo is a succedaneum. 



QOI'ETISTS. A sect of mystics origi- 

 nated by Molino, a Spanish priest, who 

 maintained that religion consists in the 

 internal rest (quietus) of the mind, em 

 ployed in contemplating God and sub- 

 mitting to his will. 



