WEI 



747 



WHE 



mina, with sometimes a trace of iron 

 silica, &c. 



WAX, Germ, wachs. 1. The substance 



which forms the cells of bees. 2. J/iwc- 



ral tcax is a solid brown substance, o: 

 various shade&. and fusible like bees 

 wax. Candles are made of it in the 

 Levant. 



AY AY. The sea term for the progress 

 of a ship. 



WAYS AND MEANS. In parliament, 

 when a supply has been voted and the 

 quantum determined, the House of Com- 

 mons resolve themselves into a com- 

 mittee to consider the ways and means to 

 raise the supply voted. 



"WEALD-CLAY. A tenacious blue clay, 

 containing subordinate beds of sandstone 

 and shelly limestone, with layers of sep- 

 taria of argillaceous ironstone. It forms 

 the subsoil of the wealds of Sussex and 

 Kent, and separates the Shanklin sand 

 from the central mass of the Hastings 

 beds. 



AVEAL'DEN STKA'TA. These comprehend 

 the "Weald-clay, the Hastings sands, and 

 the Purbeck beds, or Ashburnham beds. 



WEAR. To turn a ship round with her 

 stern to the wind. 



WEATH'ER. The sea term for that side 

 on which the wind blows. To weather, 

 is to pass to windward of an object. 



"WEATH'ER HOARD'IXO. Feather-edged 

 boarding, nailed upright, the boards lap- 

 ping over each other to keep out rain, &c. 



WEATH'ER-GAGE. In navigation, when 

 a ship is to windward of another, she is 

 said to have the weather-gage of her. 



WEAVING. The act of forming cloth 

 in a loom by the intertexture of threads. 



WEDGE. In mechanics, a simple ma- 

 Chine, which may be con- 

 sidered a modification of 

 the inclined plane, dif- 

 fering only in this, that 

 the body to be moved is 

 drawn along the surface 

 of the plane : but in the 

 wedge, the plane is made 

 to move by percussion 

 beneath the body to be 

 raised, or between the 

 surfaces to be separa- 

 ted. 



WEDN'ESDA Y, Sax. Wodentdteg, Woden's 

 day. See WODEN. 



WEE'VIL. In entomology, a. small ani- 

 mal of the beetle tribe, rather larger than 

 a louse, and very destructive in corn 

 magazines. Set CCRCULIO. 



WETT. The yarn or threads which 

 run from selvage to selvage in a web. 



WEIGH. To take the anchor off the 

 ground. 



"WEIGHT. In physics, the gravity of 

 bodies, or that property by which they 

 ttai :owrdsthe centre of the earth. 



WEIR. An erection carried across a 

 river or rivulet, for the purpose of damm- 

 ing up the water for the convenience of 

 irrigation, and for other purposes. 



WELD, \ Dyer's weed. A plant, the 



WOLD. ) Reseda luteola,t\ie flowers and 

 leaves of which yield a yellow dye. It 

 is, however, too expensive to be exten- 

 sively used. 



WELD'ING. In metallurgy, the process 

 of joining two pieces of metal together, 

 by the aid of heat. The capability of 

 iron to be welded is one of its most im- 

 portant properties. 



WELL (of a ship). 1. A partition to 

 inclose the pumps from the bottom to 

 the upper decks, to render them accessible , 



and prevent their taking damage. 



2. See ARTESIAN WELL. 



WELL-HOLE. A hole connected with 

 some mechanical contrivance, and adap- 

 ted for the reception of some counter- 

 balancing weight, and for other purposes. 



WELT'ING. In manufactures, a sewed 

 border or edging. 



"WEN'LOCK STHA'TA. These comprise 

 the Wenlock limestone, and the Wenlock 

 shale or slate, which is the lowest mem- 

 ber of the formation. 



WERNE'RIAN THE'ORY. See NEPTUNIAN 

 THEORY. 



AVESLEY'ANS. The chief denomination 

 of the methodists, from John Wesley, 

 their founder. 



WET DOCK. See DOCK. 



WHALE. In ichthyology, see BAL.ENA. In 

 stronomy, see CETUS. 



WHALE'BONE. The name given, in 

 commerce, to a substance of the nature 

 of horn, adhering in thin parallel laminae 

 to the upper jaw of the whale; varying 

 in size from three to twelve feet in 

 length. When above six feet it is size 

 bone. 



WHEAT. 1. The seeds of the Tritintm 

 hibernum and epstivum, which, when 

 ground, constitutes bread-flour. Turkey, 

 r Indian wheat is another name for matte 



. v.). 2. In botany, see TRITICCM and 



WHEEL. 1. An agent extensively em- 

 ployed in machinery. Toothed -wheels are 

 generally described as cog-wheels; the 

 cogs (originally made of wood) are sup- 

 posed to be fixed upon the circumference ; 

 :>ut when both are of one piece, the cogs 

 are called teeth ; the teeth of a pinion are 

 gain called leaves ; and those of a trun- 

 dle staves. The wheel which commuaj- 

 s motion to another, is termed th 

 driver, or leader, and that acted upon, is 



:he drover, or follower. 2. The wheel 



pf a carriage is commonly a circular 

 rame, consisting of three parts, the nave, 

 which is the centre or hub into which 

 the tpakes or radii are fixed ; and the 

 periphery, or circumference, 



