solid 
In nine cases out of ten, we thus succeeded in inukn:,, 
ourselves "solid iiMh the administration" before we In'/i 
been in a town or village forty-eight hours. 
The Century, XXXVII. 30. 
= Syu. 1. Dense. 8. Stable, weighty, important. 
II. . 1. A body which throughout its mass 
(and not merely at its surface) resists for an 
indefinite time a sufficiently small force that 
tends to alter its equilibrium figure, always 
springing back into shape after the force is re- 
moved; a body possessing elasticity of figure 
Every such body has limits of elasticity, and, if mb}oted 
to a strain exceeding these limits, it takes a set and does 
notreturntoitBoriKitmlsliapeon being let go. Thisprop- 
erty is called plasticity. The minimum energy required 
to give a set to a body of definite form and size measures 
its resilience. When the resilience of a body is small and 
masks its springiness, the body is called soft. Even fluids 
transmit shearing forces if time be allowed, and many sub- 
stances will yield Indefinitely to very small (but not Indefi- 
nitely small) forces applied for great lengths of time. So 
solids that have received a small set will sometimes par- 
tially recover their figures after a long time. This prop- 
erty in fluids is called viscosity, in solids after-effect (Ger- 
man nachtuirkung). The phenomenon is connected with 
a regrouping of the molecules, and indicates the essential 
difference between a solid and a liquid. In fluids diffusion 
is continually active, and in gases it produces phenomena 
of viscosity. In liquids it is not rapid enough to give rise 
to sensible viscosity, but the free motion of the molecules 
makes the body fluid, while the tendency of sets of mole- 
cules to continue for a while associated makes the fluidity 
imperfect. In solids, on the other hand (at least when not 
under strain), there is no diffusion, and the molecules are 
consequently in stationary motion or describing quasi- 
orbits. They thus become grouped in the mode in which 
they have least positional energy consistent with their ki- 
netic energy. When this grouping is slightly disturbed, 
it tends to restore itself; but when the disturbance is 
greater, some of the molecules will tend to return to their 
old places and others to move on to new situations, and 
this may give rise to a new permanent grouping, and 
exhibit the phenomenon of plasticity. But if not quite 
sufficient for this, disturbances of the molecular motions 
somewhat similar to the secular perturbations of the 
planets will result, from which there will be no restora- 
tion for a very long time. Solid bodies are very strongly 
cohesive, showing that the molecules attract one another 
on the whole ; and they are generally capable of crystalli- 
zation, showing that the attractions of the molecules are 
different in different directions. 
2. In geoin., a body or magnitude which has 
three dimensions length, breadth, and thick- 
ness being thus distinguished from a surface, 
which has but two dimensions, and from a line, 
which has but one. The boundaries of solids are sur- 
faces. Besides the three round bodies (the sphere, cone, 
and cylinder), together with the conoids, and the pyramids, 
prisms, and prismatoids, the most important geometrical 
solids are the five Platonic and the Kepler-Poinsot regu- 
lar pqlyhedra, the two semi-regular solids, and the thirteen 
Archimedean solids. The faces, edges, or summits of one 
solid are said to correspond with the faces, edges, or sum- 
mits of another when the radii from the center of the for- 
5759 
Geometrical Solids. 
i, tetrahedron : a. cube ; 3. octahedron ; 4, Platonic clod. 
5. iccNiihjsclron ; 6 .great icosahedron: 7. Cre.it dodecahedron; 8. 
small stel ate, dodecahedron ; 9, great stellated dudec.U. 
soul-regular dodecahedron: n. scmi-rci.Mil.ir In. icnnl., 1 
truncated tetrahedron; 13, cuboctahedron ; 14, truncate. I 
truncated octahedron; its. small riwmbfcuboctalwdnmi ij, (iron 
rhombiciiboctahedron ; ,8, snub-cul* ; 19, icosidodecahe.l, 
truncated dodecahedron; 21. truncated icosahedron ; 22. small rhrmi 
bicosidodecahedron ; 3i,j!reat rhomblcosidodecahedroii ; 24. sunl. ,|., 
decahedron. (12 to 24 are the Archimedean solids.) 
mer to the mid-faces, mid-edges, or summits can be simul- 
taneously brought into coincidence with the radii from the 
center to the mid-faces, mid-edges, or summits of the lat- 
ter. If two solids correspond faces to summits, summits 
to faces, and edges to edges, they are said to bereciprocal. 
If to the edges of one solid correspond the faces or sum- 
mits of another, while to the faces and summits together 
of the former correspond the summits or faces of another, 
the latter is said to be the mmmital or facial hnlohedrnn 
of the former. The regular tetrahedron is the reciprocal 
of itself, and its reciprocal holohedra are the cube and oc- 
tahedron. The reciprocal holohedra of these, again, are the 
semi-regular dodecahedron and the cuboctahedron. The 
facial holohedron of these, again, is the small rhombicuboc- 
tahedron. The faces of the truncated cube and truncated 
octahedron correspond to those of the cuboctahedron. 
The snub-cube has faces corresponding to the cuboctahe- 
dron, and twenty-four faces which in two sets of twelve cor- 
respond to the summits of two other cuboctahedra. The 
faces of the great rhombicuboctahedrou correspond to 
those of the small rhombicuboctahedron. Just as the cube 
and octahedron are reciprocal, so likewise are the Platonic 
dodecahedron and icosahedron, though they are related to 
no hemihedral body like the tetrahedron. Their recipro- 
cal holohedra are the semi-regular triacontahedron and the 
icosidodecahedron, and the facial holohedron of these, 
again, is the small rhombicosidodecahedron. The faces of 
the truncated dodecahedron and truncated icosahedron 
correspond to those of the icosidodecahedron. The snub 
dodecahedron has faces corresponding to those of the ico- 
sidodecahedron, and two sets of others corresponding ti 
the summits of two other icosidodecahedra. The faces 
of the great rhombicosidodecahedron correspond to those 
of the small rhombicosidodecahedron. The faces, sum- 
mits, and edges of the great Icosahedron and great stel- 
lated dodecahedron correspond respectively to the faces, 
summits, and edges of the Platonic dodecahedron and ico- 
sahedron. The great dodecahedron and small stellated 
dodecahedron are self-reciprocal, both faces and summits 
corresponding to the faces of the Platonic dodecahedron 
or summits of the icosahedron. The faces of the trun- 
cated tetrahedron correspond to the faces of the octahe- 
dron or summits of the cube. 
3. pi. In anat., all parts of the body which are 
not fluid : as, the solids and fluids of the body. 
4. pi. In printing, the parts of an engraving 
which show black or solid in print Archime- 
dean, rectangular, right solid. See the adjectives. 
Cissoidal solid, a solid generated by the rotation of the 
cissoid about its axis. Kepler solid, or Kepler-Poinsot 
solid, a regular solid which inwraps its center more than 
once. There are four such solids the great icosahedron, 
the great dodecahedron, the small stellated dodecahedron, 
and the great stellated dodecahedron. Three of them 
were mentioned by Kepler, and all were rediscovered by 
Poinsot. The names here used were given by Cayley. 
Logistic solid, a solid generated by the revolution of a 
logarithmic curve about its asymptote. Plastic solid, 
a solid substance whose limit of elasticity is far below its 
point of rupture, so that it can be shaped : thus, putty and 
wrought-iron are plastic solids. Platonic solid, one of 
the old regular solids which inwrap the center only once. 
They are five the tetrahedron, the cube, the octahedron, 
the twenty-vertexed dodecahedron, and the icosahedron. 
Regular solid, a polyhedron whose faces are regular 
polygons, all alike. Semi-regular solid, a body whose 
edges are all of equal length, whose faces are all alike and 
equally incline to one another at the edges, but whose faces 
are not regular polygons. Two such solids are known 
the rhombic dodecahedron and triacontahedron. Solid 
of least resistance. See resistance. Solid of revolu- 
tion. See revolution. 
Solidago (sol-i-da'go), n. [NL. ( Vaillant, 1720), 
< ML. solidago, goldenrod (Solidago Virc/auna), 
so called from its reputed vulnerary qualities, 
< L. solidus, solid: see solid.'] 1. A genus of 
composite plants, the goldenrods, of the tribe 
Asteroideee and subtribe HomocJiromeee, some- 
times made the type of a further subdivision, 
Solidaf/inese (De Candolle, 1836). It is charac- 
terized by several-flowered small and radiate yellow heads, 
with a small flat usually alveolate receptacle, and an oblong 
involucre of erect rigid bracts which are closely imbricated 
in several rows and are without herbaceous tips. The ob- 
long or obovoid five- to twelve-ribbed achenes bear a copi- 
ous whitish pappus of long and nearly equal slender bris- 
tles. From Aster, which it closely resembles in technical 
characters, it is distinguished by its taller wand-like habit, 
yellow rays, smaller heads, and the absence of cordate 
leaves ; from Chrysopsis and Haplopappus by its narrow 
few-flowered heads ; and from Bij/elitna, its other most 
Solidago 
ll!l]KirtHllt tll'lurl'latin'. 1 1) till' J. 
rii'S liavi- in 
c-'linial he-ills, liMlall) will 
whh'h heal 1111111,1 . alU-niatc- ft 
narrow Htem-li'avrs and brotder TOOt-lflftTW, wUob 
into niiiritinnl pi-tit. 1,-s. Nimn-mii- inti-mi. 
mider mini} ipeciet difficult t, .lMinj:iii<.|i In tin- origi 
mil species, .s 1 . r/r/.///,-, ,/, tin i;, .!. I. n \, !!,. II, ,u. 
I in small ,-lii-tri-, whirh fcirm an <!., 
t, Illlptl ll >],](,, , V. 
typical intli.lVM rnrr, liitu.vn. i^ ;, t.llnilnil JIM , 
i irlcof determinate iii-niuim, 
,ni< rrnnvinir and srurpiuid um-sidi-.l , t seen 
In .V. i ml X. nn/imi. |. 
flowers form a dense thynusof si i , .wded 
mi . mes.as.S'. gpecinm. of the Atlantic- and int, ii,,r I nit,, I 
Slati-s. A few nthc-is In. ni tin "liin and Mississippi 
valleys, as S. riyitta, produce nearly level-tuppi-il n 
l,,nr other cymoae species were form. 
gi-nu*. KuttmUcj (Nniiiili, 1-iM. .listiiiKiiislu',1 hy lack of 
s,'..i [liuid hranc'Iili-ts and by tin ir lii ,. ti, 
tn BI mi I. n . Including thr uid,-l\ distributed spe- 
c-ii's .V. lanceolata and S. Caroliniana (8. temtifolia), and 
ooonaottag with .<?. paucifoKidoM, of the Southern States 
ami tin- I'.ahamas, formerly separated as a genus, Chrytuma 
iNnttall, I --I"), Ini-aiiseof Its shrubby Klein and few-flow, 
ered heads with one to three rays. Several other species 
are slightly aberrant : .y. innlliradiata, of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, sometimes has twelve rays, others usually five; 8. 
discaidea, a racemose Gulf species, is wholly without rays 
and has a purplish pappus; this, with .S'. gquarrota of north- 
ern rocks and S. petiolarix of southern pine-barrens, varies 
also in the spreading tips of the Involucral bracts. S. tri 
color is remarkable for its cream -colored flowers. S. vtrna, 
of pine-woods near Wilmington, North Carolina, blooms in 
May; S. nliyinosa, of northern peat-bogs, in July; S.juncm 
and S. elliptica in August ; and .S. ruyom, S. Canadewit, and 
most others mainly in September ; S. nemoraiit and S. cn- 
A Coldenrod (Solidaga ntmoralis). 
i. The upper part of the stem with the inflorescence. 2. The lower 
part of the stem, showing a stolon. 
gia continue well into October. The genus is one of the 
most characteristic of the United States, numerous both in 
species and in individuals, and not entirely wanting in any 
region. In the northern and central States it gives to the 
landscape much of its beauty, and is an important element 
of the prevailing yellow of autumn. There are nearly 100 
species, of which 80, besides more than 30 important varie- 
ties, are natives of the United States, and the others are 
nearly all American, Oof them occurring in Mexico, 2, 3, or 5 
in South America (3 in southern Brazil, 2 in Uruguay, and 1 
in Chili), and 1 in Hayti. Only 2 species are natives of the 
Old World, S. litt.ara.lii, limited to the Tuscan and Ligurfan 
coast, and 5. Viryaurea, which extends from Mount Parnas- 
sus north and west throughout Europe and into Siberia, 
Alaska, New York, and New England, in many widely dif- 
fering varieties. Those of the United States are all, with 5 
exceptions, confined to them and to British America (into 
which 32 extend), and are mainly natives of the Atlanticand 
central States. Numerous isolated species are southern ; 
the northern are mostly of wider distribution and more 
abundant in individuals ; 11 species are mainly confined 
to the high northern, 12 to the northeastern, 24 to the 
southern, 8 to the southwestern, 10 to the Pacific States: 
(1 belong to the Mississippi valley, of which S. Minourt- 
ensig is the only one widely distributed ; 2 species, S. 
odora and S. tempervireiu, extend throughout tne Atlan- 
tic coast from Canada to Mexico, and the latter, the salt- 
marsh goldenrod, reappears at the Azores and at San 
Francisco, forty-two species occur in the northeast quar- 
ter of the United States, 53 in the Southern States, and 
about 14 among the Rocky Mountains. S. Canadentit, 
the most numerous and most typical species, is also the 
one most widely diffused through the United States, fol- 
lowed next by 5. neinoralif and 5. rvyota. The species 
of this genus range from beyond 86 N. latitude to the city 
of Mexico, and from alpine summits to the sea-level ; sev- 
eral are mostly confined to swamps, as S. aatvla, and a few 
to woodland borders, as 5. cvroia and S. Wcotor, but meet 
are plants of dry open soil, especially S. nemoraiit. In 
parts of the Atlantic coast the name goldenrod Is local- 
ly confined to 5. odora, the eweet goldenrod of authors, 
which contains In its dotted leaves an aromatic and stimu 
lating volatile oil of an anlsate odor and pale greenish-yel- 
low color ; it is also carminative and diaphoretic, and its in- 
fusion is used to relieve spasmodic pains and nausea; its 
dried flowers and leaves have been employed as a bever- 
age, under the name of Bltte-Mimiitain tea. S. Virgavrea, 
the goldenrod of Europe, contains an astringent and tnni. 
principle, and was long In esteem for healing wounds. 
