MDDM: Chapter 48 Notes Part III

Mon Apr 15 09:46:36 CDT 2002

Chapter 48 Notes
Part The Third

470.19 "Elf Communities”

The name of a class of supernatural beings, in early Teutonic belief supposed to possess formidable magical powers, exercised variously for the benefit or the injury of mankind.
They were believed to be of dwarfish form, to produce diseases of various kinds, to act as incubi and succubi, to cause nightmares, and to steal children, substituting changelings in their place. The Teutonic belief in elves is probably the main source of the mediζval superstition respecting fairies, which, however, includes elements not of Teutonic origin; in general the Romanic word denotes a being of less terrible and more playful character than the _elf' as originally conceived. In mod. literature, elf is a mere synonym of fairy, which has to a great extent superseded it even in dialects. Originally elf was masculine, elven feminine; but in 13th and 14th c. the two seem to have been used indifferently of both sexes. In mod. use elf chiefly, though not always, denotes a male fairy. (OED)

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/elf.html

470.24  William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PENN/pnhome.html

470.31  Proclamation Line

The "Proclamation of 1763" was basically a line along the Appalachian Mountains to keep the settlers from going West of it. Anyone that was already living west of the line had to be removed. 
The point of the line was to protect Native Americans and their land. Britain had sent troops to enforce it. They were to patrol the frontier. 
The Proclamation Line angered Colonists because it forbade them from going West and they had to pay for the British troops that were patrolling the Line. So a lot of Colonists ignored the line and moved west anyways.
http://www.northstonington.k12.ct.us/ms/procline.htm

See also: http://www.bloorstreet.com/200block/rp1763.htm

472.5  Circumferentor

An instrument consisting of a flat brass bar with sights at the ends and a circular brass box in the middle, containing a magnetic needle, which plays over a graduated circle; the whole being supported on a staff or tripod. (Now commonly superseded by the theodolite.)

http://www.gemmary.com/instcat/06/p17-058-06.html
http://www.stanleylondon.com/theod.htm

473.4  Stichomythia

>From Greek "stichos" (row, line, verse) + "mythos" (speech, talk)
In classical Greek Drama, dialogue in alternate lines, employed in sharp disputation, and characterized by antithesis and rhetorical repetition or taking up of the opponent's words. Also applied to modern imitations of this. (OED)

473.16  loxodromick

>From Greek "loxos" (oblique) and "dromos" (course)
Pertaining to oblique sailing, or sailing by the rhumb. (OED)

474.14-15  "Pity, really. None of us has seen a Chinaman before."
"Soon," promises the oracular Squire Haligast.

Is this a "prophesy" for the Chinese immigrants soon to arrive in the Americas?

http://www.ailf.org/heritage/chinese/essay01.htm

474.26  a lather'd Youth riding Express upon a black Barb

Nice wording.
Barb: A horse of the breed imported from Barbary and Morocco, noted for great speed and endurance.
Also: A covering for the breast and flanks of a war-horse, originally protective, but sometimes merely ornamental.
Also: A beard, or analogous appendage.
Also: Folds of the mucous membrane under the tongue of horses and cattle, protecting the orifices of the ducts of the submaxillary glands; the disease caused by their inflammation.

Lathered: Covered with foam; now chiefly of a horse. Because:
Lather: (apart from soap foam) Violent perspiration, esp. the frothy sweat of a horse.

Express:
Specially designed or intended for a particular object; done, made, or sent _on purpose.' Of a messenger: Specially dispatched.
Specially, on purpose, for a particular end; hence (to go, send, etc.) with speed. In mod. use also, by express messenger or train. (OED)

474.29  Fr. Boscovich's Book, De Solis et Lunae' Defectibus

("On the Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon")

Roger Boscovich (1711-1787) Dalmatian Jesuit who developed the first coherent description of atomic theory which is one of the great attempts to understand the structure of the universe. What is remarkable is that his works appeared well over a century before the birth of modern atomic theory, and his influence on modern atomic physics is evident from the number of scientific articles still written about him.

http://www.dalmazia.it/dalmazia/personaggi/ruggeroen.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02691a.htm

Cyrus

__________________________________________________________________
Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop at Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/

Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/