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The art of recording pecuniary or business transactions in a regular and systematic manner, so as to show their relation to each other, and the state of the business in which they occur; the art of keeping accounts. The books commonly used are a daybook, cashbook, journal, and ledger. See Daybook, Cashbook, Journal, an…

A very singular missile weapon used by the natives of Australia and in some parts of India. It is usually a curved stick of hard wood, from twenty to thirty inches in length, from two to three inches wide, and half or three quarters of an inch thick. When thrown from the hand with a quick rotary motion, it describes ve…

An instrument for regulating the electro-motive force in an alternating-current circuit; -- so called because used to "boost", or raise, the pressure in the circuit.

A tidal flood which regularly or occasionally rushes into certain rivers of peculiar configuration or location, in one or more waves which present a very abrupt front of considerable height, dangerous to shipping, as at the mouth of the Amazon, in South America, the Hoogly and Indus, in India, and the Tsien-tang, in Ch…

A grove; a thicket; shrubbery; an inclosure formed by branches of trees, regularly or irregularly disposed.

(Ptilonorhynchus violaceus or holosericeus), allied to the starling, which constructs singular bowers or playhouses of twigs and decorates them with brightcolored objects; the satin bird.

te, invented by Lawrence Hargrave, of Sydney, Australia, which consist of two light rectangular boxes, or cells open on two sides, and fastened together horizontally. Called also Hargrave, or cellular, kite.

ressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, connecting the head with the shell.

A piece or combination of pieces, usually triangular in general shape, projecting from, or fastened to, a wall, or other surface, to support heavy bodies or to strengthen angles.

or correcting scolding women. It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold.

Broken and angular fragments of rocks underlying alluvial deposits. Lyell.

A rock composed of angular fragments either of the same mineral or of different minerals, etc., united by a cement, and commonly presenting a variety of colors. Bone breccia, a breccia containing bones, usually fragmentary. -- Coin breccia, a breccia containing coins.

Consisting of angular fragments cemented together; resembling breccia in appearance. The brecciated appearance of many specimens [of meteorites]. H. A. Newton.

A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried, or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp. The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians. Layard.

Orig., at Sydney, a cold and violent south or southwest wind, rising suddenly, and regularly preceded by a hot wind from the north; -- now usually called southerly buster. It blew across the Brickfields, formerly so called, a district of Sydney, and carried clouds of dust into the city.

resting on trestles. -- Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal. -- Wheatstone's bridge (Elec.), a device for the measurement of resistances…

A light-armed, irregular foot soldier. [Obs.]

An oval or pearshaped diamond having its entire surface cut in triangular facets.

A straight tool with file teeth, made of steel, to be pressed through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools; a drift.

A wild duck (Aythya, or Fuligula, marila), which appears in large numbers on the eastern coast of the United States, in autumn; - - called also bluebill, blackhead, raft duck, and scaup duck. See Scaup duck.