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tone within the compass of the instrument (which may be bass or tenor or alto or even, in rare instances, soprano) is commanded. It is the only member of the family of wind instruments whose scale, both diatonic and chromatic, is complete without the aid of keys or pistons, and which can slide from note to note as smoo…

A rare element of the chromium group found in certain minerals, as wolfram and scheelite, and isolated as a heavy steel-gray metal which is very hard and infusible. It has both acid and basic properties. When alloyed in small quantities with steel, it greatly increases its hardness. Symbol W (Wolframium). Atomic weight…

ndition; perplexity; trouble; distress. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] This put the old fellow in a rare tweague. Arbuthnot.

eversed position with reference to each other in accordance with some definite law; also, rarely, in artificial twinning (accomplished for example by pressure), the process by which this reversal is brought about. Polysynthetic twinning, repeated twinning of crystal lamellæ, as that of the triclinic feldspars. -- Repe…

supremacy; -- so used by those living north of the Alps in reference to the Italians; -- rarely used in an opposite sense, as referring to the views of those living north of the Alps and opposed to the papal claims. Cf. Gallicanism.

Not common; unusual; infrequent; rare; hence, remarkable; strange; as, an uncommon season; an uncommon degree of cold or heat; uncommon courage.

Uncommon; rare; exquisite; elegant. [Obs.] Harness . . . so uncouth and so rish. Chaucer.

Rarely visited; seldom or never resorted to by human beings; as, an unfrequented place or forest. Addison.

Not usual; uncommon; rare; as, an unusual season; a person of unusual grace or erudition. -- Un*u"su*al*ly, adv. -- Un*u"su*al*ness, n.

Uncommon; unusual; infrequent; rare; as, unwonted changes. "Unwonted lights." Byron. -- Un*wont"ed*ly, adv. -- Un*wont"ed*ness, n.

The state of being up or above; a state of elevation, prosperity, or the like; -- rarely occurring except in the phrase ups and downs. [Colloq.] Ups and downs, alternate states of elevation and depression, or of prosperity and the contrary. [Colloq.] They had their ups and downs of fortune. Thackeray.…

See Curare.

An element of the chromium group, found in certain rare minerals, as pitchblende, uranite, etc., and reduced as a heavy, hard, nickel-white metal which is quite permanent. Its yellow oxide is used to impart to glass a delicate greenish-yellow tint which is accompanied by a strong fluorescence, and its black oxide is us…

The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.; as, a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch. Vacuum brake, a kind of continuous brake operated by exhausting the a…

A rare element of the nitrogen-phosphorus group, found combined, in vanadates, in certain minerals, and reduced as an infusible, grayish-white metallic powder. It is intermediate between the metals and the non-metals, having both basic and acid properties. Sumbol V (or Vd, rarely). Atomic weight 51.2.…

A rare metallic element of which little is known. It is said by Scacchi to have been extracted from a yellowish incrustation from the cracks of a Vesuvian lava erupted in 1631.

mposed of two arcs of circles usually represented as surrounding a divine personage. More rarely, an oval composed of two arcs not representing a glory; a solid oval, etc.

A mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals, and also massive, of a brown to green color, rarely sulphur yellow and blue. It is a silicate of alumina and lime with some iron magnesia, and is common at Vesuvius. Also called idocrase.

one who defeats an enemy in battle; a vanquisher; a conqueror; -- often followed by art, rarely by of. In love, the victors from the vanquished fly; They fly that wound, and they pursue that die. Waller.

g], an instrument resembling the viola, but larger, and held between the knees. It is now rarely used. -- Viola da spalla Etym: [It., viol for the shoulder], an instrument formerly used, resembling the viola, and intermediate in size between the viola and the viola da gamba. -- Viola di amore Etym: [It., viol of love…