Cassell's Domestic dictionary : an encyclopaedia for the household.

Date:: [1884?]

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cassell's Domestic dictionary : an encyclopaedia for the household. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

29/1290 page 21

Being not only common, but easily wrought, and at the same time cheap and attractive, it is very popular for brooches, bracelets, and other personal ornaments, as well as for seals, and umbrella or parasol handles, &c. Agave, The.—To this highly interesting genus belongs the Agave Americana, or Ameri- can aloe. This plant has been said to flower only once in a hundred years, but it is now known to flower sooner or later, according to the treat- ment it receives. The readiest way to throw it AGAVE. into flower is to apply bottom heat, and treat it as the pine-apple. All the species thrive well in rich loamy soil, mixed with a very little rotten dung, decayed vegetable mould, and brick rubbish. They require but little water, and are propagated by suckers from the root. Age, Coining of.—The arriving at 21 years old by persons of either sex, when they are competent to do acts which before this period they were prohibited from doing. Previously to attaining age they are considered by our law as infants; but infants arc notwith- standing capable of entering into some contracts and fulfilling some legal duties. Full age is attained on the commencement of the day pre- ceding the 21st anniversary of birth. (See Adult, Infants.) Aged, Precautions for the.—Aged persons find themselves obliged to take many precautions which in earlier years were quite unnecessary. They do well to live according to simple rules, any irregularity or excess being more likely to tell against them than against younger persons. Food should be not only simple, but prepared in forms easy of reception and digestion—“ food convenient.” There are one or two precautions especially important. One is against excessive exertion, either physical or mental. The heart and lungs and great vessels are equal to quiet duties long after they have become unfit for strains, hence no strain or pressure should be put on them. Perhaps the chief precaution to be taken in favour of old people is that against cold. They are very sensitive to cold, and their liability to be injured by it is perhaps greater than their sensitiveness to it. Winter is the trying time for the aged. And there are pro- bably two situations in which they are most vulnerable in winter — one is out of doors, exposed to the winds and weather; the other is in beds and bedrooms. We are persuaded that many get their deaths in their beds from cold bed-clothes and the want of a fire in the bedrooms. Warm clothing and warm bed- clothing will keep many old people alive that would otherwise contract a fatal bronchitis or inflammation of the lungs. In the case of the aged, everything likely to occasion accident should be guarded against, e.g., fires, things that would cause falls, &c. &c. Agent.—One who acts in the steaa or place of another, who is called the principal. An agent acting without authority from his assumed principal, and even under a mistaken view that he had such authority, generally renders himself personally liable to the party with whom he contracts or negotiates. Aglet, or Aiglet.—In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was customary to tie together different portions of the dress with ribbons, and the tags which were placed on the ends of these ribbons were known by the name of aiglets. The word is probably a corruption or abbreviation of aiguillette, which in French means a tagged point. Agnail. (See Whitlow.) Agreement.—A promise or undertaking between two or more persons to do or not to do a particular thing. Instances :—An agreement for the sale and purchase of any interest in land is by the Statute of Frauds (29 Chas. II. c. 3) required to be in writing and signed. An agreement relating to property of any kind above the value of £5 is subject to a stamp duty of 6d. (formerly it was 2s. 6d)there are some few exemptions. It is required by the Stamp Act, 1870, “that an agreement for lease for a term not exceeding thirty-five years should have the ad valorem stamp duty chargeable on the lease itself impressed upon the agreement.” (See Ad Valorem.) Ague, or intermittent fever, is a disease still common in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Cambridge- shire, and other counties of England, though taking the country as a whole, it is much rarer than it used to be. It is met with in many foreign countries, and is said to be most virulent as we approach the equator and the sea-coast. It affects low and moist localities. It is scarcely ever developed at a lower temperature than 60° Fahrenheit, and the evolution of the malaria on which it depends, is checked by a temperature of 32°. For producing malaria it appears to be requisite that there should be a surface capable of absorbing moisture, and that this surface should be flooded and soaked with water, and then dried. Some have thought the presence of decomposing vegetable matter essential for ague. This is commonly but apparently not invariably the case. Low, flat, marshy, and undrained countries, especially in hot seasons, or in tropical latitudes, are sure to be affected by it. The tertian form of ague is the

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