Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Chapter 78: 758-773

2011-11-01T19:50:40Z

Rbellin: /* Page 766 */ more High Tobers

__TOC__

==Page 759==
'''Junto''' 
Meeting, get together, social, etc.

Before Ives' time, no doubt, but note, also: The Junto was a club established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin for mutual improvement in Philadelphia. Also known as the ''Leather Apron Club'', its purpose was to debate questions of morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and to exchange knowledge of business affairs. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto WIKI]

'''The Room continues to fill up, the Dawn not to arrive.''' 
This section is extremely Faulknerian; esp. brings to mind the opening pages of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sartoris ''Sartoris''].

'''Sercial''' 
Sercial (Cerceal in Portuguese) is the name applied to any of several white grapes grown in Portugal, especially on the island of Madeira, and gives its name to the dryest of the four classic varieties of Madeira fortified wine. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sercial WIKI]

==Page 760==
'''puissant''' 
Powerful, mighty, having authority. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puissant WIKI]

'''''sotto Voce''''' 
Sotto voce (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsotːo ˈvotʃe], literally "under voice") means to speak under one's breath. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotto_voce WIKI]

'''Epiphany''' 
Epiphany is a Christian feast day which celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. Epiphany falls on January 6 in the modern Gregorian Calendar followed by most Western churches. Many of the Eastern Churches use the traditional Julian Calendar, where Epiphany occurs on the Gregorian Calendar's January 19. Western Christians commemorate the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the child Jesus on this day, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles. Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. It is also called Theophany, especially by Eastern Christians. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday) WIKI]

==Page 761==
'''cotes''' 
A small structure built to contain domesticated animals such as sheep, pigs or pigeons. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cote WIKI]

==Page 762==
'''Mayer''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

==Page 763==
'''Se'nnight''' 
Seven days and nights; a week. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sennight WIKI]

'''Birmingham''' 
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city... The City of Birmingham forms part of the larger West Midlands conurbation and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, Wolverhampton and the towns of the Black Country. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham WIKI]

==Page 764==
'''Leyden Jar''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_29:_289-295#Page_294 294].

'''Lignum Vitae''' 
Lignum vitae is a trade wood, also called guayacan or in Europe known as pockenholz, from trees of the genus ''Guaiacum''. This wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness and density. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae WIKI]

'''Alembicks... Retorts''' 
An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connected by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part (the capital or still-head), while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation apparatus. A modern descendant of the alembic (used to produce alcohol) is the pot still. It was described by Al-Razi in the 9th century in his "''Book of Secrets''". From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alembic WIKI]

==Page 765==
'''Stellium''' 
Stellium: At least four planets linked together in a series of continuous conjunctions. The planets will act as if they are all in conjunction with each other, even if not all of them actually are. This pattern gives a huge emphasis to the sign occupied by the planets, regardless of the sun sign. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natal_astrology WIKI]

'''''Vis Martis''''' 
Inner Mars

'''Ephemeris''' 
An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from the Greek word ἐφήμερος ephemeros "daily") is a table of values that gives the positions of astronomical objects in the sky at a given time or times. Different kinds are used for astronomy and astrology. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeris WIKI]

==Page 766==
'''Coves''' 
(British) A fellow; a man. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cove WIKI]

'''High Tobers''' 
"A member of the aristocracy of thiefdom" (Source: [http://books.google.com/books?id=RTdcQOlzjXAC&lpg=PA298&ots=4Q6LTghWcl&dq=%22high%20tober%22&pg=PA298#v=onepage&q=%22high%20tober%22&f=false Americanisms: Old & New], comp. Farmer, 1889, and several other slang/cant dictionaries confirm this meaning; [http://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&lpg=PA715&ots=2yfNO8iiv3&dq=%22high%20tober%22&pg=PA715#v=onepage&q=%22high%20tober%22&f=false Casell's Dictionary of Slang] gives "high tober gloak" as "a mounted highwayman"); "In American thieves' slang, the very highest order of 'gonoffs' or thieves, who go well-dressed and frequent watering-places" ([http://books.google.com/books?id=H3cSAAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA463&ots=_BzZwTGZfu&dq=%22high%20tobers%22&pg=PA463#v=onepage&q=%22high%20tobers%22&f=false A dictionary of slang, jargon & cant], 1889)

'''Cheroot''' 
The cheroot or stogie is a cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture. Since cheroots do not taper, they are inexpensive to roll mechanically, and their low cost makes them particularly popular. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheroot WIKI]

==Page 767==
'''Gloak''' 
A man, a guy. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gloak WIKI]

'''quiddles''' 
To talk nonsense or speak vaguely, to waffle. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quiddle WIKI]

'''the Bitter flows''' 
Bitter- A type of beer heavily flavored with hops. from [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bitter WIKI]

'''''Ghastly Fop''''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_54:_525-541#Page_527 527].

'''Footpads''' 
A footpad is a robber or thief specializing in pedestrian victims. The term was used widely throughout the 16th century until the 19th century, but gradually fell out of common use. A footpad was considered a low criminal, as opposed to the riding highwaymen, who in certain cases might gain fame as well as notoriety. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footpad WIKI]

'''Brum Kiddy''' 
Kid talking with an imitation growl

'''Canting''' 
To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cant WIKI]

'''Clozay le Gob''' 
A verb in the imperative plural in French ends in "ez", pronounced like "ay", with "Gob" being British slang for "mouth".

'''Joint''' 
A cut of meat. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/joint WIKI]

'''Tohu-Vabohu''' 
Commotion, chaos. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tohu-bohu WIKI]

==Page 768==
'''weft-forks... pirn winders''' 
Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft (older woof), are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the weft runs across from side to side. Cloth is woven on a loom, a device for holding the warp threads in place while the filling threads are woven through them. Weft is an old English word meaning "that which is woven". The manner in which the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is known as the weave. The three basic weaves are plain weave, satin weave, and twill, and the majority of woven products are created with one of these weaves. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirn WIKI]

'''Mayer''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''''Data''''' 
Cf. page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_75:_733-743#Page_735 735].

'''Nautical Almanac''' 
In Great Britain, The Nautical Almanac has been published annually by the HM Nautical Almanac Office, ever since the first edition was published in 1767... A nautical almanac is a publication describing the positions of a selection of celestial bodies for the purpose of enabling navigators to use celestial navigation to determine the position of their ship while at sea. The Almanac specifies for each whole hour of the year the position on the Earth's surface (in declination and Greenwich hour angle) at which the sun, moon, planets and first point of Aries is directly overhead. The positions of 57 selected stars are specified relative to the first point of Aries. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_almanac WIKI]

'''A.R.''' 
Astronomer Royal

==Page 769==
'''Mr. Herschel''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_73:_706-713#Page_708 708].

'''Flamsteed''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_21:_207-214#Page_211 211].

'''Le Monnier''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_21:_207-214#Page_213 213].

'''antepenultimate''' 
Two before the last in a series. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antepenultimate WIKI]

'''malodorous''' 
Having a bad odor. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malodorous WIKI]

'''Plexities''' 
Innerworkings

==Page 770==
'''Mr. Hutton''' 
Charles Hutton (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was an English mathematician... In 1773 he was appointed professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and in the following year he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London and reported on Nevil Maskelyne's determination of the mean density and mass of the earth from measurements taken in 1774–1776 at Schiehallion in Perthshire. This account appeared in the ''Philosophical Transactions'' for 1778, was afterwards reprinted in the second volume of his ''Tracts on Mathematical and Philosophical Subjects'', and procured for Hutton the degree of LL.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He was elected foreign secretary to the Royal Society in 1779, but his resignation in 1783 was brought about by the president Sir Joseph Banks, whose behaviour to the mathematical section of the society was somewhat high-handed. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hutton WIKI]

'''Henry Cavendish''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''Mr. Joseph Banks''' 
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS (13 February 1743 – 19 June 1820) was a British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage (1768–1771). Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa, and the genus named after him, Banksia. Approximately 80 species of plants bear Banks's name. Banks was also the leading founder of the African Association, a British organization dedicated to the exploration of Africa, and a member of the Society of Dilettanti, which helped to establish the Royal Academy. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Banks WIKI]

'''Picador''' 
A picador (pl. picadores) is one of the pair of horsemen in a Spanish bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picador WIKI]

'''Perseus''' 
Constellation, but: Perseus, the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians. Perseus was the hero who killed Medusa and claimed Andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster. from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus WIKI]

'''Algol, the Ghoul-Star''' 
Algol, known colloquially as the Demon Star, is a bright star in the constellation Perseus. It is one of the best known eclipsing binaries, the first such star to be discovered, and also one of the first (non-nova) variable stars to be discovered. Algol is actually a three-star system (Beta Persei A, B, and C) in which the large and bright primary Beta Persei A is regularly eclipsed by the dimmer Beta Persei B. Thus, Algol's magnitude is usually near-constant at 2.1, but regularly dips to 3.4 every two days, 20 hours and 49 minutes during the roughly 10-hour long partial eclipses. There is also a secondary eclipse when the brighter star occults the fainter secondary. This secondary eclipse can only be detected photoelectrically. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol WIKI]

'''Schiehallion''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''B. of L.''' 
Board of Longitude

==Page 771==
'''Petroglyph''' 
Petroglyphs (also called rock engravings) are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph WIKI]

==Page 772==
'''Kabbalistick''' 
See pages [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_35:_349-361#Page_356 356] & [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_49:_476-483#Page_479 479].

'''''data''''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_78:_758-773#Page_768 768].

'''Pentateuch''' 
The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deutoronomy & Numbers.

'''Gematria''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_49:_476-483#Page_479 479].

==Page 773==
'''Mr. Shippen''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_29:_289-295#Page_293 293].

'''Revd Peters''' 
Richard Peters (1704 – July 10, 1776) was an American cleric and a civil servant in colonial Pennsylvania. For many years he was the rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Peters_(cleric) WIKI]

'''Mr. Ewing''' 
Reverend John Ewing (1732 - 1802), provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who Mason passed his scientific papers on to. Mason asked him to publish an American version of the Nautical Almanac, however, apparently, Ewing never pursued it.

==Annotations Index==

{{MD PbP}}

Chapter 78: 758-773

2011-11-01T19:47:07Z

Rbellin: /* Page 766 */ "high tobers"

__TOC__

==Page 759==
'''Junto''' 
Meeting, get together, social, etc.

Before Ives' time, no doubt, but note, also: The Junto was a club established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin for mutual improvement in Philadelphia. Also known as the ''Leather Apron Club'', its purpose was to debate questions of morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and to exchange knowledge of business affairs. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto WIKI]

'''The Room continues to fill up, the Dawn not to arrive.''' 
This section is extremely Faulknerian; esp. brings to mind the opening pages of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sartoris ''Sartoris''].

'''Sercial''' 
Sercial (Cerceal in Portuguese) is the name applied to any of several white grapes grown in Portugal, especially on the island of Madeira, and gives its name to the dryest of the four classic varieties of Madeira fortified wine. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sercial WIKI]

==Page 760==
'''puissant''' 
Powerful, mighty, having authority. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puissant WIKI]

'''''sotto Voce''''' 
Sotto voce (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsotːo ˈvotʃe], literally "under voice") means to speak under one's breath. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotto_voce WIKI]

'''Epiphany''' 
Epiphany is a Christian feast day which celebrates the revelation of God in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. Epiphany falls on January 6 in the modern Gregorian Calendar followed by most Western churches. Many of the Eastern Churches use the traditional Julian Calendar, where Epiphany occurs on the Gregorian Calendar's January 19. Western Christians commemorate the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the child Jesus on this day, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles. Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. It is also called Theophany, especially by Eastern Christians. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday) WIKI]

==Page 761==
'''cotes''' 
A small structure built to contain domesticated animals such as sheep, pigs or pigeons. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cote WIKI]

==Page 762==
'''Mayer''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

==Page 763==
'''Se'nnight''' 
Seven days and nights; a week. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sennight WIKI]

'''Birmingham''' 
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city... The City of Birmingham forms part of the larger West Midlands conurbation and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as Solihull, Wolverhampton and the towns of the Black Country. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham WIKI]

==Page 764==
'''Leyden Jar''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_29:_289-295#Page_294 294].

'''Lignum Vitae''' 
Lignum vitae is a trade wood, also called guayacan or in Europe known as pockenholz, from trees of the genus ''Guaiacum''. This wood was once very important for applications requiring a material with its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness and density. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae WIKI]

'''Alembicks... Retorts''' 
An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connected by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part (the capital or still-head), while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation apparatus. A modern descendant of the alembic (used to produce alcohol) is the pot still. It was described by Al-Razi in the 9th century in his "''Book of Secrets''". From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alembic WIKI]

==Page 765==
'''Stellium''' 
Stellium: At least four planets linked together in a series of continuous conjunctions. The planets will act as if they are all in conjunction with each other, even if not all of them actually are. This pattern gives a huge emphasis to the sign occupied by the planets, regardless of the sun sign. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natal_astrology WIKI]

'''''Vis Martis''''' 
Inner Mars

'''Ephemeris''' 
An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides; from the Greek word ἐφήμερος ephemeros "daily") is a table of values that gives the positions of astronomical objects in the sky at a given time or times. Different kinds are used for astronomy and astrology. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeris WIKI]

==Page 766==
'''Coves''' 
(British) A fellow; a man. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cove WIKI]

'''High Tobers''' 
"A member of the aristocracy of thiefdom" (Source: [http://books.google.com/books?id=RTdcQOlzjXAC&lpg=PA298&ots=4Q6LTghWcl&dq=%22high%20tober%22&pg=PA298#v=onepage&q=%22high%20tober%22&f=false Americanisms: Old & New], comp. Farmer, 1889, and several other slang/cant dictionaries confirm this meaning; [http://books.google.com/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&lpg=PA715&ots=2yfNO8iiv3&dq=%22high%20tober%22&pg=PA715#v=onepage&q=%22high%20tober%22&f=false Casell's Dictionary of Slang] gives "high tober gloak" as "a mounted highwayman")

'''Cheroot''' 
The cheroot or stogie is a cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture. Since cheroots do not taper, they are inexpensive to roll mechanically, and their low cost makes them particularly popular. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheroot WIKI]

==Page 767==
'''Gloak''' 
A man, a guy. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gloak WIKI]

'''quiddles''' 
To talk nonsense or speak vaguely, to waffle. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quiddle WIKI]

'''the Bitter flows''' 
Bitter- A type of beer heavily flavored with hops. from [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bitter WIKI]

'''''Ghastly Fop''''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_54:_525-541#Page_527 527].

'''Footpads''' 
A footpad is a robber or thief specializing in pedestrian victims. The term was used widely throughout the 16th century until the 19th century, but gradually fell out of common use. A footpad was considered a low criminal, as opposed to the riding highwaymen, who in certain cases might gain fame as well as notoriety. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footpad WIKI]

'''Brum Kiddy''' 
Kid talking with an imitation growl

'''Canting''' 
To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cant WIKI]

'''Clozay le Gob''' 
A verb in the imperative plural in French ends in "ez", pronounced like "ay", with "Gob" being British slang for "mouth".

'''Joint''' 
A cut of meat. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/joint WIKI]

'''Tohu-Vabohu''' 
Commotion, chaos. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tohu-bohu WIKI]

==Page 768==
'''weft-forks... pirn winders''' 
Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft (older woof), are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the weft runs across from side to side. Cloth is woven on a loom, a device for holding the warp threads in place while the filling threads are woven through them. Weft is an old English word meaning "that which is woven". The manner in which the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is known as the weave. The three basic weaves are plain weave, satin weave, and twill, and the majority of woven products are created with one of these weaves. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirn WIKI]

'''Mayer''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''''Data''''' 
Cf. page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_75:_733-743#Page_735 735].

'''Nautical Almanac''' 
In Great Britain, The Nautical Almanac has been published annually by the HM Nautical Almanac Office, ever since the first edition was published in 1767... A nautical almanac is a publication describing the positions of a selection of celestial bodies for the purpose of enabling navigators to use celestial navigation to determine the position of their ship while at sea. The Almanac specifies for each whole hour of the year the position on the Earth's surface (in declination and Greenwich hour angle) at which the sun, moon, planets and first point of Aries is directly overhead. The positions of 57 selected stars are specified relative to the first point of Aries. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_almanac WIKI]

'''A.R.''' 
Astronomer Royal

==Page 769==
'''Mr. Herschel''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_73:_706-713#Page_708 708].

'''Flamsteed''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_21:_207-214#Page_211 211].

'''Le Monnier''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_21:_207-214#Page_213 213].

'''antepenultimate''' 
Two before the last in a series. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antepenultimate WIKI]

'''malodorous''' 
Having a bad odor. From [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malodorous WIKI]

'''Plexities''' 
Innerworkings

==Page 770==
'''Mr. Hutton''' 
Charles Hutton (14 August 1737 – 27 January 1823) was an English mathematician... In 1773 he was appointed professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and in the following year he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London and reported on Nevil Maskelyne's determination of the mean density and mass of the earth from measurements taken in 1774–1776 at Schiehallion in Perthshire. This account appeared in the ''Philosophical Transactions'' for 1778, was afterwards reprinted in the second volume of his ''Tracts on Mathematical and Philosophical Subjects'', and procured for Hutton the degree of LL.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He was elected foreign secretary to the Royal Society in 1779, but his resignation in 1783 was brought about by the president Sir Joseph Banks, whose behaviour to the mathematical section of the society was somewhat high-handed. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hutton WIKI]

'''Henry Cavendish''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''Mr. Joseph Banks''' 
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS (13 February 1743 – 19 June 1820) was a British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage (1768–1771). Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa, and the genus named after him, Banksia. Approximately 80 species of plants bear Banks's name. Banks was also the leading founder of the African Association, a British organization dedicated to the exploration of Africa, and a member of the Society of Dilettanti, which helped to establish the Royal Academy. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Banks WIKI]

'''Picador''' 
A picador (pl. picadores) is one of the pair of horsemen in a Spanish bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picador WIKI]

'''Perseus''' 
Constellation, but: Perseus, the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians. Perseus was the hero who killed Medusa and claimed Andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster. from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus WIKI]

'''Algol, the Ghoul-Star''' 
Algol, known colloquially as the Demon Star, is a bright star in the constellation Perseus. It is one of the best known eclipsing binaries, the first such star to be discovered, and also one of the first (non-nova) variable stars to be discovered. Algol is actually a three-star system (Beta Persei A, B, and C) in which the large and bright primary Beta Persei A is regularly eclipsed by the dimmer Beta Persei B. Thus, Algol's magnitude is usually near-constant at 2.1, but regularly dips to 3.4 every two days, 20 hours and 49 minutes during the roughly 10-hour long partial eclipses. There is also a secondary eclipse when the brighter star occults the fainter secondary. This secondary eclipse can only be detected photoelectrically. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algol WIKI]

'''Schiehallion''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_74:_717-732#Page_730 730].

'''B. of L.''' 
Board of Longitude

==Page 771==
'''Petroglyph''' 
Petroglyphs (also called rock engravings) are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe). From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroglyph WIKI]

==Page 772==
'''Kabbalistick''' 
See pages [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_35:_349-361#Page_356 356] & [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_49:_476-483#Page_479 479].

'''''data''''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_78:_758-773#Page_768 768].

'''Pentateuch''' 
The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deutoronomy & Numbers.

'''Gematria''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_49:_476-483#Page_479 479].

==Page 773==
'''Mr. Shippen''' 
See page [http://masondixon.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_29:_289-295#Page_293 293].

'''Revd Peters''' 
Richard Peters (1704 – July 10, 1776) was an American cleric and a civil servant in colonial Pennsylvania. For many years he was the rector of Christ Church in Philadelphia. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Peters_(cleric) WIKI]

'''Mr. Ewing''' 
Reverend John Ewing (1732 - 1802), provost of the University of Pennsylvania, who Mason passed his scientific papers on to. Mason asked him to publish an American version of the Nautical Almanac, however, apparently, Ewing never pursued it.

==Annotations Index==

{{MD PbP}}

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'''Eagres''' 
107; tideal bore in a river, now esp. that of the river Trent.
A tidal bore is a steep-fronted wave caused by the meeting of two tides
or by the constriction of a spring tide as it passes up an estuary.

'''Earth''' 
602

<div id="eic"></div>'''East India Company''' 
139; aka [[J#john|John Company]]; 252; 270; 479; 539; [[East India Company|MORE]]; [http://www.theeastindiacompany.com E.I.C. Website]

'''Ecole de Piraterie''' 
27; French: School of Piracy

'''[[Edges in Mason & Dixon|EDGES]]'''

<div id="Edgewise"></div>'''Edgewise, Mr. & Mrs.''' 
353

'''E-do''' 
432; what Tokyo was called in the 18th century

'''Eggslap, Mrs.''' 
455; extortionist cook on M-D Line and Stig's lover; 546; 614

'''Ehud''' 
454; on M-D Line crew

'''E.I.C.''' 
''See'' [#eic">East India Company</a>

'''''Elan'', or ''Esprit''''' 
27; these are the names of two cars manufactured by Lotus, in Great Britain

'''Eldritch Powers''' 
498; Weird, occult, or magical powers (derived from ''elfriche'': fairylande)

'''Elect Cohens''' 358; "Cohen" is the Hebrew word for priest. Much of the [[Book of Leviticus|book of Leviticus]] is devoted to spelling out their duties. As for the "Elect Cohens of Paris," they were an 18th century Masonic group. All of the Cohens are "elect" in the sense that God chose them for his priests; 485; 612

'''Electricity''' 
307

'''Electrophiles''' 
295

<div id="eleven"></div>'''Eleven Missing Days''' 
190; Reference to a the days skipped when the English finally adopted the Gregorian calendar.The Gregorian calendar, a modification of the Julian, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII and at first adopted by only Catholic countries, was not adopted in England until 1752. It is the present calendar system which removed the leap year three times every four hundred years from the Julian calendar. It does a better job at keeping the summer solstice on June 21st. By 1752 England and the eastern part of America was finding that the summer solstice arrived on June 10th hence the need for an eleven day addition; Schizochronic year of '52, 192; Calendar Reform of '52, 554-55; 603; 629; ''See also'' [[N#newstyle|New Style]]. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar WIKI].

'''Elijah''' 
297; "the Swamper"

'''Eliza''' 
529; ''See'' [[F#eliza|Fields, Eliza]]

'''Elkton''' 
390; where Dimdown runs clandestine printing press

'''Ellicott Clock''' 
121

'''Elsinore, Battlements of''' 
545; opening location of Hamlet, where the ghost of Hamlet's father appears

'''Elytra''' 
88

'''Emerson, William (1701-82)'''

:There was living at that time at the village of Hurworth, a few miles from Darlington, an eccentric character, William Emerson, whose unconventionality in dress and manners were rather at variance with the fact that he was a man of education with considerable knowledge of mathematics and physics. ... Jeremiah was brought to notice by someone named Emerson who was probably this man; that he was summoned to the Woolwich academy for examination and evidently satisfied his examiners, for they asked him, "Were you at Oxford or Cambridge?" "Neither," he said. "Well then, where did you get your knowledge of astronomy?" "In my pit-cabin at Cockfield Fell," he replied, meaning doubtless in the office at his father's colliery where he was then engaged in some capacity above ground. <ref>"Jeremiah Dixon and his Brother", by H.P. Hollis, ''Journal of the British Astronomy Association'', v44, n8, June 1934, pp 294-9</ref>

17; Dixon's "old teacher"; Mr. Emerson was a real person, a minor mathematician and scientist of his day who wrote about a dozen scientific books and texts and whom Jeremiah Dixon did in fact know personally. Emerson's mystickal nature may be a Pynchon invention; 73; 98; 215; 251; 268; 317; 318; 423; coat, 500; 556; of Hurworth, 568; 709; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Emerson_%28mathematician%29 Wikipedia entry]

'''Encyclopédie''' 
389; 18th century French encyclopaedia that was the creation of the Philosophes, who were dedicated to the spirit of the Enlightenment, i.e., open-mindedness, secular thought and the advancement of science; Encyclopaedists, 359; ''Encyclopédistes'', 546

'''Ensign Cheer''' 
477; a sarcastic reference to Mason's pessimism

<div id="wheel"></div>'''E-O Wheel''' 
421; E-O: "Even Odds"; a roulette (French: "small wheel") wheel, a gambling game based on opposing pairs, e.g. black/white, even/odd, in which players bet on which red or black numbered compartment of a revolving wheel a small ball (spun in the opposite direction) will come to rest within. Bets are placed on a table marked to correspond with the compartments of the wheel.

'''Ephemeris''' 
765; a table showing the assigned places of a celestial body for regular
intervals, used often in Astrology

'''Epictetus (c.55-c.135)''' 
30; a Roman slave later exiled to Nicopolis in Greece, was one of the leading Stoics. Stoicism is a moral doctrine which holds that human beings must conform themselves to the ways of the universe. The Stoics believed that human beings have no control over external events and that the only thing in a person's power is that person's response to events or outlook.

'''Epiphany''' 
760; January 6, in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles

'''Epsilonics''' 
138; Epsilons, 482

'''Eratosthenes (276-197 BC)''' 
574; Greek astronomer who measured how the Earth curved between two cities in Egypt, and used basic goemetry to calculate the distance around the Earth (its circumference).
He also kept a table of star locations and contributed to the field of mathematics. He found a method of finding all the prime numbers.

'''Erin, Daughter of''' 
571; Erin = Ireland; an Irish girl

'''Escombe''' 
634; town in South Africa, in Queensburg

'''Etesian''' 
77; occurring annually

<div id="ethelmer"></div>'''Ethelmer''' 
30; son of Ives LeSpark and nephew of J. Wade LeSpark; the prefix "Ethel-" or "Aethel-" (early German: "noble") in names was fairly common in Britain in the [[Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke|Middle Ages]], e.g. "Aethelmaer" (or "Ethelmer"), "Aethelmund," "Aethelred"; for example, the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'' (9-12th c.) includes an alderman named Ethelmer who died in AD 982, and a Wiccian alderman, Ethelmund, in AD 800; or [[Ethelmer|check this out!]]; "the University man" 260

'''Eucharist''' 
404; Holy communion which symbolizes Christ's body transsubstantiating into
bread, his blood into wine; Doctrine of Transsubstantiation, 404;

'''Euclid (c.330-c.275 BC)''' 
294; Euclid is one of the most influential and best read mathematician of all time. His prize work, Elements, was the textbook of elementary geometry and logic up to the early twentieth century. For his work in the field, he is known as the father of geometry and is considered one of the great Greek mathematicians; 337; 484; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid Wikipedia]

'''Euler, Leonhard (1707-83)''' 
220; Hugely influential Swiss mathematician (studied under [[B#bernoulli|Bernoulli]]) before mathematics was treated as a separate discipline; extended Newtonian mechanics to hydrodynamics; three-body problem; Euler-Langrange equations of mechanics and the calculus of variations; calculus, differential equations, complex analysis.

'''Euphrenia, Aunt''' 
103; Wicks Cherrycoke's sister

'''Euphroes''' 
25; Euphroe is a nautical term for block of wood with holes in it, part of a crowfoot; derived from German ''Jungfrau'' ("young woman" or "mistress") or, still more likely, Dutch ''juffrouw'' = miss; 54

<div id="eurydice"></div>'''Eurydice''' 
147; wife of Orpheus; 207; "like Eurydice, somehow to be redeem'd" 555; ''See'' [[O#orpheus|Orpheus]]

'''Everybeet, Joseph''' 
442; Quartz-scryer; 547

'''Ewing, Mr.''' 
773

'''Exodus 3:14''' 
486 (1st printing has Exodus 4:14, later ones correct this); ''See'' [[B#bible|Bible]]

<div id="extra"></div>'''extraterrestrials''' 
219; "distant Onlookers"; "Winters, long and Mortal and soon enough productive of Visitants from beneath the Ice" 531; "the transport of some unseen Influence" 547; Guardians, 662; "powerful Strangers" 649; "Others who are absent, pending their Return" 656; "Now and then, very much closer to the Earth, [Mason] begins to see Lights, moving, flickering, soon gone. [...] "They are going their Way, as we go ours." 724; "These Apparitions in the Sky, we never observe but in Motion, [...] Once safely part of the Night Sky, they may hang there at their Pleasure" 726

'''Ezekiel''' 
400

===References===
<references/>

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'''B. of L.''' 
728; Board of Longditude (specified 730)

<div id="babylon"></div>'''Babylon''' 
600; one of the most famous cities of antiquity. It was the capital of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia) from the early 2nd millennium to the early 1st millennium BC and capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, when it was at the height of its splendour. Its extensive ruins on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (88 kilometres) south of Baghdad lie near the modern town of al- Hillah. Babylon gets a lot of bad press from a Judeo-Christian perspective. The Tower of Babel, in the Old Testament, was located there, and the Mother of all Harlots in the Book of
Revelation. The evil twin of Jerusalem.

'''Bacchus''' 
339; The Roman god of wine and intoxication, equated with the Greek Dionysus. His festival was celebrated on March 16 and 17. The Bacchanalia, orgies in honor of Dionysus, were introduced in Rome around 200 BCE. These infamous celebrations, notorious for their sexual and criminal character, got so out of hand that they were forbidden by the Roman Senate in 186 BCE. Bacchus is also identified with the old-Italian god Liber. [http://www.pantheon.org/ Encyclopedia Mythica]

'''Bad Hats''' 
198; disreputable characters

'''Baker, William''' 
672; M-D Line crewman killed by falling tree

'''Baker's Peel''' 
653; Crannarain ("Baker's Peel") is an Irish name for Ursa Major

'''Baltimore, Lord''' 
257

'''Banks, Joseph (1743-1820)''' 
770; president of the Royal Society, 1778-1820; made his name by going on the expedition to Tahiti with Captain Cook - the expedition ostensibly being to observe the 1769 [[T#transit|transit of Venus]]. His accounts of the voyage and the botany of the Pacific gave him prominence and he rose to be President of the Royal Society, friend (initially) of George III and general government scientific fix-it of the late eighteenth century.

'''Barcarole''' 
56; a gondoliers song, or a piece of music with a similar rhythm

'''Barkley''' 
577;

'''Barnes, Moses''' 
7; overseer of the axmen on M-D Line crew; 323; 435; 445; "Camp-Lawyer" 611

'''Barnett''' 
577;

'''''Bas-mondaine''''' 
668; French: The lower classes.

'''Batavia''' 
77; present-day Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia

'''Bathsheba''' 
147; From the Bible: "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her .... And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, 'I am with child.' (2 Samuel 11:2-5 RSV)

Of all of the troubles that King David faced during his lifetime, the incident of adultery with Bathsheba was the most grave. Bathsheba's husband was Uriah, a loyal soldier of the king. When attempts failed to make it appear that Uriah was the father of the child that his wife was expecting (2 Samuel 11:6-13), David resorted to making her a widow so that he could take her as his own wife. God forgave David, not only because David repented (2 Samuel 12:13), but moreover for the sake of the assigned role that The Chosen People were given in God's plan of salvation for all humans, all sinners. David then married Bathsheba, but the child from the adulterous incident died. Later Bathsheba had a second son, Solomon, who succeeded David as King of Israel. Solomon was the first king of Israel born to a reigning king, and was the last king of the united kingdom of Israel.

'''Battery, The''' 
399; Battery Park (to New Yorkers, The Battery) is a 21-acre (8.5 ha) public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. The park is named for the artillery that was stationed there at various times by the Dutch and British.

<div id="leuthen"></div>'''Battle of Leuthen''' 
536; The Battle of Leuthen was a battle fought on December 5, 1757 during the [[S#seven|Seven Years' War]]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leuthen More from Wikipedia]

<div id="wandiwash"></div>'''Battle of Wandiwash''' 
564; decisive battle, fought on Jan. 22, 1760, in the Anglo-French struggle in
So. India during the Seven Years' War; ''See also'' [[C#coote|Coote, Eyre]]

'''Bay of All Saints''' 
161;

'''Bayley''' 
738

'''Beck, Zepho''' 
618

'''Beck, Rhodie''' 
619; wife of Zepho

'''becoach-and-six''' 
329

'''Bedlamite''' 
314; aka "Madman" or "Fool," named for Bedlam which is a contraction of Bethlehem Royal Hospital, the first insane asylum in England, est. 1247; 440; 729

<div id="beggars"></div>'''''Beggar's Opera''''' 
270; Written by John Gay (1685-1732), ''The Beggar's Opera'' debuted in 1728 in London. It was an immediate success, breaking all previous records and was performed more than any other play during the 18th century.(1) It was a complete departure from the popular Italian operas of its time. ''The Beggar's Opera'' used both dialogue and music to further the story. Gay took music from wherever he could find it. Forty-one of the sixty-nine airs were broadside ballads of the time. The other tunes were borrowed from contemporary composers (including Handel). To these tunes he wrote lyrics to fit his play. Instead of taking his plot from myth he wrote a story focused on the underbelly of society - thieves, whores, fences and jailers. The world of the Beggar's opera is gritty and real, it's end optimistic only because of the popular insistence that Operas must end happily.

Despite its grim reality, ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a comedy. It is a period romp that comments with brilliant satire on life. It's satire was on both society and politics. The populace and critics of the time understood [./w.html#walpole">Sir Robert Walpole], a whig and considered England's first Prime Minister, to be the subject of many of the scenes, and his play Polly was banned by Walpole for the fact. [More from [http://www.contemplator.com/history/johngay.html The Contemplator's Short History of John Gay and ''The Beggar's Opera'']]

'''''Bellezza, che chiama''''' 
416; Italian: "A beauty that beckons..."

'''Bencoolen''' 
33; aka Benkulen; (aka Fort Marlborough to the East India Co, during M&D's time) On the West coast of Sumatra, approx half way between the equator and
Krakatoa. According to J Keay in ''The Hon. Company'' "It was not a popular
destination. Only the disgraced and the truly desperate found their way
[there]." 41; 44; 47; 270-71

<div id="bernoulli"></div>'''Bernoulli, Jakob (1654-1705)''' 
135; Swiss mathematician who was the first to use the term integral. He studied the catenary, the curve of a suspended string. He was an early user of polar coordinates and discovered the isochrone; [http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Bernoulli_Jacob.html More]]

'''Besozzi, Alessandro (1702-93)''' 
Composer who created several works for oboe, including 'Divertimenti in E Minor for Oboe and Violincello' and 'Sonata, Opus. VII, No. 6; several members of the family were composers;'"oboick reveries of" 413; 668

<div id="betts"></div>'''Betts''' 
438; in the running for Astronomer Royal

<div id="bevis"></div>'''Bevis, John (1695-1771)''' 
438; This physician and amateur astronomer was the discoverer of the "Crab Nebula" in Taurus, M1 (1731). In 1769 he observed the Transit of Venus from just along the road from King George at Richmond, and published his observations in ''Philosophical Transactions''. He described the initial turbulence to Venus as "a black wafer on the surface of a drum." Bevis was also a Commissioner of Longitude under which the Nautical Almanac was produced and which included Maskelyne's instructions for observing the Transit.

<div id="bible"></div>'''Bible''' 
Garden in Genesis, 134; "an Israelite in whom
there is no guile" 278 (Pynchon says John 1:49, but it's actually John 1:47); reference to Exodus 3:14 (first edition has 4:14, but this is corrected in later printings, so apparently a typo), 486; [[L#lost|Lost Tribes of Israel]], 485; Infancy Gospel of [[T#thomas|Thomas]], 486; "Revelation exists as a Fact" 487; Adam & Eve, 615

'''Bienville, Céléron de''' 
285

'''Big Dipper''' 
652; Bear's Tail, 652; Ursa Major, 653

'''Birch, Mr. Tom''' 
75; 247; 270; 603

<div id="bird"></div>'''Bird, John''' 
12; was the creater of many astronomical instruments at Greenwich and a
member of the Royal Society. He recommended Dixon for the surveying of the
Pennsylvania/Maryland line, and he built the sector used by M&D; 13; 17; Quaker, 43; 73; 75; made Darkening Nozzles for M&D's telescope, 98; 120; 298; wrote a letter to M&D announcing Maskelyne's promotion, 436

'''Bishop of Durham''' 
43; Clause, 282

'''Bisley''' 
Bisley is five miles east of Stroud. Chalford is about four miles
slightly west of due south from Bisley, but the line to Stonehenge runs east of
Stroud passing through Oakridge which neighbors Chalford, continuing over
the river and up the valley on the other side and on to Stonehenge. Near Calne, the line passes a smaller stone circle and an image of a horse carved into the chalky ground of a hillside; Church, 218; 292; Parish, 504

'''Blapsia''' 
492

'''Black Boys''' 
490; 601

'''Black Dog''' 
494; ("the mandrake, which, when tied to the tail of a
black dog, shrieks when it is torn out of the earth" - ''The
Philosophical Tree in Alchemical Studies'' (Coll. Works, Vol. 13, p. 311)

'''Blackner, Mr.''' 
117; Landlord of The Moon tavern

<div id="blackhole"></div>'''Black Hole of Calcutta''' 
152; 404; 483; ''The Black Hole of Calcutta, or, The Peevish Wazir'', 562; 665

'''Black Joke, The''' 
583; fiddle tune played at Hynes/Wheat wedding

'''Black-Powder''' 
402; "thick-set Irishman" on Long Island; 564

'''Black Watch Plaid''' 
490; The Black Watch or Royal Highland Regiment, was
a Scottish infantry regiment. It was formed (1739-40) to guard against
Scottish rebels and keep the peace. It became known as the Black Watch
because of the dark colors of its plaid regimental tartan. Amalgamated into other regiments in 2007.

'''Bland, Margaret "Meg"''' 
751; Dixon's live-in lover in later years

'''Blinky''' 
35

<div id="bliss"></div>'''Bliss''' 
436; "The Reverend Nathaniel Bliss (28 November 1700 – 2 September 1764) was a noted English astronomer of the 18th century, serving as Astronomer Royal between 1762 and 1764. Bliss was born in the Cotswolds village of Bisley in Gloucestershire and studied at Pembroke College, Oxford. He graduated B.A. in 1720 and M.A. in 1723.Rector of St Ebb's church in Oxford, he succeeded Edmond Halley as professor of geometry at Oxford University in 1742 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society the same year. He succeeded James Bradley to become the fourth Astronomer Royal in 1762." -- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bliss Wikipedia]

He died in Oxford but was buried close to Halley in St Margaret's churchyard in Lee in south-east London.

'''Blondelle, S.''' 
518; at Jesuit College; 534

'''Blue Jamaica, The''' 
268; Ben Franklin's local tavern

'''Blue Mountain''' 
513; a range in SE Pennsylvania, part of Kittatinny
Mountain.

'''Boatswain's Pipe''' 
26; (pronounced "Bo's'n"): a two-note whistle used to announce senior officers coming aboard.

'''Bobotie''' 
[[Chapter 8: 77-86|82]]; South African dish: curried, minced meat with other various ingredients (e.g., dried fruits, onions), "baked with an egg-based topping … known in the [[Cape of Good Hope]] since the 17th century" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobotie Wikipedia]

'''Bob's Your Uncle''' 
145; this is British slang that means, basically, "no problem" or "there you are"

'''''Bocsánat''''' 
591; Hungarian: "excuse me" or "I'm sorry"

'''bodice-ripper''' 
Slang for a romantic-erotic novel, especially one with a historical plot; Vrou
Vroom, 86; "Bodices are for ripping, and there's an end upon it." 419

<div id="bodine"></div>'''Bodine, Fender-Belly''' 
21; Foretopman on ''Seahorse''; 28; 55; 566; his "Bi-Lunar Exhibition" at Ft. George, 570; Bodine's descendant, Pig Bodine, in [http://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=B#bodine ''Gravity's Rainbow''] and [http://www.thomaspynchon.com/v/alpha/b.html#bodine ''V.'']

'''Bodkin''' 
75; a large needle, in this case for Tenebrae's embroidery.
''"For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law's delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin?"''; Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1.

'''Bodley, Mr.''' 
558

'''Boet''' 
155; type of Dutch clock

'''Boggs, Robert''' 
441; on M-D Line crew; 492

'''Bombazine''' 
251; One of the oldest fabrics known, this was a fine silk or wool fabric of plain or twill weave for formal dresses. In black, it was the traditional mourning cloth. Now made from silk warp and worsted weft with imitations made from viscose or cotton. May be fairly crisp. Used mainly for evening and wedding-gowns, if silk or viscose it is lustrous. The name comes from Latin "bombycinum" which means a silky in texture. <ref>[http://www.resil.com/otd.html The Online Textile Dictionary]</ref>

'''Bongo''' 
37

'''''Bonhomie''''' 
558; French: Easy good nature

<div id="bonk"></div>'''Bonk, Police Agent''' 
59; of the V.O.C.; 102; in drag, 154; 183; ['Bonking' is UK slang for sexual intercourse]

'''Boötes''' 
653; Greek: "the ploughman"; the constellation which contains the bright star, Arcturus

'''Boppdörfer, Baron von''' 
724; author of ''Über Bernouillis Brachistochronsprobleme'', 1702; "brachistochrone" is the curve providing the quickest descent (for an object
sliding down the curve) between two given points. Over the course of three
generations, the Bernoulli family produced many of the leading 18th century
mathematicians.

'''Boscovich, Father Roger Joseph (1711-87)''' 
44; Croatian mathematician and astronomer; 215; 222; 223; 269; 450; ''De Solis et Lunae Defectimus'', 474; 546; Theory of Repulsion, 604; [[Father Boscovich|Much More]]

<div id="boswell"></div>'''Boswell, James (1740-95)''' 
718; a Scottish writer born in Edinburgh. Although he studied law and was a member of both the Scottish and English bars, he devoted his life primarily to literary pursuits. He met [[S#sjohnson|Dr. Samuel Johnson]] in 1763 and from 1772 to 1784 was his close friend and biographer. He became a member of Johnson's literary club in 1773; 744

'''Botha Brothers''' 
60

<div id="bouguer"></div>'''Bouguer, Pierre (1698-1758)''' 
Pierre Bouguer succeeded his father Jean Bouguer at the age of 15 as royal professor of hydrography. He was a scientist who was the first to attempt to measure the density of the Earth using the deflection of a plumb line due to the attraction of a mountain. Bouguer, together with [c.html#condamine">La Condamine], made measurements in Peru in 1740 publishing his results in ''La Figure de la terre'' (1749). A more successful use of this method by the astronomer Maskelyne placed the density between 4.5 and 5. In mathematics Bouguer studied pursuit curves in 1732. He also wrote on naval manoeuvres and navigation and, in ship design, derived a formula for calculating the metacentric radius (a measure of ship stability); LeMaire in Lapp-Land with, 544

'''boundaries''' 
"all boundaries shall be erased" 406; 429; Schuylkill, 433; Susquehanna, 467;
512-13; Susquehanna, 639

'''Bouquet, General Henry (1719-65)''' 
Took part in 1758 attack on Fort Duquesne, and crushed Chief Pontiac's 1763 rebellion; his "Proclamation" 277; 307; his "Edict" 616; Colonel, 617; his Scheme, 617; "Success at Bushy Run" 661

'''Bourbons''' 
224; French Royal house, who at this time also ruled Spain. Was on
the wane under Louis 15th (1715-1774) and 16th (1774 to 1793 when he was beheaded). They were heavily influenced by the Calvinist Huguenots, hence their dislike for the Jesuits.

'''Bourquelet''' 
236

'''Braddock, Edward (1695-1755)''' 
309; a Scottish soldier who came to America; he was Commander-in-Chief of the British-American forces when he led the attack Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh), on July 9, 1755, where he was ambushed and slain; George Washington was on that expedition, and it was supposedly there where he learned to not wear a redcoat; 330; 501; his Vistoe, 613; 697; [[Charles Mason's Journal|Mason's Journal Entry]]

<div id="bradley"></div>'''Bradley, Dr. James (1693-1762)''' 
45; Astronomer Royal at the time a request for an English surveying team to
determine the Pennsylvania/Maryland border was made. Bradley was the
director of the the Greenwich Observatory. He recommended Charles Mason who
had been his assistant observer from 1756 to 1760, working closely with
Bradley on a catalogue of positions of the moon. In 1729 he published his
discovery of the [[Aberration of Light|aberration of light]], providing the first observational proof of the Copernican hypothesis that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not vice versa); 75; Astronomer Royal (A.R.), 137; 141; 173; 181; 182; death of, 184; 209
213; 437; 557; Star Catalogue, 461; 772

'''Bradley, Miss''' 
143; only child of James Bradley & Susannah Peach; infatuated with Rebekah, 186

'''Brain, Mr.''' 
228; proprietor of Cudgel & Throck

'''Brain, Mrs.''' 
235

'''Brannon's''' 
564; where Dixons with dancing girls in New York

'''Break-Neck Valley''' 
174; on St. Helena

'''Breech-clout''' 
520; clout is an Olde English word for a piece of cloth. Breech is an mid-16th Century word for the buttocks, otherwise archaic except in the sense of a baby's buttocks before or at birth; 'breeches' is an archaic term for trousers.

'''Breguet's Palsy''' 
122; imaginary disease of clocks. Frenchman Breguet (1747-1823) designed a clock with a hairspring ending in an overcoil, i.e., raised and bent in towards the center to improve timekeeping (a hair spring is not the main spring which drives the clock it regulates the motion of the balance wheel which serves to control the speed of the clock).

<div id="brest"></div>'''Brest''' 
27; town located on the northwest tip of France and still the site of a French naval station; "Brest fleet" refers to the French fleet under the command of Count de [c.html#conflans">Conflans] that was trapped in [[Q#quiberon|Quiberon Bay]] and destroyed by [[H#hawke|Admiral Hawke's fleet]]

'''Bridgeport Dagger''' 
15

'''Briget''' 
129; St. Helena prostitute

'''''Brilliant''''' 
49; Frigate traveling with the ''Seahorse'' to Tenerife

'''Brum Kiddy''' 
767; A native of Birmingham [Brummagem, Brum - the city name as pronounced in the dense local accent]

'''Bryant, Alexander''' 
333; farmer; 441; 460

'''Brynjolf, Bishop''' 
612; his gift of ancient Vellum Manuscript to Frederick the Third:

:"This Gudbrand was born in 1639 (ob. 1719), and was thus forty-three years of age when Jon Eggertsson secured the manuscript of our story in Iceland. Gudbrand's father was in his day by a long way the most learned man in Iceland, his great rival, Bishop Brynjolf, appearing on the scene first towards the close of Arngrim's life. He was a collector of manuscripts and author of standard works upon the history and antiquities of his country." <ref>[http://omacl.org/Heitharviga/preface.html The Online Medievel and Classical Library]</ref>

<div id="bubb"></div>'''Bubb Dodington, George (1691-1762)''' 
113; aka Baron Melcombe; friend of Florinda's; famous for his
Machiavellian political diary (publ. 1784), and for being the patron
of a number of poets and writers, chiefly James Thomson, Edward Young
and Henry Fielding. [[P#pope|Pope]] hated him, and immortalised him
in the "Epistle to Arbuthnot": But still the great have kindness in reserve/He help'd to bury whom he helped to starve" (ll.247-248); his name became a byword for aristocratic hauteur, tactless arrogance and amorality (c.f., Pope's 4th Moral Essay and the first Epilogue to the Satires); thus the irony in Mason's comments on him on p.114 is quite overt.

'''Buddhists''' 
543; 615

'''Bukhara''' 
669; ancient city in Uzbekistan, on the Silk Road and famous for its carpets (now more often Bokhara)

'''Bull's Eye''' 
87; a crown-piece (coin); 91; 99

'''Bumboats''' 
403(a) a scavenger's boat removing rubbish and filth from ships moored in the River Thames (b) a boat bearing fresh provisions to the ships. [The character 'Buttercup' in the comic opera 'HMS Pinafore' is described as "A Portsmouth bumboat-woman"]

'''Burgesses''' 
395; a burgess was a borough magistrate or Member of Parliament; members of a privileged class

'''Bush''' 
132; "from Bush to Oast unmediated"; this would refer to the brewing of beer, from the hops to the oast which is a conical kiln used for drying hops, malt or tobacco.

'''Bushy Run''' 
307

'''Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of (1713-92)''' 
367; Bute, a Scotsman, had tutored young George since childhood, and was appointed secretary of state in 1761 when George ascended to the throne. He was George's confidant and constant companion until he was essentially cut off from the king in 1765 by those who did not approve of the consequences of his influence.

'''Butter-Bag Castle''' 
69; "butter-bag" is slang for "female breast" and was, like "butter-box", in the 16th-18th centuries, somewhat derogatory slang for a Dutchman

'''Byrd, Colonel''' 
395; surveyor who kept detailed Field-Book; "running the Line 'twixt Virginia
and Carolina" 671

==References==
<references/>

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