Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/788

 760 XYLOGRAPHY in a state of vapor through a red-hot tube, xylene is resolved into a mixture of several hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene, naph- thaline, and anthracene. Xylene has several de- rivatives called xylenes, as the bromo-xylenes, chloro-xylenes, ethyle-xylene, methyle-xylene, the nitro-xylenes, and others. When nitro- xylene is subjected to the action of ferrous acetate or stannous chloride, a base homolo- gous with aniline is produced, which has re- ceived the name of xylidine, CMInN. XYLOGRAPHY. See ENGRAVING. XYLOIDINE, an explosive compound, hav- ing the formula CsILNO?, discovered by Bra- connot in 1833, and prepared by the action YACHT of strong nitric acid upon starch. The starch is triturated in a strong porcelain mortar with five to eight parts of fuming nitric acid till it is reduced to a transparent semi-fluid mass, without evolution of gas. From 20 to 80 parts of water are then added, by which the xyloidine is precipitated as a white, granular mass, a small quantity of starch remaining in solution. The xyloidine is purified by wash- ing and drying, and then dissolving in 10 parts of glacial acetic acid and one part of dihy- drated acid, and the solution filtered and evapo- rated. "When struck, xyloidine detonates, but not so violently as gun cotton. XYRIS. See YELLOW-EYED GRASS. YTHE 25th letter of the English alphabet, . is in Teutonic and Romanic languages generally a vowel when occurring in the body or at the end of syllables, and an aspirated gut- turo-lingual consonant when beginning them, as in the words yea, Yonne. Its form is derived from the Greek T, and in French and Spanish it is called "the Greek I." In English its sound as a vowel varies from that in my to that in body ; in Dutch, on the other hand, it always has the same full diphthongal sound as in the English my. In recent German writing it is the fashion t6 use it only in foreign proper names, / being substituted in such words as lei and sein, where it was formerly employed ; and in recent Dutch writing // is used instead of it. as Bilderdijk for Bilderdyk. In the Hungarian language, when occurring in a syllable after .v, I, n, and f, it is pronounced much as in the English words yet, year, gy sounding like dy (nearly as di in soldier), ly like the French I mouilti, and ny like the Spanish /}. In Latin it is used aa a small letter only, and never as a capital ; while in Spanish manuscript the capi- tal Y is used instead of I. Y has been called the Pythagorean letter, because Pythagoras used its Greek original to represent the sacred triad, formed by the duad proceeding from the monad, and also the dividing of the paths of vice and virtue in the development of hu- man life. YACHT (Dutch, jagt ; Ger. Jacht, from jagen, to chase), a vessel for excursions of pleasure. The prophet Ezekiel referred to pleasure gal- leys of Tyre when he spoke of " thy benches of ivory," the " fine linen with broidered work from Egypt which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail," and the " blue and purple from the isles of Elishah which covered thee." Caligu- la's yacht was of costly cedar, the stern stud- ded with jewels and the decks inlaid. Yacht clubs are associations to promote yachting. The oldest of these was organized more than a century ago ; but it is only within the last 50 years that they have obtained the promi- nence which has caused the more important to be recognized and fostered by government through peculiar privileges. These consist of exemption from port charges and light dues, and comparative independence from custom- house formalities. The United States, the Uni- ted Kingdom and several of its colonies, Hol- land, France, Belgium, and Russia have their clubs. The first of these was started in Ireland in 1720 as "the Cork Harbor Water Club," and is now called the "Royal Cork Yacht Club." Its commanding officer is styled ad- miral, though most clubs call him commodore, while in the yacht club de France he is called president. Among the many clubs in Great Britain with the prefix " royal " are the follow- ing: The royal yacht club, founded in June, 1815 ; royal Victoria yacht club, May 24, 1845 ; royal Mersey yacht club, Liverpool, 1844. It was a yacht of the last named club, the Queen of the Ocean, Commodore Littledale, that saved the lives of 82 of the passengers and crew of the emigrant ship Ocean Monarch of Boston, burned Aug. 24, 1848, in Abergele bay. In Great Britain during summer regattas are fre- quent, the sea bordering the coast and the few navigable rivers and inlets being alive with fleets of pleasure vessels. Yet the English yachtsmen were beaten at the Cowes regatta of 1851, when the schooner America, of the New York squadron, won the first prize, the queen's cup, in a match open to all nations. The practice of lacing the mainsail in cutters and schooners to the mainboom, universal in the United States, was scarcely known in Eng- land at that time, though it undoubtedly facili- tates a closer hugging of the wind by offering to it a flatter surface. As a general rule, Eng- lish yachts are deeper and draw more water than American, and the centre board or sliding keel is not in use among them ; but they are for the most part excellent sea boats. In 1875 the number of British yachts was 1,764, of which 610 measured 10 tons or less, 913 be- tween 10 and 100 tons, 147 between 100 and