资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mercury \Mer"cu*ry\, n. [L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares.]
   1. (Rom. Myth.) A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated
      by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger
      of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and
      god of eloquence.

   2. (Chem.) A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction
      from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque,
      glistening liquid (commonly called {quicksilver}), and is
      used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity
      13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8.
      Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It
      was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and
      designated by his symbol, [mercury].

   Note: Mercury forms alloys, called amalgams, with many
         metals, and is thus used in applying tin foil to the
         backs of mirrors, and in extracting gold and silver
         from their ores. It is poisonous, and is used in
         medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its
         compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is
         the only metal which is liquid at ordinary
         temperatures, and it solidifies at about -39[deg]
         Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.

   3. (Astron.) One of the planets of the solar system, being
      the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is
      about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its
      diameter 3,000 miles.

   4. A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also,
      a newspaper. --Sir J. Stephen. ``The monthly Mercuries.''
      --Macaulay.

   5. Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability;
      fickleness. [Obs.]

            He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long
            in any friendship, or to any design.  --Bp. Burnet.

   6. (Bot.) A plant ({Mercurialis annua}), of the Spurge
      family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for
      spinach, in Europe.

   Note: The name is also applied, in the United States, to
         certain climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to
         the skin, esp. to the {Rhus Toxicodendron}, or poison
         ivy.

   {Dog's mercury} (Bot.), {Mercurialis perennis}, a perennial
      plant differing from {M. annua} by having the leaves
      sessile.

   {English mercury} (Bot.), a kind of goosefoot formerly used
      as a pot herb; -- called {Good King Henry}.

   {Horn mercury} (Min.), a mineral chloride of mercury, having
      a semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.

Stock \Stock\ (st[o^]k), n. [AS. stocc a stock, trunk, stick;
   akin to D. stok, G. stock, OHG. stoc, Icel. stokkr, Sw.
   stock, Dan. stok, and AS. stycce a piece; cf. Skr. tuj to
   urge, thrust. Cf. {Stokker}, {Stucco}, and {Tuck} a rapier.]
   1. The stem, or main body, of a tree or plant; the fixed,
      strong, firm part; the trunk.

            Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and
            the stock thereof die in the ground, yet through the
            scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs
            like a plant.                         --Job xiv.
                                                  8,9.

   2. The stem or branch in which a graft is inserted.

            The scion overruleth the stock quite. --Bacon.

   3. A block of wood; something fixed and solid; a pillar; a
      firm support; a post.

            All our fathers worshiped stocks and stones.
                                                  --Milton.

            Item, for a stock of brass for the holy water, seven
            shillings; which, by the canon, must be of marble or
            metal, and in no case of brick.       --Fuller.

   4. Hence, a person who is as dull and lifeless as a stock or
      post; one who has little sense.

            Let's be no stoics, nor no stocks.    --Shak.

   5. The principal supporting part; the part in which others
      are inserted, or to which they are attached. Specifically:
      
      (a) The wood to which the barrel, lock, etc., of a musket
          or like firearm are secured; also, a long, rectangular
          piece of wood, which is an important part of several
          forms of gun carriage.
      (b) The handle or contrivance by which bits are held in
          boring; a bitstock; a brace.
      (c) (Joinery) The block of wood or metal frame which
          constitutes the body of a plane, and in which the
          plane iron is fitted; a plane stock.
      (d) (Naut.) The wooden or iron crosspiece to which the
          shank of an anchor is attached. See Illust. of
          {Anchor}.
      (e) The support of the block in which an anvil is fixed,
          or of the anvil itself.
      (f) A handle or wrench forming a holder for the dies for
          cutting screws; a diestock.
      (g) The part of a tally formerly struck in the exchequer,
          which was delivered to the person who had lent the
          king money on account, as the evidence of
          indebtedness. See {Counterfoil}. [Eng.]

   6. The original progenitor; also, the race or line of a
      family; the progenitor of a family and his direct
      descendants; lineage; family.

            And stand betwixt them made, when, severally, All
            told their stock.                     --Chapman.

            Thy mother was no goddess, nor thy stock From
            Dardanus.                             --Denham.

   7. Money or capital which an individual or a firm employs in
      business; fund; in the United States, the capital of a
      bank or other company, in the form of transferable shares,
      each of a certain amount; money funded in government
      securities, called also {the public funds}; in the plural,
      property consisting of shares in joint-stock companies, or
      in the obligations of a government for its funded debt; --
      so in the United States, but in England the latter only
      are called {stocks}, and the former {shares}.

   8. (Bookkeeping) Same as {Stock account}, below.

   9. Supply provided; store; accumulation; especially, a
      merchant's or manufacturer's store of goods; as, to lay in
      a stock of provisions.

            Add to that stock which justly we bestow. --Dryden.

   10. (Agric.) Domestic animals or beasts collectively, used or
       raised on a farm; as, a stock of cattle or of sheep,
       etc.; -- called also {live stock}.

   11. (Card Playing) That portion of a pack of cards not
       distributed to the players at the beginning of certain
       games, as gleek, etc., but which might be drawn from
       afterward as occasion required; a bank.

             I must buy the stock; send me good cardings.
                                                  --Beau. & Fl.

   12. A thrust with a rapier; a stoccado. [Obs.]

   13. [Cf. {Stocking}.] A covering for the leg, or leg and
       foot; as, upper stocks (breeches); nether stocks
       (stockings). [Obs.]

             With a linen stock on one leg.       --Shak.

   14. A kind of stiff, wide band or cravat for the neck; as, a
       silk stock.

   15. pl. A frame of timber, with holes in which the feet, or
       the feet and hands, of criminals were formerly confined
       by way of punishment.

             He shall rest in my stocks.          --Piers
                                                  Plowman.

   16. pl. (Shipbuilding) The frame or timbers on which a ship
       rests while building.

   17. pl. Red and gray bricks, used for the exterior of walls
       and the front of buildings. [Eng.]

   18. (Bot.) Any cruciferous plant of the genus {Matthiola};
       as, common stock ({Matthiola incana}) (see
       {Gilly-flower}); ten-weeks stock ({M. annua}).

   19. (Geol.) An irregular metalliferous mass filling a large
       cavity in a rock formation, as a stock of lead ore
       deposited in limestone.

   20. A race or variety in a species.

   21. (Biol.) In tectology, an aggregate or colony of persons
       (see {Person}), as trees, chains of salp[ae], etc.

   22. The beater of a fulling mill. --Knight.

   23. (Cookery) A liquid or jelly containing the juices and
       soluble parts of meat, and certain vegetables, etc.,
       extracted by cooking; -- used in making soup, gravy, etc.

   {Bit stock}. See {Bitstock}.

   {Dead stock} (Agric.), the implements of husbandry, and
      produce stored up for use; -- in distinction from live
      stock, or the domestic animals on the farm. See def. 10,
      above.

   {Head stock}. See {Headstock}.

   {Paper stock}, rags and other material of which paper is
      made.

   {Stock account} (Bookkeeping), an account on a merchant's
      ledger, one side of which shows the original capital, or
      stock, and the additions thereto by accumulation or
      contribution, the other side showing the amounts
      withdrawn.

   {Stock car}, a railway car for carrying cattle.

   {Stock company} (Com.), an incorporated company the capital
      of which is represented by marketable shares having a
      certain equal par value.