The Nuttall Encyclopedia

Quadragesima (i.e. fortieth), a name given to Lent because it lasts forty days, and assigned also to the first Sunday in Lent, the three Sundays which precede it being called respectively Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima.

Quadrant, an instrument for taking altitudes, consisting of the graduated arc of a circle of ninety degrees.

Quadratic Equation, an equation involving the square of the unknown quantity.

Quadriga, a two-wheeled chariot drawn by four horses abreast, used in the ancient chariot races.

Quadrilateral, The, the name given to a combination of four fortresses, or the space enclosed by them, in North Italy, at Mantua, Legnago, Verona, and Peschiera.

Quadroon, the name given to a person quarter-blooded, in particular the offspring of a mulatto and a white person.

Quadruple Alliance, an alliance formed in 1719 between England, France, Austria, and Holland to secure the thrones of France and England to the reigning families, and to defeat the schemes of Alberoni to the aggrandisement of Spain.

Quæstors, the name given in Roman history to the officers entrusted with the care of the public treasury, originally two in number, one of them to see to the corn supply in Rome, but eventually, as the empire extended, increased, till in Cæsar's time they amounted to forty. Under the kings they were the public prosecutors in cases of murder.

Quaigh, a name formerly given to a wooden drinking-cup in Scotland.

Quain, Jones, anatomist, born at Mallow, Ireland; was professor of Anatomy and Physiology in London University; was author of "Elements of Anatomy," of which the first edition was published in 1828, and the tenth in 1800 (1796-1865).