Guillotine, the instrument of decapitation introduced during the French Revolution by the Convention, and named after its supposed inventor, Joseph Ignace Guillotin, a physician, who, however, was only the person who first proposed its adoption. It was erected and first employed to execute a highwayman on the Place de Greve, Paris, 25th April, 1792. It is composed of two upright posts, grooved on the inside, and connected at the top by a cross-beam. In these grooves a sharp iron blade, having its edge cut obliquely, descends by its own weight on the neck of the victim, who is bound to a board laid below.

Conspicuous among diplomatic assemblies was the Berlin Congress (1878), consisting of the representatives of the six great powers and Turkey, who met to discuss the Eastern question arising out of the Treaty of San Stefano previously made between Russia and Turkey. The Berlin Congress resulted in the signing of the Berlin Treaty. Representatives of the various countries besides the resident ambassadors: England, Lord Beaconsfield and the Marquis of Salisbury; Germany, Furst Bismarck (president); Austria, Count Andrassy; France, M. Waddington; Russia, Prince Gortschakoff; Italy, Count Corti; Turkey, Caratheodori Pasha.

The "Triple Alliance" is the name by which various treaties are known: (1) A treaty concluded in 1668 at the Hague between England, Holland, and Sweden, having for its object the protection of the Spanish Netherlands and the checking of the conquests of Louis XIV (2) An alliance concluded in 1717 between Britain, Prance, and Holland against Spain. (3) Between Britain, Russia, and Austria in 1795. (4) Between Germany, Austria, and Italy, formed and confirmed between 1883 and 1887. This superseded the "alliance of the three emperors" (Dreikaiserbund) between William I. of Germany, Francis Joseph of Austria, and Alexander II. of Russia, 1872-84.

Among the Persians, the usual mode of punishment is the bastinado, from which men of the highest rank are not exempt. It is inflicted with very great severity, frequently so as to render the sufferer almost a cripple for life. The victim is thrown upon his face, each foot is passed through a loop of strong cord attached to a pole, which is raised horizontally by men, who, twisting it around, tighten the ropes and render the feet immovable. Two executioners then strike the soles alternately with switches of the pomegranate tree, well steeped in water to render them supple. A store of these switches is generally ready for use in the pond which adjoins the courtyards of the houses of the great. The punishment frequently lasts an hour, or until the unfortunate victim faints from pain.

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is not an iron crown, but a magnificent gold diadem, containing a narrow iron band about three-eighths of an inch broad, and one-tenth of an inch in thickness. This band was made out of a nail given to Constantine by his mother, and said to be one of the nails used in the crucifixion. The outer circlet of the crown is of beaten gold, set with large rubies, emeralds and sapphires, and the iron band is within this circlet. The first Lombard king crowned with it was Agilulph, at Milan, in 591. Charlemagne was crowned with it in 774; Friederich III., in 1452; Karl V., in 1530; and Napoleon I., May 23, 1805, crowned himself with it as " King of Italy" in Milan Cathedral. It was given up to Victor Emmanuel on the conclusion of peace with Austria in 1866. The motto on the crown is "God has given it me; beware who touches it."

Filibuster is a corrupt spelling of the French flibustier, called in English a buccaneer. Filibusters were piratical seamen, resolved to force their way into the New World, jealously guarded by the Spanish. The most famous were Morgan (a Welshman), who took Panama in 1670; Pierre Legrande, of Dieppe, who, with twenty-eight men, took the ship of a Spanish admiral; Nau l'Olonnais, Michael le Basque, who made themselves masters of Vera Cruz in 1683; and Monbars the Exterminator, who, in 1683, took Vera Cruz. After the accession of William III. the French flibustiers and the English buccaneers were in deadly antagonism; but after the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, the piratical expeditions were put an end to.

The dancing mania is a form of epidemic disorder allied to hysteria, and evidently the result of imitative emotions, acting upon susceptible subjects, under the influence of a craving for sympathy or notoriety. There is little doubt that imposture entered to a considerable extent into all the epidemic forms of the dancing mania, which indeed were usually attended and followed by consequences that showed but too clearly the presence of impure motives; but there is also evidence that in many cases the convulsive movements were really beyond the control of the will, whatever may have been the original character of the motives that prompted them. Epidemics of this sort were common in Germany during the middle ages.

The Magna Charta was the great charter or document, founded mainly upon earlier Saxon charters, which the English barons compelled King John to sign at Runnymede (June 15, 1215). The most important provisions are: (1) no scutage or aid shall be raised, except in the case of the king's captivity, the knighting of his eldest son, or the marriage of his eldest daughter, except by the general council of the kingdom; (2) no freeman shall be imprisoned or disseised, outlawed or proceeded against other than by the legal judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land: (3) that right or justice shall not be sold, delayed or denied to any; (4) that the civil court shall be stationary, and not follow the king's person. Other provisions were directed against the abuse of the power of the king as lord paramount, the tyrrany of the forest laws, and grievances connected with feudal tenure. The Charter of Forests was granted at the same time. Both documents have been confirmed by Act of Parliament thirty-two times.