Difference between revisions of "ATD 296-317"
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'''''Schieferspath'''''<br> | '''''Schieferspath'''''<br> | ||
| − | + | Has nothing to do with paths; ''spath'' is German for ''spar.'' ''Schiefer'' indicates it is a foliated mineral. So: foliated spar, i.e., a spar that cleaves readily into sheets. ''Schieferspath'' doesn't seem to be a standard mineralogical term in modern German; "some of the visiting labor" may come from a place where calcite is mined under this name. | |
'''superstitious Scotchman'''<br> | '''superstitious Scotchman'''<br> | ||
| − | + | Holding the nine of diamonds, "the curse of Scotland," he doesn't bet his hand but loses the specimen. | |
==Page 306== | ==Page 306== | ||
Revision as of 10:08, 2 January 2007
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
Contents
Page 296
Rodgers Brothers
???
Mescalero
???
Timken springs
Henry Timken was a carriage maker who held three patents for carriage springs in the 1890’s. He founded his company, The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company, in St. Louis in 1899. He also invented the tapered roller bearings which bear his name and were used in the hubs of carriages and automobiles. The company still exists and Timken roller bearing are used today in a number if diverse industries including spacecraft. Oddly enough (maybe not so odd considering Pynchon), the modern day Timken company created for the Bosch Group (See the note above for “Hieronymous wheel” on page 292) a process to produce a high alloy steel that could easily be machined to make trucks parts.
Basin
???
Page 297
Pandora works
???
adits
Underground mine with a horizontal entrance. Wikipedia
tommyknockers
Mythical mine dwellers, originally part of European legend, introduced to America by European miners. The name "tommyknockers" comes from Cornish mining lore. According to legend the tommyknockers are underground spirits who guard the earth's ores, especially gold and silver. Tommyknockers were known for mischief, pranks, jokes, and being highly spirited. "Knockers" comes from knocking sounds heard in mines that were attributed to their antics. They are tiny characters who dress like little miners and perform many mining duties while underground working alongside miners. BLM Website
Page 298
duendes
Spanish for goblins, trolls or leprechauns, http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duende.
Page 299
matte-surface
Not shiny.
"...Sunday-morning voice..."
sermonizing, righteous preacher-like voice?
Page 300
"somthin tattooed on my head"
Cf. Queequeg's tattoos in Moby-Dick, Ch. 3 and passim.
fragment of time
Sparks move faster than shutter.
collodion
Toxic chemical used both in early photography and explosives manufacturing.
Wikipedia
Page 301
squareheads
Scandinavians, especially Swedes, are sometimes referred to as squareheads. In HBO's Deadwood, for example, the orphaned girl Sophia (whose Scandinavian family migrated from Minnesota) is the squarehead girl.
"just tie the reins . . . their way back"
Cf. p. 294, "rented horses had already been skillfully unhitching themselves and proceding back to the corral."
Page 302
ghost bison
The American Buffalo was nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century. Wikipedia
Gallows Frame Saloon
The Gallows Frame is the structural frame, usually made of steel or timber, at the top of an underground mine shaft. These frames hold the hoisting equipment which raise and lower equipment and miners into the underground mine.
fathom miners
As in: a mine's depth is measured in fathoms (1 = 6 ft.). Any miner who goes deep down? And therefore could stand a drink.
remittance men
Black sheep paid regularly by families to stay away.
Page 303
Circassian walnut
A swirled hardwood popular in woodworking, in this case used euphemistically to refer to a bar. Named for a region in the northern Caucasus Mountains from which the tree originates.
Charlie Fong Ding
???
congress... congregation
Two vs more-than-two at a time
California Peg
The "sous-maitresse," or teacher's aid, at the Silver Orchid brothel.
Grundyesque
???
Popcorn Alley
a range of useful information. Range again, as spectrum. ???
hurdy girl
A professional dancing girl.
Page 304
civil war and White Terror
The Finnish Civil War lasted from January-May 1918 and was fought between the conservative White and revolutionary Red factions of the army. After the Whites emerged victorious, they rounded up Red elements in prison camps where many died, hence the White Terror. Wikipedia.
"Love", whatever that turned out to be, would occupy a whole different piece of range. conveys a whole new meaning to the word 'range'?...not just land but something like 'range of emotions"? 'Piece of range' as in a spectrum? Light exists in a spectrum. Cf. 'Light over the ranges' indeed.
Page 305
"The Shooting of Dan McGrew"
1907 poem by Canadian poet Robert Service, so anachronistic here. etext
ruffled doves
A/k/a "soiled doves," a Western term for prostitutes.
Stephen Emmens
???
"argentaurum"
???
nymph's mirror
???
Schieferspath
Has nothing to do with paths; spath is German for spar. Schiefer indicates it is a foliated mineral. So: foliated spar, i.e., a spar that cleaves readily into sheets. Schieferspath doesn't seem to be a standard mineralogical term in modern German; "some of the visiting labor" may come from a place where calcite is mined under this name.
superstitious Scotchman
Holding the nine of diamonds, "the curse of Scotland," he doesn't bet his hand but loses the specimen.
Page 306
grown brighter
???
gold... silver
???
rhomboid
???
Veta Madre
???
Page 307
Lyman Gage
???
like a kettle coming to a boil
???
stopes
???
Charles Bonnet Syndrome
Named after the Swiss philosopher and naturalist, Charles Bonnet (1720-1793), who first described a syndrome in which visually-impaired people see vivid, complex images that aren't real. CBS is thought to result from visual deprivation, and commonly occurs in sufferers of macular degeneration and other impairments of the eyes. Importantly, CBS does not (clinically, cannot) result from any type of psychosis or dementia. Thus, those who experience CBS are otherwise "normal" people.
Remarkably, CBS is characterized often by bizarre and grotesque images: ghosts, elves, sprites, cartoon-like figures, disembodies faces, magical landscapes. According to Cliff Pickover, author of Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves (Smart Publications, 2005), "people affflicted with certain eye diseases give similar reports of beings from parallel universes." Royal National Institute of the Blind Dr. Cliff Pickover Comments Wikipedia Wikipedia entry on Bonnet --Jmanmiami 09:10, 1 December 2006 (PST)
Puckpool
???
Page 308
macular degeneration
Degeneration of the macula, the part of the retina responsible for the sharp, central vision needed to read or drive. A leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people aged 65 and older.
Page 309
Old Gideon
???
A.T. Still
???
Page 310
Jefe
Chief (Spanish).
Page 311
mind-poisoning vetches
???
Edgar Hadley
???
Margaret Perril
???
blood diverted from its return
Accurate but odd?
Trout Lake
???
Page 313
tridigital
Three fingers (measure of liquor).
packer's knife
???
Page 314
Dutch Waltz
???
centrifugal
Pulling away from center.
Page 315
Railbird Saloon
???
Gastón Villa
???
cholo balls
???
charro
???
Galandronome
A type of bassoon developed by French instrument maker Galander in the mid-19th century.
Battle of Puebla
???
Page 316
Ophir road
???
wraith
(Was she nearby at this moment?)
Page 317
backward departure
No way to turn engine?
abrazos
???
Spanish for "embrace"; "hugs".
Annotation Index
| Part One: The Light Over the Ranges |
|
|---|---|
| Part Two: Iceland Spar |
119-148, 149-170, 171-198, 199-218, 219-242, 243-272, 273-295, 296-317, 318-335, 336-357, 358-373, 374-396, 397-428 |
| Part Three: Bilocations |
429-459, 460-488, 489-524, 525-556, 557-587, 588-614, 615-643, 644-677, 678-694 |
| Part Four: Against the Day |
695-723, 724-747, 748-767, 768-791, 792-820, 821-848, 849-863, 864-891, 892-918, 919-945, 946-975, 976-999, 1000-1017, 1018-1039, 1040-1062 |
| Part Five: Rue du Départ |
