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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. Preface to 1828 Dictionary
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ELASTIC'ITY, n. The inherent property in bodies by which they recover their former figure or state, after external pressure,tension or distortion. Thus elastic gum, extended, will contract to its natural dimensions, when the force is removed. Air, when compressed, will, on the removal of the compressing force, instantly dilate and fill its former space.
The quality
of being elastic; the inherent property in bodies by which they
recover their former figure or dimensions, after the removal of
external pressure or altering force; springiness; tendency to
rebound; as, the elasticity of caoutchouc; the
elasticity of the air.
Power of resistance to, or recovery from,
depression or overwork.
Coefficient of elasticity, the quotient of a stress (of a given kind), by the strain (of a given kind) which it produces; -- called also coefficient of resistance. -- Surface of elasticity (Geom.), the pedal surface of an ellipsoid (see Pedal); a surface used in explaining the phenomena of double refraction and their relation to the elastic force of the luminous ether in crystalline media. | ||||||||