Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 07.djvu/478

QUETTA 400 QUIETISM Jansenism required from all members of the Oratory, Quesnel was compelled to flee to the Low Countries. He continued at Brussels his "Reflexions," which were poiblished in a complete form. The Jes- uits were unceasing in their hostility, and Quesnel was denounced and flung into prison, but escaped to Holland. He died Dec. 2, 1719. QUETTA, known locally as Shalkot, a town near the N. frontier of Baluch- istan, strategically important as com- manding the Bolan Pass and the Pishin valley. Since 1877 Quetta and its dis- trict have been administered by British officers, the headquarters of a consider- able military force, and is strongly for- tified. The valley is fertile, well wa- tered, and populous. Coal and petroleum were discovered in 1890. QUETZALCOATL, the god of the air of the ancient Mexicans, who presided over commerce and the useful arts, and is said to have predicted the coming of the Spaniards to Mexico. QUEVEDO Y VELLEGAS, DON FRANCISCO DE, a Spanish poet and prose writer; born in Madrid, Spain, in 1580. His prose works are mostly ef- fusions of humor and satire. His "Vis- ions" (Sueiios) have been translated into most European languages. He died in 1645. QUEZAL, a most beautiful Central American bird of the Trogon family (Trogon or Calurus resplendens) . It is about the size of a magpie, and the male is adorned with tail feathers from 3 to 3% feet in length, and of a gorgeous em- erald color. The back, head, and throat are of the same color; the lower part of the -chest is vivid scarlet. The female lacks these long feathers, and is other- wise much plainer. The food of the que- zal consists chiefly of fruits. QUIBEBON, a small fishing-town of France, in the department of Morbihan; at the extremity of a long narrow penin- sula, 21 miles S. W. of Vannes. It was here that a body of French emigrant roy- alists landed from an English fleet in 1795, and endeavored to rouse the peo- ple of Brittany and La Vendee against the Convention, but were defeated and driven into the sea by General Hoche. On Nov. 20, 1759, Hawke completely de- feated a French fleet under Admiral Conflans in Quiberon Bay. Pop. about 3,500. QUICHUA, the nanae of a native race of South America, inhabiting Peru, parts of Ecuador, Bolivia, etc. With the Ay- maras the Quichuas composed the larger portion of the population of the empire of the Incas. The Quichua language, which was formerly the state language of the Incas, is still the chief speech of Peru, of a large portion of Bolivia, of the part of Eucador bordering upon Peru, and of the N. section of the Argentine Republic. QUICKLIME, lime in a caustic state; calcium oxide deprived by heat of its carbon dioxide and water. This is ex- tensively done in lime kilns, the fuel used being faggots, brushwood, or coal. The firewood and lime to be calcined are mixed. Quicklime treated with water evolves much heat, and falls into a thick paste. Lime thus slaked and mixed vtdth sand constitutes mortar. QUICKSAND, in its usual significance, a tract of sand which, without differing much in appearance from the shore of which it forms part, remains perma- nently saturated with water to such an extent that it cannot support any weight. Quicksands are mosc often found near the mouths of large rivers. They ap- pear only to be formed on flat shores, the substratum of which is an irregular ex- panse of stiff clay or other imper'ious formation. Pools of water are retained in the hollows, and become partially filled with sand or mud, which remains like the soft sediment in a cup of cocoa on ac- count of the absence of drainage. The sand on a uniform shelving shore con- solidates at low tide because the water which permeates it drains back freely to the sea. In narrow "hannels through which the configuration of the adjoining shore causes strong tida^^ currents to run the sand may be kept so constantly stirred up by the moving water that a quicksand results. Thus, while the sum- mit of a sandbank rising from a gentle slope is usually firm, the hollow margin of the bank where it meets the shore is frequently a quicksand. Quicksand, when examined under the microscope, will be seen to have rounded comers like river sand, as distinguished from angular or "sharp" sand, which will pack more solidly than the other. It is quicksand that is used in the hour- glass and in the smaller egg-boiler. Quicksands are not commonly of great extent, and their danger has probably been exaggerated in the popular mind by sensational descriptions in works of fiction. The name quicksand is some- times applied to the drifting sands which are carried by wind over cultivated land bordering the seashore or a desert. QUICKSILVEB. See MERCURY. QUIETISM, the doctrine that the es- sence of true religion consists in the withdrawal of the soul from external and