WILDAIR. 509 WILDE. WILD'AIR, Sib Harrv. A gay man-aboiit- towii, ill l^'aiquliar's Constant Couple, and the title character of the same author's Sir Harry M'ildair. The character was successively per- sonateil liy W ilks, Garrick, and Peg Woilington. WILDBAD, vilt'bat. A town of the Kingdom of Wiirttciiiborg, Germany, in the Black Forest, roniantically situated in a valley watered by the Enz, about 2!) miles west of Stuttgart (Map: Germany, C 4). It is noted for its thermal springs and baths, the water of which ranges from 111° to 98.0° F. in teniiierature. The waters are nearly pure, the princijial ingredient being common salt. l'(i]iulatinn, in liKKt, .'i.").'i2. WILD BOAR OF THE ARDENNES. A name given to William, Count de Lamarck, be- headed liy Maximilian in 1485. lie appears in Scott's Qucittin Durward. WILDCAT. In general, a wild cat as dis- tinguished from a domesticated one; specifically, the European wildcat {Felis catus), primitively numerous all over Europe, except Scandinavia, and much of Northern Asia, and still to be found in the wilder districts. It is much larger than the domestic cats and dill'ers from them in the proportionately longer body and limbs and the shorter and tliicker tail. Its body is yellowish gray, with a dai'k mark along the back, and numerous darkish stripes down the sides and across the limbs; its tail is ringed with black; and in the male the soles of the feet are deep black. Although it may have contributed by an occasional cross to the varieties of domestic cat (q.v., imder Cat), it is not believed that any domestic race sprang directly from it. Consult for this species Hamilton, 'The ^Yildcat of Eu- rope (London. 1806). In the United States the name 'wildcat' is ap- plied to the lynx; in Egj'pt, to the Caffre cat or the gloved eat: in India, usually to the jungle cat; and in Mexico, to the chati or margay (two forms of Felis tigrina). In fact, omitting the lion, ti.ger, leopard, puma, jaguar, and a few others, the term applies to all the feline race, of which some forty species might be mentioned, most of which are elsewhere described under their distinctive names, as Ocelot, Etba, etc. See Felid.e : Cat; and authorities there cited. See Plate of Wildcats, under Cat. WILD CELERY. See Vallisneria. WILD CHERRY {Prunus). Several North American trees and shrubs belonging to the natural order Rosacese. Prunus Peniisylvanica, or wild red cherry, is a tree from 20 to 30 feet high, common in rocky woods, particularly in the Northern States, with leaves oblong-lanceolated, pointed, finely and sharply serrate, green, and smooth on both sides; flowers in a cluster on long pedicels in May ; fruit round, light-red, very small, with thin pulp; stone globular. Prunus serotina, the wild black cherry, is a fine tree with gray, sometimes rather shaggy bark on the trunk, and reddish limbs, often growing in the Western States to 80 feet in height and 2 feet or more in diameter, but smaller in the Atlantic States, leaves lanceolate-oblong, taper- pointed, serrate, with incurved, short, and cal- lous teeth, thick, shining above; flowers, which appear in June, in long racemes ; fruit purplish- black, about the size of a common pea, but often larger on rich alluvial soils. When very ripe and large it. is agreeable to the taste. In some of the older sections of New York the tree was formerly ])lanted in the fiehls and along the fences. Its dark-colored timber is highly valued as a cabinet wood. Prunus ^'irgininnfl, the common choke- cherry, is a tall, rather slender shrub (sometimes it may be called a tree), from 8 to 15 feet high, ■mu) KED CHEKKT (Prunus renns,v!ranica,). with grayish bark, leaves oval, oblong, or obo- vate, blunt-pointed, sharply serrate; racemes short and close; petals roundish; fruit red, turn- ing to dark crimson, and very astringent until perfectly ripe, when it is not unpleasant, if large, and growing on good soil : flowers in Jlay ; grows along fences and river banks, especially north- ward. The popular name is sometimes wrongly applied to the preceding species. The name wild cherry is often given to other species than the above, as to the bitter cherry (Prunus emargi- nata) and the holly-leaf cherry (Prunus ilicifo- lia) , varieties of the cultivated cherries that have escaped from cultivation in many places in the Eastern United States. WILD COFFEE. See Feverwobt. WILDE, Henry (1833—). An English elec- trical engineer, born at Manchester. He was educated at private schools, and from an early age engaged in scientific pursuits, particularly tiie study of electromagnetism, which enabled him to make certain improvements in lightning conductors and the telegraph (1858-C4). In 1864 he discovered that currents of electricity of con- siderable intensity could be derived from in- finitely small amounts of magnetism and elec- tricit.v and was thus led to develop a dynamo-elec- tric machine. Four years later in investigating alternating currents he discovered that by their synchronizing propert_v it was possible to con- trol the rotations of the armatures of a number of dynamos. This property is now an essential feature of numerous electro-generating stations. In 1878 he discovered certain remarkable multi- ple relations among the atomic weights. With his dynamo-electric machine he developed a power- ful electric light, which was used in 1865. By this invention and others he produced the search- light employed in the Royal Navy. He also carried on important investigations in elec-
