QUARTER-SESSIONS, a court held every quarter by justices of the peace in the several divisions of a county to try offences against the peace.

QUARTER-STAFF, strong wooden staff 61/2 ft. long, shod with iron, grasped in the middle; formerly used in England for attack and defence.

QUARTERLY REVIEW, a review started by John Murray, the celebrated London publisher, in February 1809, in rivalry with the Edinburgh, which had been seven years in possession of the field, and was exerting, as he judged, an evil influence on public opinion; in this enterprise he was seconded by Southey and Scott, the more cordially that the Edinburgh had given offence to the latter by its criticism of “Marmion.”  It was founded in the Tory interest for the defence of Church and State, and it had Gifford for its first editor, while the contributors included, besides Southey and Scott, all the ablest literary celebrities on the Tory side, of which the most zealous and frequent was John Wilson Croker.

QUARTERMASTER, in the army an officer whose duty it is to look after the quarters, clothing, rations, stores, ammunition, &c., of the regiment, and in the navy a petty officer who has to see to the stowage, steerage, soundings, &c., of the ship.

QUARTETTE, a musical piece in four parts, or for four voices or instruments.

QUARTO, a book having the sheet folded into four leaves.

QUASIMODO SUNDAY, the first Sunday after Easter.

QUASS, a beer made in Russia from rye grain, employed as vinegar when sour.

QUATRE-BRAS (i. e. four arms), a village 10 m.  SE. of Waterloo, where the roads from Brussels to Charleroi and from Nivelles to Namur intersect:  was the scene of an obstinate conflict between the English under Wellington and the French under Ney, two days before the battle of Waterloo.

QUATREFAGES DE BREAU, French naturalist and anthropologist, born at Berthezenne (Gard); studied medicine at Strasburg; was professor at the Natural History Museum in Paris; devoted himself chiefly to anthropology and the study of annelides (1810-1892).

QUATREMERE, ETIENNE MARC, French Orientalist, born in Paris; was professor at the College of France; was distinguished for his knowledge of Arabic and Persian, as well as for his works on Egypt; was of vast learning, but defective in critical ability (1782-1857).

QUATREMERE DE QUINCY, a learned French archaeologist and writer on art, born in Paris; was involved in the troubles of the Revolution; narrowly, as a constitutionalist, escaped the guillotine, and was deported to Cayenne in 1797, but after his return took no part in political affairs; wrote a “Dictionary of Antiquities” (1755-1849).

QUATRO CENTO (i. e. four hundred), a term employed by the Italians to signify one thousand four hundred, that is, the 15th century, and applied by them to the literature and art of the period.