Those Good Old Encyclopaedias

I don't know if you have noticed, but if you look up a "controversial topic" in an old encyclopaedia; and compare it whit any modern you'll soon notice the difference.

I'm not referring to the smoother glossy paper, or those colour pictures, but rather what information the text yields. Today we're spared for the information that might be used to do harm. We will be informed that; Yes there exists plants that are poisonous so be careful. Our Grand and Great-grand fathers also were told what plants those were.

I might be putting it at an extreme, but the walk there is not long away.

Another "fun" note:
In an encyclopaedia from 1898-1903 the auto-mobiles (today: car) future was predicted to lean towards electric cars. The reason: both the petrol and alcohol driven cars were noisy and produced ill smelling fumes.