CommonCastle

Biblical Literature, The Alexandrian canon

2005-03-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Old Testament as it has come down in Greek translation from the Jews of Alexandria via the Christian Church differs in many respects from the Hebrew Scriptures. The books of the second and third divisions have been redistributed and arranged according to categories of literature—history, poetry, wisdom, and prophecy. Esther and Daniel contain supplementary

Athenagoras

2005-03-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

Identified by some early historians as

Wilkes-barre

2005-03-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

Its permanent settlement began in 1769 when Major John Durkee, a veteran of the French and Indian War, settled a band

Lisboa

2005-03-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

Administrative district, west central Portugal, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (west and south) and by the Tagus River and its estuary (southeast). Principal occupations outside Lisbon, the district and national capital, are agriculture and fishing, ironworking, and tourism. A disastrous flood in November 1967 caused over 450 deaths and much damage in the district. Area 1,065 square

Asti

2005-03-28T01:12:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Asti province, Piemonte (Piedmont) region, northwestern Italy. It lies at the confluence of the Tanaro and Borbera rivers, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Turin. Asti was the Hasta, or Colonia, of the Romans and was the seat of a bishopric from AD 932. It reached its zenith as an independent commune in the 13th century, after which it fell to several overlords before coming under

Heidelberg

2005-03-27T03:29:00.000-08:00

City, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the canalized Neckar River where it emerges from the forested hills of Odenwald into the Rhine plain. First mentioned in 1196, it was the capital of the Rhenish Palatinate (Pfalz) and the residence of the electoral counts Palatine until 1720. It was devastated during the Thirty Years' War (1622) and almost completely destroyed

Masculine Rhyme

2005-03-26T23:30:00.000-08:00

In verse, a monosyllabic rhyme or a rhyme that occurs only in stressed final syllables (such as claims, flames or rare, despair). Compare feminine rhyme. Emily Dickinson used the masculine rhyme to great effect in the last stanza of “After great pain, a formal feeling comes—”: This is the Hour of Lead—Remembered, if outlived,As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow—First—Chill

Christensen, Benjamin

2005-03-26T02:46:00.000-08:00

Christensen began his career as an opera singer in 1902 but later became an actor and then a director. By 1913 he was known as the writer, star, and director of a film exploring the unknown, Det Hemmeligheds fulde X (The Mysterious X), his first investigation of the horror of

Italian Liberal Party

2005-03-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Party was first formed as a parliamentary group within the Piedmont assembly in 1848 by Count Camillo di Cavour, who eventually brought about the unification of Italy and became

Astley, Thea

2005-03-24T17:18:00.000-08:00

Astley graduated from the University of Queensland in 1947 and taught English in Queensland (1944–48) and New South Wales (1948–67) and at Macquarie University in Sydney (1968–80). Drawing

Oscar I

2005-03-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

Oscar's early liberal outlook and progressive ideas on such issues as fiscal policy, freedom of the press, and penal reform fortuitously coincided with a period of social, political, and industrial change. After his accession

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

2005-03-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ella Wheeler from an early age was an avid reader of popular literature, especially the novels of E.D.E.N. Southworth, Mary Jane Holmes, and Ouida

Pyroxenite

2005-03-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

Dark-coloured, intrusive igneous rock that consists chiefly of pyroxene. Pyroxenites are not abundant; they occur in discrete inclusions, in layered sills (tabular bodies inserted between other rocks) and lopoliths (laccoliths with basin-shaped bases), in branching veins, in narrow dikes (tabular bodies injected in fissures), and at the edges of silica-poor plutons

Theocritus

2005-03-21T03:42:00.000-08:00

There are no certain facts as to Theocritus' life beyond those supplied by the idylls themselves. Certainly he lived in Sicily and at various times in Cos and Alexandria and perhaps in Rhodes. The surviving poems

Rove Beetle

2005-03-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Rove beetles are usually found around decaying animal and vegetable matter, preying on carrion-feeding insects. Most of them are slender and small (usually less than 3 mm, or 1/8 inch); the largest species, such as the devil's coachhorse (Staphylinus olens), are usually no

Gabon, Climate

2005-03-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

Gabon has an equatorial climate, with year-round high temperatures and humidity. Rainfall varies from an annual average of 120 inches (3,050 millimetres) at Libreville to 150 inches on the northwest coast, with almost all of it falling between October and May. In the period from June to September there is little, if any, rainfall, but humidity remains high. Temperature shows little

Tiy

2005-03-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

She was the daughter of Yuya, the commander of the Egyptian chariotry and overseer of the cattle of the local god Min; her mother, Thuya, was also an Egyptian. Although she was not of royal blood, Tiy became the favoured wife of Amenhotep III (reigned 1390–53 BC), a powerful king of the 18th dynasty, who gave her considerable prominence

Quintus Smyrnaeus

2005-03-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

Quintus claimed that the Muses inspired him when, still a beardless lad, he kept sheep near the temple of Artemis. His style is monotonous, and his vocabulary

Ribeirão Prêto

2005-03-18T02:52:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of northeastern São Paulo state, Brazil, at 1,700 feet (520 m) above sea level, on the Prêto River, a tributary of the Pardo River. Founded in 1856 and formerly called Entre Rios and São Sebastião do Ribeirão Prêto, the settlement was given town status in 1870 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1871. It was long renowned as a colonization and coffee-growing centre. Now

Humpbacked Fly

2005-03-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Coffin Fly, any of numerous species of tiny, dark-coloured flies with humped backs that are members of the insect family Phoridae (order Diptera). The adults are abundant around decaying vegetation. Larvae may be scavengers, parasites, or commensals in ant and termite nests. Some species have reduced or no wings.

Eisenstaedt, Alfred

2005-03-17T06:54:00.000-08:00

Eisenstaedt served in the German army in World War I from 1916 to 1918, sustaining injuries in both legs. He became an enthusiastic

Pigweed

2005-03-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

Any of several coarse annual plants of cosmopolitan distribution that are often troublesome weeds. Several of them belong to the genus Amaranthus, of the family Amaranthaceae. Prostrate pigweed, or mat amaranth (A. graecizans), grows along the ground surface with stems rising at the tips; spiny pigweed, or spiny amaranth (A. spinosus), has spines at the base of the leafstalks;

Philip I

2005-03-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Philip was the elder son of Henry I of France by his second wife, Anne of Kiev.

Aschelminth, Adaptations

2005-03-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

The ability of some nematodes and rotifers to survive drying or freezing conditions in a state of suspended animation, i.e., cryptobiosis or anabiosis, has enabled them to inhabit the driest deserts and the coldest polar regions, as long as free water occurs occasionally and for long enough periods of time for them to reproduce. This ability also allows both groups

La Línea

2005-03-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

In full La Línea de la Concepción town, Cadiz provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. It lies along the Bay of Gibraltar, between San Roque and the British colony of Gibraltar. The name is derived from the línea, or boundary, dividing Spanish territory from the district of Gibraltar. The town processes fruit and vegetables for sale in Gibraltar,

Scandinavian Languages

2005-03-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

Languages forming the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages. The modern standard languages are Danish, Swedish, Norwegian (Dano-Norwegian and New Norwegian), Icelandic, and Faroese. These languages are usually divided into East Scandinavian (Danish and Swedish) and West Scandinavian (Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) groups. They developed from the dialects

Computers, Integrated circuits

2005-03-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

William Shockley, a coinventor of the transistor, started Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories in 1955 in his hometown of Palo Alto, California. In 1957 his eight top researchers left to form Fairchild Semiconductor Company, funded by Fairchild Camera and Instrument Company. Along with Hewlett-Packard, another Palo Alto firm, Fairchild Semiconductor was the seed of what

Theme

2005-03-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

In music, short melody or melodic phrase developed in a musical composition. See melody.

National Women's Hall Of Fame

2005-03-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

Not-for-profit educational institution founded in 1969 to honour the accomplishments of outstanding American women. The Hall of Fame is located in Seneca Falls, New York, the site of the first Women's Rights Convention, in 1848. It contains information and exhibits about each of its inductees and also sponsors traveling exhibits, poster and essay contests, and other educational

U2

2005-03-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

Bill Flanagan, U2 at the End of the World (1995), is an insightful, if frequently meandering, critical overview.

Ashmolean Museum Of Art And Archaeology

2005-03-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

One of the four museums of the University of Oxford and the oldest public museum of art, archaeology, and natural history in Great Britain. It was established to house collections donated to the university in 1677 by Elias Ashmole (1617–92), an antiquarian who had inherited the bulk of the collections from a friend, John Tradescant (1608–62). The museum was opened to the public in 1683 in a building

Hawkins, Sir Richard

2005-03-11T03:49:00.000-08:00

The only son of the famed seaman Sir John Hawkins by his first marriage, Richard Hawkins in 1582 sailed with his uncle William to the West Indies; in 1585 he commanded a ship on Sir

English Literature, Influence of French poetry

2005-03-11T00:25:00.000-08:00

By the end of the 12th century English poetry had been so heavily influenced by French models that such a work as the long epic Brut (c. 1200) by Lawamon, a Worcestershire priest, seems archaic for mixing alliterative lines with rhyming couplets while generally eschewing French vocabulary. The Brut mainly draws upon Wace's Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut (1155; based in turn upon Geoffrey

Dubinsky, David

2005-03-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

The son of a baker in Russian Poland, Dubinsky was sent to Siberia in 1908 for his union activities. He escaped and emigrated to the United States in 1911. While working as a garment cutter in New

Hanks, Tom

2005-03-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

After a nomadic childhood, Hanks majored in drama at California State University and performed in summer stock

Selection Coefficient

2005-03-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

In genetics, a measure of the relative reduction in the contribution that a particular genotype (genetic composition) makes to the gametes (sex cells) as compared with another genotype in the population. It expresses the relative advantage or disadvantage of specific traits with respect to survival and reproductive success. The selection coefficient (s) of a given

Uterine Cervix

2005-03-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

Lowest region of the uterus; it attaches the uterus to the vagina and provides a passage between the vaginal cavity and the uterine cavity. The cervix, only about 4 centimetres (1.6 inches) long, projects about 2 centimetres into the upper vaginal cavity. The cervical opening into the vagina is called the external os; the cavity running the length of the cervix is the endocervical

Biblical Literature, The Georgian version

2005-03-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

According to Armenian tradition, the Georgian version was also the work of Mesrob, but the Psalter, the oldest part of the Georgian Old Testament, is probably not earlier than the 5th century. Some manuscripts were based upon Greek versions, others upon the Armenian.

Power, Balance Of

2005-03-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

In international relations, the posture and policy of a nation or group of nations protecting itself against another nation or group of nations by matching its power against the power of the other side. States can pursue a policy of balance of power in two ways: by increasing their own power, as when engaging in an armaments race or in the competitive acquisition of

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Allegory

2005-03-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

In terms of allegory, the Greco-Roman and Hebraic-Christian cultures both have a common

Kagame, (abbé) Alexis

2005-03-06T03:43:00.000-08:00

Kagame, the son of a deputy chief of the Tutsi people, was baptized in 1928 and ordained a priest in 1941. His considerable activity before and after taking his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University

Chancel

2005-03-05T21:44:00.000-08:00

This lattice is now more commonly

Chiabrera, Gabriello

2005-03-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Chiabrera studied philosophy in Rome, lived for a time in the household of a cardinal, and then returned to Savona, where civic and diplomatic posts and the protection of several princes gave him the leisure

Adam Of Bremen

2005-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Of Franconian origin, he was probably educated at the cathedral school in Bamberg but was introduced in 1066 or 1067 into the cathedral chapter at Bremen by Archbishop

Acheampong, Ignatius Kutu

2005-03-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

Ghanaian army officer, who, after leading a military revolt that overthrew the government of Kofi Busia, became Ghana's chief of state in 1972. In July 1978 he was forced to resign, and the following June he and his successor, Lieut. Gen. F.W.K. Akuffo, were executed after a coup led by young officers, whose Armed Forces Revolutionary Council returned

Gabriel

2005-03-04T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Gavri'el, Arabic Gibra'il, Jabra'il, or Jibril, in the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the archangels. Gabriel was the heavenly messenger sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat and to communicate the prediction of the Seventy Weeks. He was also employed to announce the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and to announce the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary. It is because he stood in the divine presence

Theobald, Lewis

2005-03-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

When in 1726 Theobald brought out his Shakespeare Restored; or, A Specimen of the Many Errors As Well Committed As Unamended by Mr. Pope, in His Late Edition of This Poet, Alexander Pope, whose edition

Acuff, Roy

2005-03-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Turning his attention to music after an aborted baseball career, Acuff gained

Abbott, Berenice

2005-03-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hank O'Neal, Berenice Abbott: American Photographer (1982); Bonnie Yochelson, Berenice Abbott: Changing New York (1997).

Võrtsjärv

2005-03-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Võrts-järv, or Virtsjärv, Russian Ozero Vyrts-yarv, lake (järv) in south-central Estonia, with an area of about 110 square miles (280 square km). Võrtsjärv forms part of the 124-mile (200-kilometre) course of the Ema River (German Embach, Lithuanian Emajõgi), which enters the lake from the south and drains it north and east into Peipsi Lake on the Estonia–Russia border. The Võrtsjärv is navigable, as is the lower course of the Ema. The lake and river

Rameswaram

2005-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

Island, southeastern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. It forms part of Adams Bridge, a series of coral reef islands connecting India and Sri Lanka. The island contains a temple that is one of the most venerated of all Hindu shrines. The great Temple of Rameswaram was built in the 17th century on the traditional site said to be sanctified by the god Rama's footprints when

Monatomic Gas

2005-02-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Gas composed of particles (molecules) that consist of single atoms, such as helium or sodium vapour, and in this way different from diatomic, triatomic, or, in general, polyatomic gases. The thermodynamic behaviour of a monatomic gas in the ordinary temperature range is extremely simple because it is free from the rotational and vibrational energy components characteristic

Spitz, Mark

2005-02-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

Like many other outstanding American swimmers, Spitz trained for several years at the Santa Clara (California) Swim Club. He served as captain of the intercollegiate swimming team at Indiana University, Bloomington (graduated 1972). At the 1968 Olympic

Madanin

2005-02-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Médenine, town, southern Tunisia. The town lies in the semiarid plain of al-Jifarah (Jeffara). It was the capital of the Ouerghemma League of three Berber groups and was the chief town of the Southern Military Territories during the French Protectorate (1881–1955). The honeycomb-like, aboveground granaries (ghorfas) that belonged to the Ouerghemma are features of the locality. The town is

Hystaspes

2005-02-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

Also called Gushtasp protector and follower of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. Son of Aurvataspa (Lohrasp) of the Naotara family, Hystaspes was a local ruler (kavi) in a country called in the Avesta (the Zoroastrian scripture) Aryana Vaejah, which may have been a Greater Chorasmian state abolished by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II the Great in the mid-6th century BC.

Toradja

2005-02-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

Group of peoples of central Celebes (Sulawesi), Indonesia. They are believed to be descendants of the invading Austronesian-speaking people that overran the island and absorbed or exterminated the aboriginal population. Later they were driven back from the coasts by Muslim Indonesians such as the Buginese. Their warfare and headhunting made it necessary to locate

Caucasian Languages, Mingrelian

2005-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Mingrelian language (self-designation: margaluri nina) is spoken in the territory north of the Rioni River and west of the Tskhenis-Tskali River and along the Black Sea coast from the mouth of the Rioni up to the city of Ochamchire. The language is unwritten; Georgian is used as a literary language.

Port Blair

2005-02-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India, in the Bay of Bengal. The city lies on the hilly southeastern coast of South Andaman Island. It is a market town with a sawmill, several local museums, and an airport. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 74,810.

Cromwellian Chair

2005-02-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

Sturdy, squarish chair with a leather back and seat, studded with brass-headed nails, made in England in the mid-17th century during the Puritan period and named after Oliver Cromwell. Because luxury and almost any kind of ornament were shunned in the prevailing climate of austerity, the only decoration was the pattern of bright nail heads and bobbin turning, a series

Caucasian Languages, Mingrelian

2005-02-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

Set of multilateral trade agreements aimed at the abolition of quotas and the reduction of tariff duties among the contracting nations. When GATT was concluded by 23 countries at Geneva, in 1947 (to take effect on Jan. 1, 1948), it was considered an interim arrangement pending the formation of a United Nations agency to supersede it. When such an agency failed to emerge, GATT was amplified

Israel, A cold peace

2005-02-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

Thus, “seven lean years” after the Yom Kippur War and three decades after independence, Israel had reached peace with Egypt, the Soviets were sidelined, and the Jewish state's alliance with the United States was consolidated. However, trouble loomed, as a civil war in Lebanon allowed an increasingly well-armed PLO to raid Israel's northern border. Israel had also begun

Tudor Style

2005-02-23T02:48:00.000-08:00

Type of British architecture, mainly domestic, that grafted Renaissance decorative elements onto the Perpendicular Gothic style between 1485 and 1558. The Tudor style in architecture coincides with the first part of the reign of the Tudor monarchs, which commenced in 1485 with the accession of Henry VII to the throne and ended with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Elizabeth's own

Dam, Arch dams

2005-02-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

The advantages of building a dam curved in plan, utilizing the water pressure to keep the joints in the masonry closed, was appreciated as early as Roman times. An arch dam is a structure curving upstream, where the water thrust is transferred either directly to the valley sides or indirectly through concrete abutments. Theoretically, the ideal constant angle arch

New Harmony

2005-02-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Town, Posey county, southwestern Indiana, U.S., on the Wabash River, at the Illinois border, 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Evansville. The site was first occupied by prehistoric Mound Builders and later was a camping ground for Piankashaw and other Indians. The settlement of Harmonie was founded in 1814–15 by George Rapp, a German Pietist preacher who had first come to Pennsylvania in

Gabon, Resources

2005-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Gabon possesses important resources in woods and minerals and much hydroelectric potential. But its poor transportation infrastructure and lack of financing, as well as unfavourable world market conditions, hinder the development of some of these resources.

Closterman, John

2005-02-22T02:10:00.000-08:00

Closterman was the son of an artist, who taught him the elements of painting. In 1679 he went to Paris, where he studied under the Rococo painter Jean-Francois de Troy. In 1681 he moved to England, where he settled and married. His portraits include those of Queen Anne in

Pacific Islands, Soils

2005-02-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

Pacific island soils develop through the action of temperature, rainfall, and organic matter on the original rock materials. This process is further influenced by factors of time and land relief. Coral island soils are the least mature and are deficient in organic materials and low in fertility. The mineral-bearing soils of the continental islands are more complex

Margam

2005-02-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Locality, Neath Port Talbot county borough, historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg), Wales. Situated inland of the sandy Margam Burrows at the base of the peaks Mynydd Margam and Moel Ton-mawr, the community of Margam developed around a Cistercian abbey founded by Robert, earl of Gloucester, in 1147. Margam Abbey was a prominent cultural and educational centre until its

Balkhash, Lake

2005-02-20T02:47:00.000-08:00

Kazak Balqash lake, situated in east-central Kazakstan. The lake lies in the vast Balqash-Alaköl basin at 1,122 feet (342 m) above sea level and is situated 600 miles (966 km) east of the Aral Sea. It is 376 miles (605 km) long from west to east. Its area varies within significant limits, depending on the water balance. In years in which there is an abundance of water (as at the beginning of the 20th century and in the decade

Binding Energy

2005-02-19T23:43:00.000-08:00

Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to separate an atomic nucleus

Mughal Carpet

2005-02-19T01:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mogul, any of the handwoven floor coverings made in India in the 16th and 17th centuries for the Mughal emperors and their courts. Aside from patterns in the Persian manner, a series of distinctively Indian designs were developed, including scenic and landscape carpets; animal carpets with spirited chases backward and forward across the field; elaborate architectural latticeworks

Gobi

2005-02-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Gobi Desert, great desert and semidesert region of Central Asia. The Gobi (from Mongolian gobi, meaning “waterless place”) stretches across huge portions of both Mongolia and China. Contrary to the perhaps romantic image long associated with what—at least to the European mind—was a remote and unexplored region, much of the Gobi is not sandy desert but bare rock. It is possible to drive

Housefly

2005-02-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

(Musca domestica), a common insect of the family Muscidae (order Diptera). About 90 percent of all flies occurring in human habitations are houseflies. Once a major nuisance and hazard to public health in cities, houseflies are still a problem wherever decomposing organic waste and garbage are allowed to accumulate. The adult housefly is dull gray with

Antarctica, Other resources

2005-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

A rich imagination can see many possible uses of Antarctica and its materials. The continental ice sheet contains nearly 90 percent of the world's glacial ice—a huge potential supply of fresh water—but any economic value is precluded by delivery costs. Antarctica has been proposed as a long-term deep-freeze storage site for grain and other foods, but calculations show

Eight Masters Of Nanjing

2005-02-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Jinling Bajia , Wade-Giles romanization Chin-ling Pa-chia group of Chinese artists who lived and worked during the late 17th century in Nanjing (known as Jinling during the early Tang dynasty, c. 7th century). Although their group identity derives largely from the locale in which they worked, certain aesthetic similarities are discernible: their paintings, usually landscapes, are often uneven in quality and

Evolution, Selection against one of the homozygotes

2005-02-15T15:18:00.000-08:00

Suppose that one homozygous genotype, say A2A2, has lower fitness than the other two genotypes, A1A1 and A1A2. (This is the situation in many human diseases, such as phenylketonuria [PKU] and sickle-cell anemia. The heterozygotes and the homozygotes for the normal allele have equal fitness, higher than that of the homozygotes for the deleterious allele.) Call the fitness of these

La Follette, Robert M

2005-02-15T04:49:00.000-08:00

Resigning as governor in 1906, he was elected to the Senate at a time when that institution was widely believed to be a refuge for millionaires. La Follette acquired instant fame as a new type of senator, one who was not controlled by “the interests,” and in his first three years there La Follette achieved the passage of laws aimed against the freight rates, labour policies,

Rush

2005-02-15T00:53:00.000-08:00

Any of several flowering plants distinguished by cylindrical stalks or hollow, stemlike leaves. They are found in temperate regions and particularly in moist or shady locations. The rush family (Juncaceae) includes Juncus, the common rushes, and Luzula, the woodrushes. Common rushes are used in many parts of the world for weaving into chair bottoms,

Auction Bridge

2005-02-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

Card game that was the third step in the historical progression from whist to bridge whist to auction bridge to contract bridge. See bridge.

Discus Fish

2005-02-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Two species of the genus Symphysodon of fishes in the family Cichlidae (order Perciformes), characterized by a compressed, disk-shaped body. The two species (S. discus and S. aequifasciata) occur naturally in tributaries of the Amazon River in South America. Discus fish have an unusual form of parental care: the adults secrete a mucuslike substance onto their skin that

Setting

2005-02-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

The makeup and behaviour of fictional characters often depend on their environment quite as much as on their personal characteristics. Setting is of great importance in Émile Zola's novels, for example, because he believed that environment determines character. In some cases

Sculpture, Western, Early Cycladic

2005-02-13T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Early Cycladic period is celebrated principally

Caledonian Orogenic Belt

2005-02-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

Range of mountains situated in northwestern Europe, developed as a result of the opening, closure, and destruction of the Iapetus Ocean in the period from the start of the Cambrian (540 million years ago) to the end of the Silurian (about 408 million years ago). The final collision was between a northwestern European and a North American–Greenland continent, and it gave rise

Penna, Sandro

2005-02-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

In 1925 Penna graduated from the Technical Institute of Perugia. After working as a clerk in a Milan bookstore, he moved to Rome

Bruegel, Pieter, The Elder

2005-02-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

Byname Peasant Bruegel, Dutch Pieter Bruegel De Oudere, or Boeren Bruegel, Bruegel also spelled Brueghel, or Breughel the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, whose landscapes and vigorous, often witty scenes of peasant life are particularly renowned (see photograph). Since Bruegel signed and dated many of his works, his artistic evolution can be traced from the early landscapes,

Italic Languages

2005-02-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

Certain Indo-European languages that were once spoken in the Apennine Peninsula (modern Italy) and in the eastern part of the Po valley. These include the Latin, Faliscan, Osco-Umbrian, South Picene, and Venetic languages, which have in common a considerable number of features that separate them from the other languages of the same area—e.g., from Greek and Etruscan. (In

Probolinggo

2005-02-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Prabalingga, or Perobolinggo, city, in kabupaten (regency), Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), Java, Indonesia, on the southern side of Madura Strait. There is a good harbour for small ships, and the fishing industry is important. Cottage industries include pottery and the manufacture of sarongs. The surrounding regency grows rice, corn (maize), sugar, rubber, coffee, and mangoes, the last renowned for their

Jícama

2005-02-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Yam Bean (species Pachyrhizus erosus, or P. tuberosus), leguminous vine native to Mexico and Central and South America, grown for its edible tuberous root. The plant's irregularly globular, brown-skinned tubers are white-fleshed, crisp, and juicy; some varieties (jícama de aqua) have clear juices, and some (jícama de leche) have milky juice. Both types of tubers are mild-flavoured and

Maui

2005-02-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

Volcanic island, Maui county, Hawaii, U.S., separated from Molokai (northwest) and Hawaii (southeast) islands by the Pailolo and Alenuihaha channels. With an area of 728 square miles (1,886 square km), the island is the second largest of the Hawaiian chain (after Hawaii Island). It takes its name from a Polynesian demigod and was created by two volcanoes, Puu Kukui and Haleakala, which

Great Dismal Swamp

2005-02-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Dismal Swamp marshy region on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, U.S., between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is densely forested and contains scattered natural elevations of 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 metres) above sea level. Along the western margin the Pamlico Formation (known as the Great Dismal Swamp Terrace) rises to 25 feet

Japanese Alps

2005-02-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

The ranges are a popular skiing and mountain-climbing area. The Hida Range is included within Chubu-Sangaku National Park, which stretches over Gifu, Toyama, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures and

Artificial Organ

2005-02-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Any machine, device, or other material that is used to replace the functions of a faulty or missing organ or other part of the human body. Artificial organs include the artificial heart and pacemaker (qq.v.), the use of dialysis (q.v.) to perform kidney functions, and the use of artificial substitutes for missing limbs (see prosthesis).

Addo Elephant National Park

2005-02-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

National park in Eastern province, South Africa. It has an area of 208 square miles (540 square km) and consists of two sections connected by a corridor. The southern part of the park lies in the Sundays River valley south of the Suurberg Range, north of Port Elizabeth, and was established as Addo Elephant National Park in 1931. It is largely covered with dense, impenetrable evergreen

Liquid

2005-02-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

In phonetics, a consonant sound in which the tongue produces a partial closure in the mouth, resulting in a resonant, vowel-like consonant, such as English l and r. Liquids may be either syllabic or nonsyllabic; i.e., they may sometimes, like vowels, act as the sound carrier in a syllable. The r in “father” or Czech krk “neck” and the l in “rattle” are syllabic; the r in “rim” and the l in “lock

Gull, Sir William Withey, 1st Baronet

2005-02-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Gull received his M.D. from the University of London in 1846 and became lecturer on physiology and anatomy and then physician, at Guy's, where he taught or served as consulting physician for the rest of his life. He

Plainview

2005-02-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1888) of Hale county, northwestern Texas, U.S. It lies on the Llano Estacado, a portion of the High Plains between Amarillo and Lubbock (40 miles [65 km] south). The site was surveyed in 1887 by Z.T. Maxwell and E.L. Lowe, who named it Plainview because of the unbroken view to the horizon. The settlement remained a trading post for cattlemen until the railroad arrived in 1907, when it was incorporated

Gennadius Of Novgorod

2005-02-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

Named archbishop in 1485 by the grand prince of Moscow Ivan III (1462–1505), Gennadius initiated a persecution of Christian Judaizers, a movement of zealots stressing the monotheistic element

Alcman

2005-02-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

Alcman's work survives in fragments, the longest being a parthenion (a choir song for girls) discovered in a 1st-century papyrus in Egypt in 1855. In the Suda lexicon (late 10th century AD) Alcman is described as a man “of an extremely amorous disposition and the inventor of love poems.” He was clearly

Agrínion

2005-02-04T03:52:00.000-08:00

Chief town of the nomós (department) of Aetolia and Acarnania, west-central Greece. It lies 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Lake Trikhonís, about midway between the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Patras. Formerly called Vrakhóri (an abbreviation of Evrekori, “Town of the Jews”), it has reverted to the name of an ancient Aetolian centre on the Achelous River that was just northwest of the

Welfare Economics

2005-02-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

Earlier writers conceived of welfare as simply the sum of the satisfactions accruing to all individuals within an economic system. Later theorists became