GoodVenus

Epic Formula

2005-04-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

Convention of language and theme peculiar to oral epic poetry that is often carried over to the written form. The most obvious epic formulas are the “fixed epithets,” stereotyped descriptive phrases that can be varied in different places in the poetic line to suit the demands of the metre. These stock expressions have the twofold function of lightening the oral poet's

Mitre Shell

2005-04-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Any of several marine snails constituting the family Mitridae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), in which the thick shell typically is bullet shaped, vaguely resembling a bishop's headdress, or mitre. Mitres are most common in the Indo-Pacific region, where one of the largest species occurs: the 10-centimetre (4-inch) episcopal mitre (Mitra mitra), which has

Francis I

2005-04-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

From

Bobbin Lace

2005-04-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

Also called pillow lace , or bone lace with needle lace, one of two main kinds of lace. Bobbin lace is made with a number of threads, each fastened to an elongated spool (bobbin). A pattern is drawn on parchment or paper, and holes are pricked to indicate where pins will be placed to keep the threads in position while the lace is being made. The parchment is placed on a pillow or cushion, and the threads, with the bobbins

Jacob Joseph Of Polonnoye

2005-04-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

Jacob Joseph was a rabbi in the large Jewish community at Shargorod, in Podolia; after he came under the influence of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, he was expelled (c. 1748) from Shargorod. He was subsequently rabbi of Rashkov, Nemirov, and ultimately Polonnoye, where he remained

Seabiscuit

2005-04-01T01:37:00.000-08:00

A light bay colt

Amendola, Giovanni

2005-03-30T05:38:00.000-08:00

As a young journalist, Amendola expressed his philosophical and ideological views in articles appearing first in La Voce (“The Voice”) and then in the newspapers Resto di Carlino and Corriere della sera. He urged Italy's entry into World War I in

Sarazen, Gene

2005-03-30T02:03:00.000-08:00

Born to impoverished Italian immigrants, Sarazen began caddying when he was eight.

Egypt, Railways

2005-03-30T00:26:00.000-08:00

Railways connect Cairo with Alexandria and with the Delta and canal towns and also run southward to Aswan and the High Dam. Branch lines connect Cairo with al-Fayyum and Alexandria with Matruh. A network of light railways connects the Fayyum area and the Delta villages with the main lines. Diesel-driven trains operate along the main lines; electric lines connect Cairo with

Libya, Relief

2005-03-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

The Al-Jifarah Plain

Bohr Atomic Model

2005-03-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Description of the structure of atoms, especially that of hydrogen, proposed (1913) by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Bohr model of the atom, a radical departure from earlier, classical descriptions, was the first that incorporated quantum theory and was the predecessor of wholly quantum-mechanical models. The Bohr model and all of its successors describe the properties

China, Foreign relations in the 1860s

2005-03-28T01:14:00.000-08:00

The Tsungli Yamen had two offices attached to it: the Inspectorate General of Customs and the Language School, called T'ung-wen-kuan. The former was the centre for the Maritime Custom Service, administered by Western personnel appointed by the Ch'ing. The latter was opened to train the children of bannermen in foreign languages, and later some Western sciences were

Wangaratta

2005-03-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

City, northern Victoria, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Ovens and King rivers, northeast of Melbourne. The site was first settled in 1837 by a sheepherder, George Faithfull, and was proclaimed a town in 1845. Its name is derived from an Aboriginal term meaning either “meeting of the rivers” or “home of the cormorants.” The city is a junction of the Hume and Ovens highways

Boise National Forest

2005-03-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

Large area of evergreen coniferous forest in southwestern Idaho, U.S., located north and east of Boise. Established in 1908, it has an area of about 4,080 square miles (10,570 square km). Portions of both Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness and Sawtooth Wilderness Area are located in the forest. Payette National Forest borders it on the north, and Challis and Sawtooth national forests

Aribau, Buenaventura Carles

2005-03-26T04:19:00.000-08:00

After working in Madrid at the banking establishment of Gaspar Remisa (1830–41), Aribau became the director of the treasury and financial secretary to the royal household. Animated by a deep patriotism,

Wrybill

2005-03-25T05:53:00.000-08:00

Also called Wrybill Plover (Anarhynchus frontalis), New Zealand bird of the plover family, Charadriidae (order Charadriiformes), with the bill curved about 20° to the right. This unique bill configuration is present even in the newly hatched chicks. The wrybill feeds by probing under stones and by sweeping its bill like a scythe in shallow, muddy water. It is about 15 cm (6 inches) long, gray above and white

Brico, Antonia

2005-03-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Brico moved from her native Netherlands to the United States with her parents in 1908 and settled in California. She graduated from high school in Oakland in 1919, by which time she had become

Waterford

2005-03-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

Irish Port Láirge city, port, and county borough of County Waterford, and the major town of southeastern Ireland. It is on the south bank of the River Suir, 4 miles (6 km) above the latter's junction with the Barrow at the head of Waterford Harbour. Waterford became a cathedral city in 1096. The 2nd Earl of Pembroke, known as Strongbow, captured the place in 1170; and Henry II landed there in 1171. Waterford received

Aranda

2005-03-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arunta, Aboriginal tribe that originally occupied a region of 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km) in central Australia, along the upper Finke River and its tributaries. The Aranda were divided into five subtribes, which were marked by differences in dialect. In common with other Aborigines, the Aranda were greatly reduced in number during the first 70 years of contact with whites, but

Cup Fungus

2005-03-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

Any member of the series Discomycetes, a large group of fungi (kingdom Fungi) in the class Ascomycetes and typically characterized by a disk- or cup-shaped structure (apothecium) bearing spore sacs (asci) on its surface. Some of the cup fungi are important plant pathogens, such as Monilinia (Sclerotinia), causing brown rot in peach and other stone fruits. Others are saprobes,

Asafetida

2005-03-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

Gum resin prized as a condiment in India and Iran, where it is used to flavour curries, meatballs, and pickles. It has been used in Europe and the United States in perfumes and for flavouring. Acrid in taste, it emits a strong onionlike odour because of its organic sulfur compounds. It is obtained chiefly from the plant Ferula foetida of the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae).

Soissons, Louis De Bourbon, Count (comte) De

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

The only son of Charles de Bourbon, he inherited his father's Soissons title in 1612. After taking the side of Marie de Médicis, the queen mother, in 1620, he served Louis XIII against the Huguenots in 1622. Later involved in intrigues against Cardinal

Hojo Masako

2005-03-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Masako fell in love with Yoritomo when he was exiled from the capital by his family's rivals, the Taira clan, and put under the watch of Masako's father.

Beam

2005-03-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

In engineering, originally a solid piece of timber, as a beam of a house, a plow, a loom, or a balance. In building construction, a beam is a horizontal member spanning an opening and carrying a load that may be a brick or stone wall above the opening, in which case the beam is often called a lintel (see post-and-lintel system). The load may be a floor or roof in a building, in which case

Sunfish

2005-03-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

Any of numerous species of North American freshwater fishes placed with the crappies and black basses in the family Centrarchidae (order Perciformes). The family contains about 30 species, all native to North America and all, with the exception of the Sacramento perch (Archoplites interruptus), native to waters east of the Rocky Mountains. Several species, such as the

Chatham

2005-03-19T02:45:00.000-08:00

Port, Medway unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. The port lies along the River Medway just above its confluence with the River Thames, on the southeastern periphery of Greater London. Chatham is continuous with the communities of Rochester (west) and Gillingham and New Brompton (east), known as the Medway towns, for which

Amide

2005-03-18T00:06:00.000-08:00

Any member of either of two classes of nitrogen-containing compounds related to ammonia and amines. The covalent amides are neutral or very weakly acidic substances formed by replacement of the hydroxyl group (OH) of an acid by an amino group (NR2, in which R may represent a hydrogen atom or an organic combining group such as methyl, CH3). The carboxamides (R¢CONR2), which are

Becket, Saint Thomas

2005-03-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

Thomas was born to Norman parents of the merchant class. He was educated first at Merton priory, then in a City of London school, and finally at Paris. Deeply influenced in childhood by a devout mother who died when he was 21, Thomas entered adult life as a city clerk and accountant in the service of the sheriffs. After three years he was introduced by his father to Archbishop

Antacid

2005-03-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

Numerous nonprescription liquid antacids reduce the gastric acidity of indigestion

Amatitlán, Lake

2005-03-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

Spanish Lago De Amatitlán, lake, south-central Guatemala, in the central highlands at 4,085 feet (1,248 m) above sea level. The volcanic lake, 130 feet (40 m) deep, is 7 miles (11 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide and has an area of about 6 square miles (15 square km). It is fed by the Villalobos River and drained by the Michatoya River. A popular tourist area, the lake and the town of Amatitlán, at the head of the Michatoya, are situated by highway

Gryphaea

2005-03-16T03:12:00.000-08:00

Extinct molluskan genus found as fossils in rocks from the Jurassic period to the Eocene epoch (between 208 million and 36.6 million years ago). Related to the oysters, Gryphaea is characterized by its distinctively convoluted shape. The left valve, or shell, was much larger and more convoluted than the flattish right valve. Fine markings extended across the shell

Alismatidae

2005-03-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

Subclass of flowering plants belonging to the class Lilopsida.

Stearic Acid

2005-03-15T06:28:00.000-08:00

In nature stearic acid

Bar

2005-03-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Port in Montenegro, Yugoslavia, on the Adriatic Sea. It is the principal port of the Yugoslav federation and the only maritime outlet for the landlocked republic of Serbia. The current city is known as Novi (“New”) Bar. Stari (“Old”) Bar's ruins lie farther inland at the base of Mount Rumija. Stari Bar was first mentioned in the 9th century, when it came under the control of the Byzantine

Performing Arts, France.

2005-03-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

World War II was recalled in several films. In Laissez-passer, his film à clef, Bertrand Tavernier re-created the atmosphere of filmmaking in occupied France. Gérard Jugnot directed and starred in the accomplished Monsieur Batignole, about a Gentile butcher who saves a Jewish boy from the Gestapo. The American documentarist Frederick Wiseman filmed Catherine

Savoy, House Of

2005-03-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

Italian Savoia, French Savoie, historic dynasty of Europe, the ruling house of Italy from 1861 to 1946. During the European Middle Ages the family acquired considerable territory in the western Alps where France, Italy, and Switzerland now converge. In the 15th century, the house was raised to ducal status within the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 18th century it attained the royal title (first of the kingdom of Sicily,

Dahl, Roald

2005-03-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1932, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted

Bradley, James

2005-03-12T17:44:00.000-08:00

Bradley was educated

Scorpius

2005-03-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

In astrology,

Korfball

2005-03-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

Game similar to netball and basketball, invented in 1901 by an Amsterdam schoolmaster, Nico Broekhuysen. It was first demonstrated in The Netherlands in 1902 and was played on an international level, primarily in Europe, by the 1970s. It was devised as a game for both sexes. A national association was formed in 1903, and the game spread to Belgium, Indonesia, Suriname, Germany, Spain, New Guinea,

North Germanic Languages, Vocabulary

2005-03-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

The everyday stock of Scandinavian words, including most of the high-frequency words, is Indo-European and Germanic in its core. Of the 200,000 or more entries in the large dictionaries of each language, the vast majority are either compounds and derivatives of the simpler words or else borrowings from other languages—mostly of a scientific and cultural nature. At the end

Facula

2005-03-10T03:35:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, bright granular structure on the Sun's surface that is slightly hotter or cooler than the surrounding photosphere. A sunspot always has an associated facula, though faculae may exist apart from such spots. Faculae are visible in ordinary white light near the Sun's limb (apparent edge), where the photospheric background is dimmer than near the centre

Theatre

2005-03-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

In November 1994, 87 playwrights, including Harold Pinter, Arnold Wesker, and Peter Shaffer, wrote a letter to the artistic directors of subsidized theatres demanding a quota system of new plays--two or three a year--on their main stages. The writers expressed the feeling that the nation's theatre was slipping into "irrelevance and decline" because of a lack of opportunity for

Resistor

2005-03-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

Electrical component that opposes the flow of either direct or alternating current, employed to protect, operate, or control the circuit. Voltages can be divided with the use of resistors, and in combination with other components resistors can be used to make electrical waves into shapes most suited for the electrical designer's requirements. Resistors can have

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

2005-03-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

A precocious musician who remained successful, C.P.E. Bach was his father's true successor and an important figure in his own right. In his autobiography he writes: “For composition and keyboard-playing, I have never had

Lattes, C.m.g.

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

Lattes studied at the University of São Paulo with Giuseppe Occhialini in the 1940s and accompanied him in 1946 to the

Binkis, Kazys

2005-03-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

From 1920 to 1923 Binkis studied literature and philosophy in Berlin, where he became acquainted with the newest trends in western European literature. The poems he wrote during his connection with the “Four Winds” movement,

Trier

2005-03-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), western Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. Trier is bordered by Luxembourg and Belgium to the west, North Rhine–Westphalia Land to the north, the Regierungsbezirk of Koblenz to the east, and Saarland Land to the south. The district forms a southern portion of the larger historical region of the Rhineland

Eureka Stockade

2005-03-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

The rebellion was the culmination of long-standing grievances on the part of the miners, or “diggers,” over exorbitant prospecting-license fees, brutal police procedures

Ireland

2005-03-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

The Irish economic boom that peaked in 1999–2000 finally petered out in 2002, which would be remembered as the year in which readjustments had to be made in light of new realities. Budget surpluses became a memory; spending for health and education was cut back; and infrastructure developments were scaled down or deferred. It became clear that in framing a budget for 2003, the government

Xingshu

2005-03-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization hsing-shu a semicursive Chinese script that developed out of the Han dynasty lishu script at the same time that the standard kaishu script was evolving (1st–3rd century AD). The characters of xingshu are not abbreviated or connected, but strokes within the characters are often run together. The best-known example of early surviving Chinese calligraphy, Lanting Xu (“Essay

Bhagirathi River

2005-03-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

River in West Bengal state, northeastern India, forming the western boundary of the Ganges (Ganga) Delta. A distributary of the Ganges, it leaves that river just northeast of Jangipur, flows south, and joins the Jalangi at Nabadwip to form the Hooghly River after a total course of 120 miles (190 km). Until the 16th century, when the Ganges shifted eastward to the Padma, the Bhagirathi formed

Camargue

2005-03-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Delta region in Bouches-du-Rhône département, southern France. The region lies between the Grand and Petit channels of the Rhône River and has an area of 300 square miles (780 square km). In the northern part of the delta, the alluvium has emerged as dry land; in the south, the highest ground is along the embankments of present and former watercourses; in the intervening basins

Aureate

2005-03-04T00:10:00.000-08:00

A writing style that is affected, pompous, and heavily ornamental, that uses rhetorical flourishes excessively, and that often employs interlarded foreign words and phrases. The style is usually associated with the 15th-century French, English, and Scottish writers. The word is from the Middle English aureat, “golden” or “splendid,” and was probably coined on the basis

Fu

2005-03-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization fu type of Chinese bronze vessel used as a food container, it was produced largely from the middle Zhou period (c. 900–c. 600 BC) through the Warring States period (475–221 BC). Rectangular in shape and divided into two parts, the vessel was supported by angular feet at each corner; the lid was almost a duplicate of the bottom (in principle much like the dui). In ancient documents the vessel was also

Technicolor

2005-03-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

(trademark), motion-picture process using dye-transfer techniques to produce a colour print. The Technicolor process, perfected in 1932, originally used a beam-splitting optical cube, in combination with the camera lens, to expose three black-and-white films. The light beam was split into three parts as it entered the camera, one beam favouring the red portion of the spectrum,

Rabelais, François

2005-03-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

Rabelais's purpose in the four books of his masterpiece was to entertain the cultivated reader at the expense of the follies and exaggerations of his times. If he points lessons, it is because his life has taught him something about the evils of comatose monasticism, the trickery of lawyers, the pigheaded persistence of litigants, and the ignorance of grasping physicians.

Frederick Iii

2005-03-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

King of Prussia and German emperor for 99 days in 1888, during which time he was a voiceless invalid, dying of throat cancer. Although influenced by liberal, constitutional, and middle-class ideas, he retained a

Pierre

2005-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Capital of South Dakota, U.S., seat (1880) of Hughes county, on the Missouri River, in the geographic centre of the state. Before 1800 the capital of the Arikara Indian nation was located on its site. Founded in June 1880 as the western terminus of the Chicago and North Western Railway, it was first known as Mahto (Sioux: “Bear”) but was renamed in December 1880 for Pierre Chouteau, a French fur trader.

Szymborska, Wislawa

2005-03-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

Szymborska's father was the steward on a count's family estate. When she was eight, the family moved to Kraków, and she attended high school there. Between 1945 and 1948 she studied literature and sociology

Environmental Works, Groundwater sources

2005-03-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

The value of an aquifer as a source of groundwater is a function of the porosity of the geologic stratum, or layer, of which it is formed. Water is withdrawn from an aquifer by pumping it out of a well or infiltration gallery. An infiltration gallery typically includes several horizontal perforated pipes radiating outward from the bottom of a large-diameter vertical

Postmodern Literature In Latin America

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

Latin- American literature blossomed and received international acclaim in the 1960s and 1970s with the so-called boom in the novel, a movement signaled by the publication of major works by the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, the Mexican Carlos Fuentes, the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa, the Argentine Julio Cortázar, and the Chilean José Donoso. (More recently, the Chilean

Encephalitis

2005-02-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Plural encephalitides inflammation of the brain, from Greek enkephalos (“brain”) and itis (“inflammation”). Inflammation affecting the brain may also involve adjoining structures; encephalomyelitis is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and meningoencephalitis is inflammation of the brain and meninges (the membranes covering the brain). Encephalitis is most often caused by an infectious

Trujillo

2005-02-27T05:21:00.000-08:00

The second oldest Spanish city in Peru, Trujillo was founded in 1534 by Diego Almagro; the following year it was elevated to city status by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it after his birthplace in Spain. It sustained heavy damage from

All-america Team

2005-02-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

The first All-America team comprised football players, picked by Caspar

Port Hawkesbury

2005-02-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

Town, Inverness county, northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies along the Strait of Canso, at the southern end of Cape Breton Island, 36 miles (58 km) east of Antigonish. Originally called Ship Harbour, the town was renamed in 1860, possibly for Charles Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury (1729–1808). It was a transportation hub, serving as the island terminus for the rail and highway ferries to the

Wüthrich, Kurt

2005-02-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

After receiving a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Basel in 1964, Wüthrich took his postdoctoral training in Switzerland and the United

Hydroponics

2005-02-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

Plants have long been grown with their roots immersed in solutions of water and fertilizer for scientific studies of their nutrition. Early commercial hydroponics (from Greek hydro, “water,” and ponos, “labour”) adopted this method of

Highland Games

2005-02-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

Originally, athletic meetings carried out in the Scottish Highlands. The name now denotes similar athletic competitions in any part of the world, usually conducted under the auspices of a local Caledonian society and held according to what are believed to be traditional customs. The games originated in impromptu competitions at clan assemblies summoned by

Mithraism

2005-02-24T05:35:00.000-08:00

The worship of Mithra, the Iranian god of the sun, justice, contract, and war in pre-Zoroastrian Iran. Known as Mithras in the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, this deity was honoured as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. After the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine in the early 4th century, Mithraism rapidly declined.

Argentina, Government

2005-02-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

Argentina is a federal union of 23 provincias and a federal capital district, the city of Buenos Aires. Federalism came to Argentina only after a long struggle between proponents of a central government and supporters of provincial interests. The constitution of 1853 was modeled on that of the United States. The constitution promulgated in 1994 provided for consecutive

Clover

2005-02-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

Any member of the genus Trifolium, of the pea family (Fabaceae), comprising 300 or more annual and perennial species, occurring in most temperate and subtropical regions (except Southeast Asia and Australia). The alternate leaves are compound, usually with three toothed leaflets. The very small, fragrant flowers are crowded into dense heads, or spikes. The small,

Gmunden

2005-02-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Town, Oberösterreich Bundesland (“federal state”), north-central Austria, where the Traun River flows out of the Traunsee, a mountain lake. The site of Celtic and Roman settlements, Gmunden was fortified in the 12th century and chartered in the 13th. Its Baroque parish church on 13th-century foundations was consecrated in 1723, and the town hall dates from 1659. Once an important centre

Christian Catholic Church

2005-02-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

Conservative American Christian sect founded in Chicago in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie. A Congregational minister from Australia, Dowie became interested in faith healing and established a tabernacle and “healing rooms” in Chicago, where he attracted a large following. With many of his followers Dowie established an exclusive Christian community in nearby Zion

Arron, Henck

2005-02-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

Arron worked in banks in The Netherlands and Dutch Guiana before entering politics in 1963. He was elected to the Staten (Suriname legislature) that

Quintero, José

2005-02-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

In full José Benjamin Quintero theatrical director and founder of Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City's Greenwich Village, the theatre whose productions sparked the growth of off Broadway into a nationally important theatre movement. Quintero's stagings of the plays of Eugene O'Neill brought about a worldwide rebirth of interest

Kamehameha V

2005-02-21T00:47:00.000-08:00

Succeeding to the throne on the death of his younger brother, Kamehameha IV, he immediately revealed his intention to rule with a strong hand, refusing at his inauguration to take the oath to maintain the existing, comparatively liberal constitution. After calling and dismissing a constitutional

Ramenskoye

2005-02-20T19:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ramenskoje , or Ramenskoe city and centre of a rayon (sector), Moscow oblast (province), western Russia. It lies southeast of the city of Moscow. In the 1820s Ramenskoye became the site of one of Russia's first cotton factories and soon developed as an industrial village. Incorporated in 1926, the city is now a textile and engineering centre as well as a residential suburb of Moscow. It has a medical school and

Dance Notation

2005-02-19T21:39:00.000-08:00

The written recording of dance movements. The earliest surviving attempt at dance notation was in the form of letter-symbols found in the municipal archives of Cervera, Spain, from the last half of the 15th century. Also during this period, word abbreviations were found as dance notations in two documents from the library of Margaret of Austria—Livre des basses

Argentina, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego

2005-02-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

Patagonia contains zones of deciduous Andean forests and, east of the Andes, of steppe and desert. The largest area—the steppe region—lies in northern Patagonia between the Colorado River and the port city of Comodoro Rivadavia. This zone represents an extension southward of the monte, which gives way gradually to a xerophytic shrub region without trees except

Böhme, Jakob

2005-02-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

German philosophical mystic who had a profound influence on such later intellectual movements as idealism and Romanticism. Erklärung über das erste Buch Mosis, better known as Mysterium Magnum (1623; The Great Mystery), is his synthesis of Renaissance nature mysticism and biblical doctrine. His Von der

Ilos

2005-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the founder of Ilion (Troy). Ilos (or Zacynthus, a Cretan name) has been identified either as the brother of Erichthonius or as the son of Tros and grandson of Erichthonius. According to legend, the King of Phrygia gave Ilos a spotted cow as a wrestling prize, with the advice that he found a city wherever the cow first lay down. The animal chose the hill of

Colchicine

2005-02-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Drug used in the treatment of gout, a disease that is characterized by severe inflammation in one or more of the joints of the extremities. Colchicine is obtained from the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale). The mechanism by which colchicine relieves the pain of gout, which is caused by solid deposits of uric acid in the joints, the kidneys, and other tissues, is unknown.

Pluton

2005-02-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

Body of intrusive igneous rock the size, composition, shape, or exact type of which is in doubt; when such characteristics are known, more limiting terms can be used. Thus, plutons include dikes, laccoliths, batholiths, sills, and other forms of intrusions. Most plutons are thought to be the result of igneous activity in which a magma is involved; the controversial origin

Aqueduct

2005-02-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

Although

Biblical Literature, The New Testament Apocryphal writings

2005-02-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

This section will classify these documents in relation to their literary forms: gospels, acts, letters, and apocalypses.

Quinte, Bay Of

2005-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

Arm of Lake Ontario, southeastern Ontario, Canada, extending for 75 miles (121 km) from its entrance near Amherst Island to Murray Canal at the western end. It is a narrow bay, ranging from one to six miles in width. The bay is scenic, having many small inlets; and it receives several rivers from the north, including the Trent, Moira, Salmon, and Napanee. The head of the bay connects with

Moss

2005-02-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

(class Bryopsida, or Musci), any of at least 10,000 species of small, spore-bearing land plants (division Bryophyta) distributed throughout the world except in salt water. Valvate mosses constitute the subclass Andreaeidae, and peat mosses compose the subclass Sphagnidae. The large subclass Bryidae constitutes most species of mosses, but the subclass Polytrichidae

Schäuffelein, Hans Leonhard

2005-02-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

In 1509 Schäuffelein worked in the Tirol and later in Bavaria. There he painted the altarpiece for the Benedictine abbey

Perelman, S.j.

2005-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

Perelman attended but did not graduate from Brown University, where he edited the school humour magazine. He began writing for the early, frenetic Marx Brothers films and helped turn out the screenplays for such classics as Monkey Business (1931) and Horse

Conegliano

2005-02-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

Town, Treviso provincia, Veneto regione, northeastern Italy, near the Piave River, just north of the city of Treviso. It is dominated by a castle with a museum and a cathedral (1352), which has a bell tower (1497) and a fine altarpiece (1493) by the painter Cima da Conegliano, a native of the town. There is modern construction along the old perimeter of the town. Noted for its wines, Conegliano

Baranauskas, Antanas

2005-02-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Roman Catholic bishop and poet who wrote one of the greatest works in Lithuanian literature, Anykyšciu šilelis (1858–59; The Forest of Anykšciai). The 342-line poem, written in East High Lithuanian dialect, describes the former beauty of a pine grove near his village and its despoliation under the Russians (“Hills with tree-stumps, bare

Grafton, Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke Of

2005-02-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

Grandson of the 2nd duke, Charles Fitzroy (1683–1757), and great-grandson of the 1st, he was educated at Westminster School and Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was secretary of state in 1765 under the Marquess of Rockingham but retired the following year. William

Industrial Bank Of Japan

2005-02-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

Japanese Nippon Kogyo Ginko former Japanese commercial bank that operated a general-banking and foreign-exchange business with branches in Japan and overseas. Established in 1902, the bank had specialized in medium- and long-term financing of industrial development, and both its main office and its foreign branches were active in the foreign-exchange markets. In September 2000, Industrial Bank of

Rocket And Missile System

2005-02-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

Strategic missiles represent a logical step in the attempt to attack enemy forces at a distance. As such, they can be seen as extensions of either artillery (in the case of ballistic missiles) or manned aircraft (in the case of cruise missiles). Ballistic missiles are rocket-propelled weapons that travel by momentum in a high, arcing trajectory after they have been launched

Forché, Carolyn

2005-02-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

Forché was educated at Michigan State (B.A., 1972) and Bowling Green State (M.F.A., 1975) universities. Thereafter she taught at a number of colleges and universities. Her first collection

Sørlandet

2005-02-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Geographical region, southern Norway. Occupying some 6,368 square miles (16,493 square km), it embraces the fylker (counties) of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. Its base runs along the southern coast of Norway, and it extends inland to the Bykle Hills. Like most of Norway, Sørlandet has a strip of lowland along its coast that quickly rises into interior mountains and plateaus. These highlands

Locofoco Party

2005-02-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

In U.S. history, radical wing of the Democratic Party, organized in New York City in 1835. Made up primarily of workingmen and reformers, the Locofocos were opposed to state banks, monopolies, paper money, tariffs, and generally any financial policies that seemed to them antidemocratic and conducive to special privilege. The Locofocos received their name (which was later

Palau

2005-02-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

A republic in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, Palau comprises a 640-km (400-mi)-long chain of some 340 volcanic and coralline islands. The main islands of Babelthuap and Koror are situated about 900 km east of the Philippines. Area: 488 sq km (188 sq mi). Pop. (1995 est.): 16,900. Provisional cap.: Koror, on Koror; a site on Babelthuap was designated to be the eventual permanent capital. Monetary unit:

Tectonic Basins And Rift Valleys

2005-02-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

Landforms characterized by relatively steep, mountainous sides and flat floors. The steep sides are created by displacement on faults such that the valley floor moves down relative to the surrounding margins, or, conversely, the margins move up relative to the floor. Differences in the elevations of valley floors and surrounding mountains or plateaus range from