SecondMouth

Spallanzani, Lazzaro

2005-04-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Spallanzani was the son of a distinguished

Economic Affairs

2005-04-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Amid a global financial crisis and intense efforts to prepare for the introduction of the European Union common currency (the euro) and the computer problem caused by the year 2000 date change, industrywide consolidation both within and across national borders continued to reshape the financial services landscape in 1998. At the same time, 1998 was marked by ongoing efforts

Babel, Isaak Emmanuilovich

2005-04-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

Born into a Jewish family, Babel grew up in an atmosphere of persecution that is reflected in the sensitivity,

Feng Tao

2005-04-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Feng Dao Chinese Confucian minister generally given credit for instigating the first printing of the Confucian Classics, in 932. As a result, Confucian texts became cheap and accessible, the number of scholars and the knowledge of literature greatly increased throughout the nation, and the number of people able to compete in the

Turkic Languages

2005-04-02T02:07:00.000-08:00

Group of closely related languages that form a subfamily of the Altaic languages. The Turkic languages show close similarities to each other in phonology, morphology, and syntax, though Chuvash, Khalaj, and Sakha differ considerably from the rest. The earliest linguistic records are Old Turkic inscriptions, found near the Orhon River in Mongolia and the Yenisey

Mysticism, Union of opposites

2005-04-01T05:16:00.000-08:00

Mystical experience is flanked with a communication hazard, a “polar identity.” The linguistic liberties and extravagances are part of the logical impossibility of having to describe one order of experience in terms of another. Hence, the rhetoric of mysticism is largely one of symbols and paradoxes. The most striking of the strategies, as the medieval Christian

Bulgaris, Eugenius

2005-03-31T21:44:00.000-08:00

Having studied philosophy and theology at the University of Padua, Italy, a centre of Greek culture, Bulgaris

Tennessee, Agriculture, mining, and energy

2005-03-30T18:55:00.000-08:00

The main crops are soybeans, tobacco, cotton, corn, and small grains, but livestock nearly equals crops in terms of cash receipts. The leading products in forestry are from oak, hickory, poplar, elm, pine, and cedar. Coal is the major mineral resource, followed by stone, zinc, phosphate rock, copper, and marble. Long known for Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams and nuclear research

Gwyn, Nell

2005-03-30T03:15:00.000-08:00

Her father, according to tradition, died in a debtors' prison at Oxford during

Scandinavian Literature, The modern Swedish novel

2005-03-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

The development of the novel was associated with Gustaf Hellström, Ludvig Nordström, Elin Wägner, and Sigfrid Siwertz. Hellström's work as a journalist in Europe, the United States, and England greatly influenced him. Irony and careful detail emerged in his best known novel, Snörmakare Lekholm får en idé (1927; Lacemaker Lekholm Has an Idea). Siwertz was a more elegant stylist,

Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate Of Antioch

2005-03-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

In the 5th and 6th centuries a large body of Christians in Syria repudiated the patriarchs of Antioch who had supported the Council of Chalcedon (451) in affirming the dual nature of Christ. Like many Copts, Ethiopians, and Armenians,

Allentown

2005-03-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1812) of Lehigh county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S. Situated on the Lehigh River, Allentown, with Bethlehem and Easton, forms an industrial complex. William Allen, mayor of Philadelphia and later chief justice of Pennsylvania, laid out the town (1762), naming it Northampton. It was incorporated as the borough of Northampton in 1811 and was later (1838) officially renamed Allentown

Calcutta, University Of

2005-03-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

State-controlled institution of higher learning founded by the British in India in 1857. Modeled on the University of London, Calcutta was originally a purely affiliating university that offered no actual instruction but was the examining and degree-granting authority for colleges scattered over most of northern India. Since 1904 it has gradually added teaching to

Kara-bogaz-gol Gulf

2005-03-26T05:45:00.000-08:00

Russian Zaliv Kara-Bogaz-Gol , Turkmen Garabogazköl Aylagy inlet of the eastern Caspian Sea in northwestern Turkmenistan. With an area of 4,600–5,000 square miles (12,000–13,000 square km), it averages only 33 feet (10 m) in depth and has a very high evaporation rate. The water is thus extremely saline, and 7,000–11,000 cubic feet (200–300 cubic m) of water a second are drawn in from the Caspian through the narrow strait between the two sandy spits separating the gulf from the sea. The

Daguerreotype

2005-03-26T02:23:00.000-08:00

First successful form of photography, named for Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of France, who invented the technique in collaboration with Joseph-Nicéphore Niepce in the 1830s. Daguerre and Niepce found that if a copper plate coated with silver iodide was exposed to light in a camera, then fumed with mercury vapour and fixed (made permanent) by a solution of common salt,

Aulis

2005-03-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek town in Boeotia, separated from Chalcis (on the island of Euboea) three miles to the north by the Euboean Channel. Aulis was traditionally held to be the port from which the Greek fleet set off to the siege of Troy and the scene of the related sacrifice of Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae.

Qiblah

2005-03-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Also spelled qibla or kiblah the direction of the sacred shrine of the Ka'bah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad's emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the qiblah, probably influenced by Jewish tradition. When Jewish-Muslim relations no longer seemed promising,

Sinkiang, Uygur Autonomous Region Of, Cultural life

2005-03-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

The indigenous peoples of Sinkiang exhibit their own cultures. The dominant Uighur are sedentary farmers whose social organization is centred upon the village. Many of the important Uighur cultural forms are rooted in Islam. Spoken Uighur predominates despite the popularization of Chinese. Islam itself has revived since the antireligious onslaught of the Cultural

Social Protection, Asylum and Refugees.

2005-03-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

The distinction between voluntary and forced migration was sometimes difficult to discern. With the number of people on the move far outstripping the capacity of existing legal channels for migration—despite a ready market for labour—people who were not in need of protection sometimes used the asylum system. Although the public perception that governments

Paraldehyde

2005-03-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

Also called paracetaldehyde colourless liquid of disagreeable taste and pungent odour used in medicine as a sedative–hypnotic drug and in chemistry in the manufacture of organic chemicals. When administered as a medicine, it is largely excreted by the lungs and gives an unpleasant odour to the breath. It is most useful for recalcitrant cases and is an older drug for treatment of acute alcoholic

Australia

2005-03-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

The Australian mainland extends from west to east for nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 km) and

Aerospace Industry, Helicopters

2005-03-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

Helicopters occupy important niches in both military and civil aviation. Military models are of two kinds—combat and transport. Combat helicopters are designed by manufacturers specifically for that military purpose, whereas helicopters for transportation frequently exist in both civil and military variants. Short-distance personnel transportation,

Phek

2005-03-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Nagaland state, northeastern India, 75 miles (121 km) east of Kohima town. It is a rural town whose inhabitants practice shifting cultivation. Weaving is the important cottage industry. The people of the region belong to different ethnic groups of Mongolian descent; they are referred to as Kirats in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. Pop. (1981) 13,609.

Uganda, Martyrs Of

2005-03-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

The first Roman Catholic missions to Bantu-speaking Africa were established

Oak Park

2005-03-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

Village, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a western suburb of Chicago. Settled in 1833 by Joseph Kettlestrings, who operated a sawmill on the east bank of the Des Plaines River, it was originally called Oak Ridge and served as a stopping place for farmers taking their produce into Chicago. In 1871, after the Chicago fire, the population grew rapidly. The village, primarily

Cordeiro Da Matta, Joaquim Dias

2005-03-19T00:09:00.000-08:00

Writing in Portuguese, Cordeiro da Matta, by profession a trader in wood, was

Teacher Education

2005-03-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

While arrangements of one kind or another for the education of the young have existed at all times and in all societies, it is only recently that schools have emerged as distinctive institutions for this purpose on a mass scale, and

Seacole, Mary

2005-03-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

Her father was a Scottish soldier and her mother a free black Jamaican woman who was skilled in traditional medicine and provided care for invalids at her boardinghouse. In 1836 Grant married Edwin Horatio Seacole, and, during their trips to

Nervous System Disease, Vestibulocochlear nerve

2005-03-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

When both divisions of the vestibulocochlear nerve are affected by disease, symptoms may include ringing in the ear (tinnitus), a sensation of spinning (vertigo), and other symptoms such as deafness. Deafness, if not caused by middle-ear disease, suggests damage to the cochlear portion of the nerve. Compression of the nerve at the cerebellopontine angle by a tumour, an

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Galatians

2005-03-17T02:49:00.000-08:00

Paul's Letter to the Galatians is a forceful and passionate letter dealing with a very specific question: the relation of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in the church, the problem of justification through faith not works of the Law, and freedom in Christ. Paul probably wrote from Ephesus c. 53–54 to a church he had founded in the territory of Galatia in Asia

Satcher, David

2005-03-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 12, 1998, David Satcher was sworn in as the 16th surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service; his confirmation by a wide margin (65-35) in the U.S. Senate two days previously ensured that the post would be filled for the first time in four years. Although some Republican senators attempted to derail voting by citing Satcher's refusal to support legislation against late-term

Aelle

2005-03-16T02:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aella, or Aelli first king of Deira in northern England, whose people threw off the Bernician overlordship upon the death of Ida, king of Bernicia. Aelle became king in 559, while Ida's descendants continued to reign in the northern kingdom. On Aelle's death the Bernician king Aethelric again subdued Deira, but Aelle's son Edwin (q.v.) would return to rule as the most powerful English ruler

Uzaemon Xvii, Ichimura

2005-03-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

Japanese actor (b. 1916, Tokyo, Japan—d. July 8, 2001, Tokyo), was one of the greatest tachiyaku (male-role) actors in Japan's traditional kabuki theatre. Ichimura was the nephew of Kikugoro Onoe VI, one of the foremost interpreters of kabuki plays. After debuting at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo at the age of five, Ichimura went on to star in numerous dramas, one of the most memorable of which

Biblical Literature, The chronology of Paul

2005-03-14T23:03:00.000-08:00

For the chronology of Paul's ministry, there are also some extra-biblical data: According to Josephus, Herod Agrippa I was made ruler of all Palestine by the emperor Claudius in AD 41 and reigned for three years. His death was thus in AD 44. A famine in Claudius' reign took place when Tiberius Alexander was procurator of Judaea (c. 46–48), and Egyptian papyri suggest (by reference to high wheat

Anathema

2005-03-14T02:15:00.000-08:00

(from Greek anatithenai: “to set up,” or “to dedicate”), in the Old Testament, a creature or object set apart for sacrificial offering. Its return to profane use was strictly banned, and such objects, destined for destruction, thus became effectively accursed as well as consecrated. Old Testament descriptions of religious wars call both the enemy and their besieged city

Skara

2005-03-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

Town, Västra Götaland län (county), south-central Sweden, southeast of Lake Vänern. One of Sweden's oldest towns, it was a religious centre both before and after the arrival of Christianity. In 1015 it became the seat of Sweden's first bishop. The cathedral was built in the 12th century and has been restored several times. One of Sweden's earliest secondary schools was established

Westminster Abbey

2005-03-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

London church that is the site of coronations and other ceremonies of national significance. It stands just west of the Houses of Parliament in the Greater London borough of Westminster. Situated on the grounds of a former Benedictine monastery, it was refounded as the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster by Queen Elizabeth I in 1560. Legend relates that Saberht

Graves, Robert (von Ranke)

2005-03-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

English poet, novelist, critic, and classical scholar who carried on many of the formal traditions of English verse in a period of experimentation. His more than 120 books also include a notable historical novel, I, Claudius (1934); an autobiographical classic of World War I, Good-Bye to All That (1929; rev. ed. 1957); and erudite, controversial studies in

Elf Owl

2005-03-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

(Micrathene whitneyi), tiny bird of prey of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes) of Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is the smallest owl and is about the size of a sparrow. In the cactus deserts, elf owls are among the most common birds, but they also inhabit forested areas, dry grasslands, and wet savanna. They nest in holes in cacti

Dubois, Eugène

2005-03-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

Appointed lecturer in anatomy at the University of Amsterdam (1886), Dubois investigated the comparative anatomy of the larynx in vertebrates but became increasingly interested in human evolution. In 1887 he went to the East Indies

Grunt

2005-03-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Any of about 75 species of marine fishes of the families Pomadasyidae and Banjosidae (order Perciformes). Grunts are found along shores in warm and tropical waters of the major oceans. They are snapperlike but with weaker teeth and are named for the piglike grunts they can produce with their pharyngeal (throat) teeth. Some (genus Haemulon) are further

Waterfall

2005-03-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

Area where flowing river water drops abruptly and nearly vertically (see video). Waterfalls represent major interruptions in river flow. Under most circumstances rivers tend to smooth out irregularities in their flow by processes of erosion and deposition. In time, the long profile of a river (the graph of its gradient) takes the form of a smooth curve, steepest toward

Mammal

2005-03-09T02:56:00.000-08:00

The evolution of the Mammalia has produced tremendous diversity in form and habits. Living kinds range in size from a bat weighing less than a gram and tiny shrews that weigh but a few grams, to the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which reaches a length of more than 30 meters (100 feet) and a weight of 136,000 kilograms (150 tons). Every major habitat has been invaded by mammals

Molé, Louis-mathieu, Comte (count)

2005-03-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

The young Molé left France during the Revolution but returned in 1796. He gained Napoleon's approval after his publication of Essais de morale et de politique (1806), a justification of monarchical government; Napoleon made him auditor to the Council

Cariban Languages

2005-03-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

A group of South American Indian languages that were spoken before the Spanish conquest from what is now the Greater Antilles to the central Mato Grosso in Brazil; most of the languages, however, were spoken north of the Amazon River in what is now northern Brazil, the inland areas of the Guianas and Venezuela, and lowland Colombia. West Indian Cariban is extinct, and

Schadow, Gottfried

2005-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Schadow was trained under the court sculptor Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert and in Rome (1785–87), where he studied under Antonio Canova. In 1788 he succeeded Tassaert as director of the Prussian royal school of sculpture in Berlin. His first monumental work

All's Well That Ends Well

2005-03-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

The play concerns the efforts of Helena, daughter of a renowned physician, to make Bertram, the count of Rossillion, her husband. When Bertram is

Sophocles

2005-03-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

With Aeschylus and Euripides, one of classical Athens' three great tragic playwrights. The best known of his 123 dramas is Oedipus the King.

Museums, History Of, The spread of the European model

2005-03-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Before the end of the 18th century the phenomenon of the museum had spread to other parts of the world. In 1773 in the United States the Charleston Library Society of South Carolina announced its intention of forming a museum. Its purpose was to promote the better understanding of agriculture and herbal medicine in the area. Another early institution, the Peale Museum, was

Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints

2005-03-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

The largest denomination of the Mormon religion. See Mormon.

Saxifrage

2005-03-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

Also called rockfoil (genus Saxifraga) any of a genus of flowering plants, of the family Saxifragaceae, native in temperate, subarctic, and alpine areas. About 300 species have been identified. Many of them are valued as rock-garden subjects, and some are grown in garden borders. As a group they are notable for their small bright flowers and fine-textured foliage. Alpine species are the earliest to flower in

Churchill Falls

2005-03-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

Formerly Grand Falls, part of a series of cataracts and rapids on the Churchill River, southwest of Michikamau Lake in west Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. Lying 250 miles (400 km) from the river's mouth, the falls drop 245 feet (75 m), forming part of the river's 1,100-foot (335-metre) descent within a 16-mile (26-kilometre) stretch. The falls plunge into the McLean Canyon, which is bounded by sheer cliffs several hundred feet high.

Moscow Academic Art Theatre

2005-03-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

Also called (until 1939) Moscow Art Theatre, Russian Moscovsky Akademichesky Khudozhestvenny Teatr, or Moscovsky Khudozhestvenny Teatr, abbreviation Mkhat, outstanding Russian theatre of theatrical naturalism founded in 1898 by two teachers of dramatic art, Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (qq.v.). Its purpose was to establish a theatre of new art forms, with a fresh approach to its function. Sharing similar theatrical experience and interests, the cofounders met and it was agreed that Stanislavsky

Arts, Islamic, Early Islamic literature

2005-03-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

With the coming of Islam the attitude of the Arabs toward poetry seems to have changed. The new Muslims, despite their long-standing admiration for powerful language, often shunned poetry as reminiscent of pagan ideals now overthrown. For the Qur'an, in surah 26:225 ff., condemned the poets “who err in every valley, and say what they do not do. Only the perverse follow them!” The Qur'an,

Poxvirus

2005-03-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of viruses constituting the family Poxviridae, responsible for a wide range of pox diseases in human beings and other animals. Poxvirus was the cause in human beings of smallpox (q.v.), which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1977. (Chicken pox of human beings is caused by a herpesvirus; see herpes zoster.) The virus particle is somewhat brick-shaped, with the

Hoisin Sauce

2005-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

Commercially prepared, thick reddish-brown sauce used in Chinese cuisine both as an ingredient in cooking and as a table condiment. Made from soybeans, flour, sugar, water, spices, garlic, and chili, it is sweet and spicy. It is used in cooking shellfish and fatty meats such as pork and duck. As a condiment, hoisin sauce is eaten with shrimp, pork, and poultry and is invariably

Houston Ship Channel

2005-03-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Waterway that connects Houston, Texas, with the Gulf of Mexico, passing through the former Buffalo Bayou and Galveston Bay. The channel, which was opened in 1914 and later improved, is 50.5 mi (81.3 km) long, 36 ft (11 m) deep, and has a minimum width of 300 ft (90 m). It requires no locks.

Qatar, Trade and finance

2005-02-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

In the mid-1970s Japan supplanted Britain as Qatar's chief source of imports. The chief purchasers of Qatari exports are Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. Other major trading partners include the United States and the United Kingdom. Machinery and transport equipment make up the largest category of imports, and crude petroleum accounts for more than four-fifths of

Chaumette, Pierre-gaspard

2005-02-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

Chaumette went to sea as a cabin boy, studied botany, traveled widely in France, and then settled in Paris as a medical student by 1790. As an active

Producer Goods

2005-02-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

Also called intermediate goods in economics, goods manufactured and used in further manufacturing, processing, or resale. Producer goods either become part of the final product or lose their distinct identity in the manufacturing stream. The prices of producer goods are not included in the summation of a country's gross national product (GNP), because their inclusion would involve double counting

Udine

2005-02-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Udine provincia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia regione, northeastern Italy. It lies northwest of Trieste, near the border with Slovenia. Possibly the site of a Roman frontier station called Utina, the city was the seat of the Roman Catholic patriarchate of Aquileia from 1238 until 1751, when the patriarchate was dissolved and replaced by the archbishoprics of Udine

United States, The Jeffersonian Republicans in power

2005-02-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

By the start of Jefferson's second term in office, Europe was engulfed in the Napoleonic Wars. The United States remained neutral, but both Britain and France imposed various orders and decrees severely restricting American trade with Europe and confiscated American ships for violating the new rules. Britain also conducted impressment raids in which U.S. citizens were sometimes seized. Unable to agree to treaty terms with Britain, Jefferson tried to coerce both Britain and France into ceasing to violate “neutral rights” with a total embargo on American exports, enacted by Congress in 1807. The results were catastrophic for American commerce and produced bitter alienation in New England, where the embargo (written backward as “O grab me”) was held to be a Southern plot to destroy New England's wealth. In 1809, shortly after Madison was elected president, the embargo act was repealed.

Empoli

2005-02-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

Town, Firenze (Florence) provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, north-central Italy, on the lower Arno River. During the medieval Florentine wars, Empoli was the scene of the Ghibelline congress of 1260, where Farinata degli Uberti successfully opposed the destruction of defeated Florence, an episode referred to in Dante's Inferno. The painter Iacopo Chimenti da Empoli and

Bulb

2005-02-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

In botany, structure that is the resting stage of certain seed plants, particularly perennial monocotyledons. A bulb consists of a relatively large, usually globe-shaped, underground bud with membraneous or fleshy overlapping leaves arising from a short stem. An onion is a commonly known bulb. A bulb's fleshy leaves—which in some species are actually expanded

Yacht

2005-02-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

In England by 1881 most of the important yacht clubs had become members of the Yacht Racing Association (founded 1875; from 1952 called the Royal Yachting Association). The organization made rules governing regatta sailing and later took on duties as a representative body for all British yachting, including dealing with port, harbour, and other governmental authorities. In the

Sacra Rappresentazione

2005-02-25T08:03:00.000-08:00

(Italian: “holy performance”), in theatre, 15th-century Italian ecclesiastical drama similar to the mystery plays of France and England and the auto sacramental of Spain. Originating and flourishing in Florence, these religious dramas represented scenes from the Old and New Testaments, from pious legends, and from the lives of the saints. The plays were didactic, using

Annelid, Distinguishing taxonomic features

2005-02-24T21:59:00.000-08:00

Classification of free-living and sedentary polychaetes relies almost exclusively on external characters, such as the shape of the head, and on the number and nature of structures, such as appendages (including anal ones), parapodia, and setae, and on tube construction. Oligochaete classification relies largely on internal structures, especially the arrangement

Koraput

2005-02-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Most of the people of the surrounding area live in tribal communities and are engaged in agriculture, with rice, sugarcane, and oilseeds the biggest crops. The region also has rich mineral deposits, including

Thomas, Theodore

2005-02-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

A violin prodigy, Thomas moved with his family to New York City, where he was to become a shaping force in practically every aspect of the city's musical life. While in his

Durang, John

2005-02-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

The first U.S.-born professional dancer of note, who was best known for his hornpipe dance. In 1784, when Durang was 17 years old, he made his debut as a performer in Lewis Hallam's “lecture” and patriotic extravaganza. Plays and dances were banned by law at that time, and the euphemism lecture was used for such events. Thus began Durang's dance career, and although

Black Mass

2005-02-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

In the Roman Catholic church, a requiem mass during which the celebrant wears black vestments. The term is more commonly used, however, for a blasphemous and usually obscene burlesque of the true mass performed by satanic cults. The naked back of a woman often serves as an altar, and a validly consecrated host is generally used to intensify the mockery. The rite commonly

Alzon, Emmanuel D'

2005-02-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

D'Alzon studied in Paris, in Montpellier, and in Rome, where he was ordained (1834). He was named canon and vicar-general of Nîmes and retained this position until his death. In 1843 he acquired Assumption College in Nîmes, where he founded (1845) the congregation

Rove Beetle

2005-02-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

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

Sogetsu

2005-02-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

20th-century Japanese school of floral art that introduced the zen'ei (“avant-garde”) ikebana style in which freedom of expression is preeminent. Founded by Teshigahara Sofu in 1927, the school rose to prominence after World War II. It appeals to contemporary tastes by largely disregarding the classic formal rules; containers of any shape and material are used, and man-made materials

Bridge

2005-02-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

In electrical measurement, instrument for measuring electrical quantities. The first such instrument, invented by British mathematician Samuel Christie and popularized in 1843 by Sir Charles Wheatstone, measures resistance by comparing the current flowing through one part of the bridge with a known current flowing through another part. The Wheatstone

Christensen, Harold

2005-02-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Christensen studied dancing with the famous choreographer George Balanchine and appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet (1934), Ballet Caravan (1936–40), San Francisco Opera Ballet (1942), and San

Ruways, Ar-

2005-02-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ruweis, or Ru'ays, site of a giant industrial complex, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates. It lies along the Persian Gulf about 140 miles (220 km) west of Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Ar-Ruways has natural-gas-processing plants under the control of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Ar-Ruways has a small airport and is linked by road with Abu Dhabi city and Jabal az-Zannah.

Wahiawa

2005-02-19T03:29:00.000-08:00

City, Honolulu county, west-central Oahu Island, Hawaii, U.S. It is situated on the 1,000-foot- (300-metre-) high Leilehua Plateau between the two forks of the Kaukonahua Stream. Wahiawa (meaning “place of noise”) is a commercial centre for nearby plantation communities and military installations (Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Air Force Base). It is the site of company housing developments

Biblical Literature, Portuguese versions

2005-02-18T22:48:00.000-08:00

The first Portuguese New Testament (Amsterdam), the work of João Ferreira d'Almeida, did not appear until 1681. The first complete Bible (2 vol., 1748–53) was printed in Batavia (in Holland). Not until late in the 18th century did the first locally published vernacular Scriptures appear in Portugal. A revision of d'Almeida was issued in Rio de Janeiro (in Brazil), the New Testament in 1910 and the complete

Mammal, Populations

2005-02-18T19:21:00.000-08:00

A population consists of individuals of three “ecological ages”—prereproductive, reproductive, and postreproductive. The structure and dynamics of a population depend, among other things, on the relative lengths of these ages, the rate of recruitment of individuals (either by birth or by immigration), and the rate of emigration or death. The reproductive potential

Substitution

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

In Greek or Latin prosody, the replacement of a prosodic element that is required or expected at a given place in a given metre by another which is more or less equivalent in temporal quantity. In modern prosody, substitution refers to the use within a metrical series of a foot other than the prevailing foot of the series. A silence may also replace expected sound and

Hydra

2005-02-16T18:24:00.000-08:00

In Greek legend, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, a gigantic monster with nine heads (the number varies), the centre one immortal. The monster's haunt was the marshes of Lerna near Argos. The destruction of Hydra was one of the 12 Labours of Heracles, which he accomplished with the assistance of Iolaus. As one head was cut off, two grew in its place; therefore, they finally

Trade Agreement

2005-02-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

For most countries international trade is regulated by unilateral barriers of several types, including tariffs, nontariff barriers, and outright prohibitions. Trade agreements

Danao

2005-02-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

City, eastern Cebu Island, Philippines, about 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Cebu City. It was founded in 1844 and is a port on the Camotes Sea for nearby coalfields. It is also a service centre for the coastal agricultural area that produces rice and corn (maize). Its name is derived from danawan, a local word meaning “shallow lagoon”; there are beaches for swimming nearby. Inc. city, 1961. Pop. (1980) 56,967.

Volcano, Lava domes

2005-02-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

Landforms of this sort consist of steep domal mounds of lava so viscous that the lava piles up over its vent without flowing away. The rock types that form lava domes are generally andesites, dacites, or rhyolites. Somehow these viscous lavas have lost much of their gas content in prior eruptions or by slow rise to the surface. Even so, it is not unusual for an actively

Japan, Sea Of

2005-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

Japanese Nihon-kai, Russian Yaponskoye More, Korean Tonghae, marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded by Japan and Sakhalin Island to the east and by Russia and Korea on the Asian mainland to the west. (The Korean name means “East Sea.”) Its area is 377,600 square miles (978,000 square kilometres). It has a mean depth of 5,748 feet (1,752 metres) and a maximum depth of 12,276 feet (3,742 metres).

Fuchs, Sir Vivian Ernest

2005-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

In 1929 and 1930–31 Fuchs participated in expeditions to East Greenland and the East African lakes, respectively, serving as a geologist. Between 1933 and 1934 he led the Lake Rudolf–Rift Valley Expedition

Cultural Evolution

2005-02-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

The development of a culture from simpler to more complex forms, by a continuous process. The subject may be viewed unilinearly, tracing the evolution of humankind as a whole; or it may be viewed multilinearly, treating the evolution of each culture or society (or of given parts of a culture or society) individually. Cultural evolution was an important concept in the

Jabalpur

2005-02-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Jubbulpore city, central Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Jabalpur lies just north of the Narmada River in a rocky basin surrounded by low hills that are dotted with lakes and temples. On one of the hills stands the Madan Mahal, an old Gond castle. Garha, just west, was the chief city of the four independent Gond kingdoms that arose in the 14th century. Jabalpur was selected as Maratha headquarters

Gaelic Revival

2005-02-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Resurgence of interest in Irish language, literature, history, and folklore inspired by the growing Irish nationalism of the early 19th century. By that time Gaelic had died out as a spoken tongue except in isolated rural areas; English had become the official and literary language of Ireland. The discovery by philologists of how to read Old Irish (written prior to 900) and

Kamloops

2005-02-12T22:41:00.000-08:00

City, southern British Columbia, Can. It lies astride the confluence of the North and South Thompson rivers near their expansion into Kamloops Lake and adjacent to the Kamloops Indian Reserve, 220 miles (355 km) by road northeast of Vancouver. It originated as a trading settlement, founded by Alexander Ross of the Pacific (Astoria) Fur Company, who called it Cumcloups (from an

Valdai Hills

2005-02-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

Russian Valdayskaya Vozvyshennost, upland region running north-south, about midway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. The hills are a northward extension of the Central Russian Upland. The ridge is overlain by deposited glacial materials in the form of terminal moraines and other detritus. The Valdai Hills reach a height, near Vyshny Volochok, of 1,125 feet (343 m). Toward the west the hills decline steeply

Jeffreys (of Wem), George Jeffreys, 1st Baron

2005-02-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

Born into the Welsh gentry, Jeffreys was admitted to the bar in 1668, and in

Bernard, Jean-jacques

2005-02-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

French playwright and chief representative of what became known as l'école du silence (the “school of silence”) or, as some critics called it, the “art of the unexpressed,” in which the dialogue does not express the characters' real attitudes. As in Martine(1922), perhaps the best example of his work, emotions are implied in gestures, facial

Amazon River

2005-02-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Portuguese, Rio Amazonas, Spanish Río Amazonas, the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. The total length of the river—measured from the headwaters of the Ucayali-Apurímac river system in Peru—is about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres), which is slightly shorter than the Nile River but still the equivalent of the distance from New

Economic Affairs

2005-02-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

Gur-e Amir

2005-02-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

Mausoleum in Samarkand, now in Uzbekistan, of the 14th-century Mongol conqueror Timur, or Tamerlane. Though it has suffered from time and earthquakes, it is still sumptuous. It consists of a chapel crowned with a dome, enclosed by a wall, and fronted by an archway. The interior walls are covered with elegant turquoise arabesques and inscriptions in gold.

Burgess, Hugh

2005-02-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

Little is known of his early life. In 1851 he and Watt developed a process in which pulpwood was cut into small chips, boiled in a solution of caustic alkali at high temperature and pressure in a closed container,

Wahat Al-kharijah, Al-

2005-02-08T21:40:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kharga, or El-kharga, oasis in the Libyan (Western) Desert, part of Al-Wadi al-Jadid (“New Valley”) muhafazah (governorate), in south-central Egypt. It is situated about 110 miles (180 km) west-southwest of Naj' Hammadi, to which it is linked by railroad. The name Wahat al-Kharijah means “outer oasis.” The oasis consists of two fertile zones, extending about 100 miles (160 km) north-south and from 12 to 50 miles (19 to 80 km) east-west, with an area of more

Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl Of, Baron Of Raby

2005-02-08T05:25:00.000-08:00

Leading adviser of England's King Charles I. His attempt to consolidate the sovereign power of the king led to his impeachment and execution by Parliament.