Eurypterid

Frequently referred to as giant scorpions, most eurypterids were small animals, although Pterygotus

Eurypterid

Allosaurus weighed two tons and grew to 10.5 metres (35 feet) in length, although fossils indicate that

Cola Di Rienzo

He was the son of a Roman tavern keeper named Lorenzo Gabrini. His father's Christian name was shortened to

Habash, George

Habash was forced to flee Palestine in 1948, after the State of Israel was established there, and earned a medical degree at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. In the early 1950s he was active in the �Youth of Vengeance� group, which advocated violent

Domestic Violence

Social and legal concept that, in the broadest sense, refers to any abuse that takes place among people living in the same household, although the term is often used specifically to refer to assaults upon women by their male partners. Estimated annual figures for the number of women in the United States who are subjected to psychological, verbal, emotional, or physical

Actinomyxidian

Also called �Actinosporean,� any parasitic microorganism of the class Actinomyxidia (Actinosporea), phylum Myxosporidia (Myxospora). It inhabits the alimentary canal of certain aquatic worms. The characteristic spores develop in the host's gut after the union of large and small gametes. The spores contain three polar filaments (possibly anchoring devices) enclosed in capsules and one to many

Argentina, Soils

Soil types in Argentina range from the light-coloured saline formations of the high puna in the Northwest to the dark, humus-rich type found in the Pampas. Golden-brown loess soils of the Gran Chaco are sometimes lighter where salinity is excessive but turn darker toward the east in the Mesopotamian border zone. These give way to soils ranging from rust to deep red

Hoosac Tunnel

The first major rock tunnel built in the United States. The tunnel runs through Hoosac Mountain of the Berkshire Hills, east of North Adams, Mass., and was built to provide a rail connection between Boston and upper New York state. Though only 4.75 miles (7.6 km) long, the tunnel took 24 years (1851 - 75) to complete, partly because of slow and laborious rock-tunneling techniques in use when construction

Culverin

The culverin was adapted to field use by the French in the mid-15th century and to naval use by the English in the late 16th century. During the 17th century, cannons were classified according to the weight of projectiles fired, and

Crockford, William

Crocker was the son of a fishmonger, and he himself practiced the trade in his youth. After winning a large sum of money (�100,000, according to one story) either at cards or by running a gambling establishment, he built in 1827 a luxuriously decorated gambling house at 50 St. James's Street in London.

Epidermis

In botany, outermost, protoderm-derived layer of cells covering the stem, root, leaf, flower, fruit, and seed parts of a plant. The epidermis and its waxy cuticle provide a protective barrier against mechanical injury, water loss, and infection. Various modified epidermal cells regulate transpiration, increase water absorption, and secrete substances.

Carnivore, Critical appraisal

The taxonomy of the major categories of major groups placed in the Carnivora has been in a state of flux for at least 100 years, and these categories do not seem to be stabilizing, even today. Most mammalogists at present regard the seals and terrestrial carnivores as belonging to different orders, the Pinnipedia and Carnivora. There are, in reality, only a few features

Byron, John Byron, 1st Baron

He was the eldest son of Sir John Byron (d. 1625), a member of an old Lancashire family which had settled at Newstead, near Nottingham. During the third decade of the 17th century Byron was member of Parliament for the town and afterward for the county of Nottingham. In December 1641, King Charles I made him lieutenant

Niuafo'ou

Northernmost island of Tonga, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The generally wooded land area of 19 square miles (49 square km) includes a volcanic peak 853 feet (260 m) high, a crater lake, and numerous hot springs. During a particularly violent eruption in 1946, the island's inhabitants were evacuated to 'Eua, several hundred miles to the south. They began returning to Niuafo'ou in 1958. Because

Caboolture

Town, southeastern Queensland, Australia, on the Caboolture River. The town was originally a livestock station. Its name was derived from cabul-tur, the Aboriginal word for the carpet snake. To relieve shortages brought about by the American Civil War in the 1860s, Caboolture became a cotton-farming centre. Today, citrus fruits, tobacco, and vegetables are grown, and dairy

Aromatic Compound

Any of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecular structure includes one or more planar rings of atoms joined by covalent bonds of two different kinds. The term aromatic was first applied about 1860 to a group of hydrocarbons isolated from coal tar and distinguished by their odours, which are much stronger than those of other groups of hydrocarbons; in chemistry,

Arts, Islamic, Decentralization of Islamic literatures

Safavid Iran, as it happened, lost most of its artists and poets to the neighbouring countries: there were no great masters of poetry in Iran between the 16th and 18th centuries. And while the Persian Shah Esma'il wrote Turkish mystical verses, his contemporary and enemy, Sultan Selim I of Turkey (died 1520), composed quite elegant Persian ghazals. Babur (died 1530), in turn, composed his autobiography

Arts, Islamic, Decentralization of Islamic literatures

The United

Arts, South Asian, Epics

The age of the Pallavas (300? - 900), a warrior dynasty of Hindu kings, is known for its epics, beginning with Cilappatikaram (�The Jewelled Anklet�) and Manimekalai (�The Girdle of Gems�) and including an incomplete narrative, Perunkatai (�The Great Story�), the Civakacintamani (�The Amulet of Civakan�) by Tiruttakkatevar, and Culamani (�The Crest Jewel�) by Tolamolittevar. The last three works depict Jaina kings

Graz

City, capital of Bundesland (federal state) Steiermark, southeastern Austria. The country's second largest city, it lies on the Mur River between the Styrian Alps and a wide, fertile valley, the Grazerfeld. In the 9th century there was probably a fortress on the Schlossberg, a rocky cone (1,552 feet [473 m]) that dominates the city. The name Graz is derived from gradec, a Slavic word meaning

Chancellorsville, Battle Of

(May 1 - 5, 1863), in the American Civil War, bloody assault by the Union army in Virginia that failed to encircle and destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Following the �horror of Fredericksburg� (December 13, 1862), the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee and the Union force under General Joseph Hooker had spent the winter facing each other across the Rappahannock River

Anthelmintic

Most of the anthelmintics

Stagnelius, Erik Johan

Both his works

Tibet, Plateau Of

Also called �Tibetan Highlands �or �Tsinghai-Tibet Plateau,� Chinese (Wade - Giles) �Ch'ing-tsang Kao-yuan �or �(Pinyin)�Qing Zang Gaoyuan � vast, high plateau in Central Asia and part of China in which the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tsinghai province, western Szechwan province, and southern Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang are located. It lies between the Kunlun Mountains (north) and the Himalayas (south) and is a region of tangled mountains that rise 13,000 to 15,000 feet (4,000 to 5,000 metres). The plateau has an area of about 850,000 square

Vacuum Technology

All processes and physical measurements carried out under conditions of below-normal atmospheric pressure. A process or physical measurement is generally performed in a vacuum for one of the following reasons: (1) to remove the constituents of the atmosphere that could cause a physical or chemical reaction during the process (e.g., vacuum melting of reactive metals

Syriac Alphabet

Writing system used by the Syriac Christians from the 1st century AD until about the 14th century. A Semitic alphabet, Syriac was an offshoot of a cursive Aramaic script. It had 22 letters, all representing consonants, and was generally written from right to left, although occasionally vertically downward. Diacritical marks to represent vowels were introduced in the 8th

Futurology

In the social sciences, the study of current trends in order to forecast future developments. While the speculative and descriptive aspects of futurology are traceable to the traditions of utopian literature and science fiction, the methodology of the field originated in the �technological forecasting� developed near the end of World War II, of which Toward New

Tierra Del Fuego

Provincia, southern Argentina, consisting of the eastern half of the triangular island of Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: �Land of Fire�), lying between the Strait of Magellan (north) and Beagle Channel (south) at the southern extremity of South America. Argentina also claims as part of this province a number of South Atlantic islands and a portion of the Antarctic continent

Madang

Port on the northeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. It lies along Astrolabe Bay of the Bismarck Sea, near the mouth of the Gogol River. Madang is the centre for a large timber industry based on the Gogol forest about 25 miles (40 km) inland and is the distributing centre for the north coast and the Central Range. It is also a communication point for the

China, Effects of the rebellions

To meet the large popular uprisings, the Ch'ing authorities had to rely on local armies, which were financed by the provincial and local gentry class. To meet this need, a special tax on goods in transit (called the likin) was started in 1853, the proceeds of which remained largely outside the control of the central government. The provincial governors-general and governors