Chaga

Their methods of cultivation support a very dense population. They practice an intensive irrigated agriculture on terraced fields, keeping them under permanent cultivation through

Augustus Ii

The second son of Elector John George III of Saxony, Augustus succeeded his elder brother John George IV as elector in 1694. After

Perciform, Use as food

Since early times, the rivers and oceans have provided man with food; fishing was one of man's earliest means for securing food. Archaeological findings among shell mounds of Scotland indicate that the sea bream (family Sparidae) formed part of the diet of early man. The Nile perches (family Latidae) have been found as mummies in ancient tombs in Egypt. The goatfishes

Godfree, Kitty

Godfree lost the 1923 All-England final to Suzanne Lenglen of France, but

Howard

Howard county was created in 1851, having earlier been (from 1838) a district of Anne Arundel county.

Wu Language

Variety of Chinese spoken in southeastern Kiangsu Province and in Chekiang Province by more than 8 percent of the population of China. Major cities in which Wu is spoken include T'ai-chou, Shanghai, Soochow, Ning-po, and Wen-chou. The Wu language originally spread from Su-chou, a cultural centre since the 5th century BC, and gained great importance at least as early as the period

Buxton

Town, High Peak borough, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, encircled by (but excluded from) the Peak District National Park. Standing between 1,000 and 1,100 feet (305 and 335 metres) above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England. The mineral waters have long been famous; they were used by the Romans, who called the place Aquae Arnemetiae. The baths

Pacific Islands, Plant and animal life

Most island vegetations reveal Asian ancestries stemming from Indonesia and New Guinea. Generic variety declines eastward across the Pacific, providing evidence that seeds and fruits carried by ocean currents, birds, winds, and island voyagers encountered mounting obstacles to acceptance. The easternmost islands were host to limited plant dispersal movement

Madurai

Formerly �(until 1949) Madura, � city, south-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, bounded on the west by Kerala state. It is the second largest, and probably oldest, city in the state. Located on the Vaigai River and enclosed by the Anai, Naga, and Pasu (Elephant, Snake, and Cow) hills, the compact old city, site of the Pandya (4th - 11th century AD) capital, centres on Minaksi-Sundaresvara Temple. The temple, Tirumala Nayak

Diegue�

Diegue�o culture reflected similarities with its neighbours the Luise�o to the north and other Yuman nations to the east, such as the Mojave (see Yuman

Islamic World, Andalusia, the Maghrib, and sub-Saharan Africa

Andalusia, far from the centre of Islamdom, illustrated the extent of 'Abbasid prestige and the assertion of local creativity. In the beginning of the period, Islamicate rule was represented by the Umayyads at C�rdoba; established in 756 by a refugee from the 'Abbasid victory over the Syrian Umayyads, the Umayyad dynasty in C�rdoba had replaced a string of virtually independent

Razor Clam

Any of the species of marine bivalve mollusks of the family Solenidae. In England the species of the genera Ensis and Solen are called razor shells. The Solenidae are common in intertidal sands and muds, particularly of temperate seas. These bivalves have narrow and elongated razorlike shells up to about 20 cm (8 inches) long. They have a large active foot that enables them

Catalonia

Spanish �Catalu�a�, Catalan �Catalunya� comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) and historic region of Spain encompassing the northeastern Spanish provincias of Gerona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and L�rida and established by the statute of autonomy of Dec. 18, 1979. The autonomous community of Catalonia, which has an area of 12,328 square miles (31,930 square km), is the richest and most highly industrialized part of Spain. The

Xavier University

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. The university comprises colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Social Sciences. In addition to undergraduate studies, Xavier offers about 25 master's degree programs, notably in the fields of education

Kabyle

Berber people of Algeria inhabiting a partially mountainous region stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the southern slopes of the Great Kabylie mountains and from Dellys to Cape Aokas. Numbering about 2,000,000 in the late 20th century, they are mainly Muslims with a few Christians and are predominantly agricultural, growing grains and olives and herding goats. Their

Bushehr

Coastal region, southwestern Iran, bordering the Persian Gulf on the west and bounded by the regions of Hormozgan and Fars on the southeast and east and Khuzestan on the northwest. Inland the region is part of the Zagros Mountains and consists of fingers of upland within a plateau. The Shapur River drains the region and serves as an inland waterway from the coast of the Persian

Ska

Pioneered by the operators of powerful mobile discos called sound systems, ska evolved in the late 1950s from an early Jamaican form of rhythm and blues that emulated American rhythm and blues, especially that produced in New Orleans, Louisiana. A new beat emerged that mixed the shuffling rhythm of American pianist Rosco Gordon

Mu Gia Pass

Vietnamese �Deo Mugia, � mountain pass in the Annamese Cordillera (Cha�ne Annamitique) between northern Vietnam and Laos, 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Dong Hoi, Vietnam. The pass lies 1,371 feet (418 m) above sea level and carries the road from Tan Ap in Vietnam to Muang Khammouan (formerly called Thakhek) in Laos, on the Mekong River. The strategic pass was the principal point of entry of the Ho Chi Minh Trail access

Theatre, Court theatres

The Baroque architectural style, beginning in Italy and spreading across Europe, dominated theatre building between about 1650 and 1790. Its chief characteristics are refinement in detail of the proscenium stage and of the Renaissance horseshoe-shaped auditorium and seating plan. The innovations of the period were introduced in the private court theatres. As many as

Calabria

Most of the region is mountainous

Calabria

Most of the region is mountainous

East China Sea

Chinese (Wade-Giles) �Tung Hai, �or �(Pinyin) �Dong Hai, � arm of the Pacific Ocean bordering the East Asian mainland and extending northeastward from the South China Sea, to which it is connected by the shallow Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China. The East China Sea and the South China Sea together form the China Sea. The East China Sea extends to the east to the chain of the Ryukyu Islands; north to Kyushu, which

Mcmillan, Edwin Mattison

McMillan was educated at the California Institute of Technology and at Princeton University, where he

Nandi

Every Siva temple has the figure of a white, humped bull reclining on a raised platform and facing the entrance door of the shrine so that, according to tradition, he may perpetually

Durant

City, seat (1907) of Bryan county, southern Oklahoma, U.S., in the Red River valley, a few miles north of the Texas border. Settled about 1870 and named for a well-known Choctaw family, the city grew steadily after the arrival of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1872. Durant developed as a service centre for a diversified farming area, and in 1909 Southeastern State Normal (teacher-training)

Great Fire Of London

On Sunday, September 2, 1666, the fire began accidentally in the house of the king's baker in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. A violent east wind encouraged the flames, which raged during

Clanvowe, Sir Thomas

English courtier and poet, the reputed author of The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, a poetic debate about love, long attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer. The poem is a traditional dialogue between the two birds on the power of love, with delicate and attractive descriptions of spring, and a verse style that, though faulty at times, is Chaucerian in inspiration. The Cuckoo and

Northern Pacific Railway Company

The Northern Pacific was chartered by Congress in 1864 to build a line from Lake Superior westward to a port on the Pacific coast and was given a land grant of 40,000,000 acres (16,200,000 hectares). It nevertheless encountered difficulty

Manassas

During the American Civil

Manama

Arabic �Al-manamah, � capital and largest city of the state and emirate of Bahrain. It lies at the northeast tip of Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. About one-third of the emirate's population lives in the city. First mentioned in Islamic chronicles about AD 1345, it was taken by the Portuguese (1521) and by the Persians (1602). It has been held, with brief interruptions, by the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty since 1783. Because

Manama

Arabic �Al-manamah, � capital and largest city of the state and emirate of Bahrain. It lies at the northeast tip of Bahrain island, in the Persian Gulf. About one-third of the emirate's population lives in the city. First mentioned in Islamic chronicles about AD 1345, it was taken by the Portuguese (1521) and by the Persians (1602). It has been held, with brief interruptions, by the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty since 1783. Because