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scale, in weights and measures

(Encyclopedia)scale, in weights and measures, instruments for determining weight, generally for other than laboratory use. For the principles of operation of all weighing devices, see balance. Platform scales utili...

Schuyler, Philip John

(Encyclopedia)Schuyler, Philip John skīˈlər [key], 1733–1804, American Revolutionary general, b. Albany, N.Y. He was a member of one of the wealthiest colonial New York families. After serving in the French an...

peyote

(Encyclopedia)peyote pāōˈtē [key], spineless cactus (Lophophora williamsii), ingested by indigenous people in Mexico and the United States to produce visions. The plant is native to the SW United States, partic...

pheasant

(Encyclopedia)pheasant, common name for some members of a family (Phasianidae) of henlike birds related to the grouse and including the Old World partridge, the peacock, various domestic and jungle fowls, and the t...

Cantabria

(Encyclopedia)Cantabria käntäˈbrēä [key], autonomous community and coextensive prov., 2,057 sq mi (5,328 sq ...

Catullus

(Encyclopedia)Catullus (Caius Valerius Catullus) kətŭlˈəs [key], 84? b.c.–54? b.c., Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 b.c. to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sist...

Powell, John Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Powell, John Wesley, 1834–1902, American geologist and ethnologist, b. Mt. Morris (now part of New York City). The family moved to Illinois, where Powell joined the Natural History Society, making c...

Gore, Albert Arnold, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Gore, Albert Arnold, Jr., 1948–, Vice President of the United States (1993–2001), b. Washington, D.C., grad. Harvard, 1969. After serving in the army in Vietnam and working as a reporter, he was e...

copper, chemical element

(Encyclopedia)copper, metallic chemical element; symbol Cu [Lat. cuprum=copper]; at. no. 29; at. wt. 63.546; m.p. 1,083.4℃; b.p. 2,567℃; sp. gr. 8.96 at 20℃; valence +1 or +2. Copper and some of its alloys ha...

Corot, Jean-Baptiste Camille

(Encyclopedia)Corot, Jean-Baptiste Camille zhäN-bätēstˈ kämēˈyə kôrōˈ [key], 1796–1875, French landscape painter, b. Paris. Corot was one of the most influential of 19th-century painters. The son of sh...