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Falaise

(Encyclopedia)Falaise fälĕzˈ [key], town (1993 est. pop. 8,387), Calvados dept., N France, in Normandy. Once an important textile center, the town is now an agricultural marketplace and manufactures cheeses and ...

Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers

(Encyclopedia)Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, one of the first consumers' cooperatives, founded in 1844 in Rochdale, England, by 28 Lancashire weavers. Influenced by the theories of Robert Owen, they opened...

Shikoku

(Encyclopedia)Shikoku shĭkōˈko͞o [key], island (1990 pop. 4,240,265), 7,247 sq mi (18,770 sq km), S Japan, separated from Honshu and Kyushu by the Inland Sea. The smallest of the major islands of Japan, its hig...

Plauen

(Encyclopedia)Plauen plouˈən [key], city (1994 pop. 69,387), Saxony, E central Germany, on the White Elster River and at the northwestern foot of the Erzgebirge. It has been a textile-milling center since the 15t...

Udagamandalam

(Encyclopedia)Udagamandalam o͞oˈtəkəmŭndˌ [key], town (1991 pop. 81,763), Tamil Nadu state, SW India, in the Nilgiri Hills. At an altitude of c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), the town is the most famous hot-weather reso...

Przemyśl

(Encyclopedia)Przemyśl pshĕˈmĭshəl [key], Ukr. Peremyshl, city (1989 est. pop. 67,000), Podkarpackie prov., extreme SE Poland, on the San River in the Carpathian foothills. It is a trade center and has metalwo...

Beaune

(Encyclopedia)Beaune bōn [key], town, Côte-d'Or dept., E France, in Burgundy. It is a noted center for Bu...

Bruay-la-Buissière

(Encyclopedia)Bruay-la-Buissière än-ärtwäˈ [key], town, Pas-de-Calais dept., NE France. Once a coal-mining center, ...

medicinal plants

(Encyclopedia)medicinal plants, plants used as natural medicines. This practice has existed since prehistoric times. There are three ways in which plants have been found useful in medicine. First, they may be used ...

musk

(Encyclopedia)musk, odorous substance secreted by an abdominal gland of the musk deer, used in perfume as a scent and fixative. The gland, found only in males, grows to the size of a hen's egg; the secretion is red...