(Encyclopedia) pampas grass, any species of the genus Cortaderia, tall South American plants of the family Poaceae (grass family) cultivated in warm climates for ornament. The common pampas grass (C…
(Encyclopedia) springtail, common name for any of the minute, primitive six-legged arthropods of the order Collembola. The springtail is named for a springlike mechanism on the underside of the…
(Encyclopedia) Bay Psalm Book, common hymnal of the Massachusetts Bay colony. Written by Richard Mather, John Eliot, and Thomas Weld, it was published in 1640 at Cambridge as The Whole Book of Psalms…
(Encyclopedia) yerba buenayerba buenayĕrˈbə bwāˈnə [key], trailing evergreen perennial (Micromeria chamissonis) of the family Labiatae (mint family). It is native to W North America and especially…
(Encyclopedia) kingfisher, common name for members of the family Alcedinidae, essentially tropical and subtropical land birds, related to the bee-eaters, rollers, and todies. Kingfishers have chunky…
(Encyclopedia) hamster, Old World rodent, related to the voles, lemmings, and New World mice. There are many hamster species, classified in several genera. All are solitary, burrowing, nocturnal…
(Encyclopedia) era, period of historic time. In geology, it is the name applied to large divisions of geological process, e.g., Paleozoic era (see geology). In chronology an era is a period reckoned…
(Encyclopedia) cystitiscystitissĭstīˈtĭs [key], common acute or chronic inflammation of the urinary bladder. The disease occurs primarily in young women and frequently results from bacterial invasion…
(Encyclopedia) EssenesEssenesĕsˈēnz [key], members of a small Jewish religious order, originating in the 2d cent. b.c. The chief sources of information about the Essenes are Pliny the Elder, Philo's…
(Encyclopedia) serpentineserpentinesûrˈpəntēn, –tīn [key], hydrous silicate of magnesium. It occurs in crystalline form only as a pseudomorph having the form of some other mineral and is generally…
