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flying squirrel

(Encyclopedia)flying squirrel, name for certain nocturnal tree squirrels adapted for gliding; they do not actually fly. Most are found in Asia, but one species of the genus Pteromys extends into SE Europe and the t...

hedgehog

(Encyclopedia)hedgehog, Old World insectivorous mammal of the family Erinaceidae. The spiny hedgehogs are found in Africa and Eurasia, except SE Asia. They have rounded bodies up to 13 in. (33 cm) long, very short ...

Bacon, Francis, English philosopher and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Francis, 1561–1626, English philosopher, essayist, and statesman, b. London, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at Gray's Inn. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper to Qu...

Cato the Younger

(Encyclopedia)Cato the Younger or Cato of Utica, 95 b.c.–46 b.c., Roman statesman, whose full name was Marcus Porcius Cato; great-grandson of Cato the Elder. Reared by his uncle Marcus Livius Drusus, he showed an...

Mélusine

(Encyclopedia)Mélusine mĕlyo͝osēˈnä [key], in French legend, a fairy who changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She married a mortal, Count Raymond, said to be the ancestor of the house of...

millennium

(Encyclopedia)millennium [Lat.,=1,000 years], the period of 1,000 years in which, according to some schools of Christian eschatology, Christ will reign again gloriously on earth. Belief in the millennium, based on ...

Müller, Johannes von

(Encyclopedia)Müller, Johannes von yōhäˈnəs fən mülˈər [key], 1752–1809, Swiss historian. He spent much of his life in Germany, where he held political posts under the elector of Mainz, the king of Pruss...

Mareshah

(Encyclopedia)Mareshah mārēˈshə [key]. 1 In the Bible, descendant of Caleb. 2 In the Bible, son of Laadan; or the name may refer to places, not persons. 3 Town, ancient Palestine, c.20 mi (32 km) WSW of Bethleh...

Sainte Anne, Lac

(Encyclopedia)Sainte Anne, Lac, lake, 21 sq mi (54.5 sq km), central Alta., Canada, west of Edmonton. It has a maximum depth of 30 ft (9 m). The village of Lac Ste Anne, on the lake's south shore, was the site of t...

Ramelli, Agostino

(Encyclopedia)Ramelli, Agostino ägōstēˈnō rämĕlˈlē [key], c.1531–c.1600, Italian engineer who served in the armies of the marquis de Marignan and of the duc d'Anjou (later Henry III of France). His book,...