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Soli

(Encyclopedia)Soli sōˈlī [key], ancient city of Cilicia, SW of Tarsus, in present-day Turkey. It was founded c.700 b.c. by colonists from Rhodes. An important port at the time of Alexander the Great, Soli was de...

Soufrière, volcano, St. Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Soufrière, volcano, 4,048 ft (1,234 m) high, on St. Vincent island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On May 7, 1902, the day before the great eruption of Pelée on Martinique island, Soufrière erupte...

Abbo of Fleury

(Encyclopedia)Abbo of Fleury äbōˈ, flörēˈ [key], Fr. Abbon de Fleury, 945?–1004, French monk at the abbey of Fleury (at present-day Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, France). Head of the monastery school, he later t...

latitude

(Encyclopedia)latitude, angular distance of any point on the surface of the earth north or south of the equator. The equator is latitude 0°, and the North Pole and South Pole are latitudes 90°N and 90°S, respect...

tent caterpillar

(Encyclopedia)tent caterpillar, common name for the larvae of the members of a family of moths (Lasiocampidae), easily recognized by the large silk tents, or webs, that the larvae construct during the spring in the...

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...