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blowgun

(Encyclopedia)blowgun, hollow tube from which a dart or an arrow is blown by a person's breath. The arrow was usually tipped with a poison, such as curare, which would stun or kill the struck prey. Blowguns were wi...

Blythe, David Gilmour

(Encyclopedia)Blythe, David Gilmour blīᵺ [key], 1815–65, American artist, b. East Liverpool, Ohio. Working in Pennsylvania, Blythe produced genre scenes that depict the rough existence of the early frontier. M...

maté

(Encyclopedia)maté yĕrˈbä, –bə [key], or Paraguay tea, evergreen tree (Ilex paraguariensis) of the family Aquifoliaceae (holly family). From ancient times Native Americans and now millions of Argentines and ...

Fiske, John

(Encyclopedia)Fiske, John, 1842–1901, American philosopher and historian, b. Hartford, Conn. Born Edmund Fisk Green, he changed his name in 1855 to John Fisk, adding the final e in 1860. He opened a law practice ...

Greene, Evarts Boutell

(Encyclopedia)Greene, Evarts Boutell ĕvˈərts, bo͞otĕlˈ [key], 1870–1947, American historian, b. Kobe, Japan, where his parents were missionaries, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1890; Ph.D., 1893). He began teaching A...

evening primrose

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Evening primrose, Oenothera biennis evening primrose, common name for the Onagraceae, a family of plants of worldwide distribution, most species of which grow as herbs in the temperate New Wor...

Darío, Rubén

(Encyclopedia)Darío, Rubén ro͞obĕnˈ därēˈō [key], 1867–1916, Nicaraguan poet, originally named Félix Rubén García Sarmiento. A child prodigy, he gained a thorough knowledge of Spanish and French cultu...

prairies

(Encyclopedia)prairies, generally level, originally grass-covered and treeless plains of North America, stretching from W Ohio through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa to the Great Plains region. The prairie belt also e...

jackrabbit

(Encyclopedia)jackrabbit, popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with...

staff tree

(Encyclopedia)staff tree, common name for some temperate members of the Celastraceae, a family of trees and shrubs (many of them climbing forms), widely distributed except in polar regions. These plants typically b...