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tortoiseshell

(Encyclopedia)tortoiseshell, horny, translucent, mottled plates covering the carapace of the tropical hawksbill turtle. The plates, too thin for most purposes in their original form, are usually built up in layers ...

Río Tinto

(Encyclopedia)Río Tinto, Ríotinto mēˈnäs dā [key], town (1990 pop. 5,934), Huelva prov., SW Spain, in the Sierra Morena Mts., in Andalusia. It is the center of the Río Tinto mining region, named for the riv...

vermilion

(Encyclopedia)vermilion, vivid red pigment of durable quality. It is a chemical compound of mercury and sulfur and is known as red sulfide of mercury; it was formerly obtained by grinding pure cinnabar but is now c...

Vilyui

(Encyclopedia)Vilyui vĭlyo͞oˈē [key], river, c.1,520 mi (2,450 km) long, rising in the central Siberian uplands, E Siberian Russia, in the Sakha Republic, and flowing east through an agricultural area into the ...

Shaoxing

(Encyclopedia)Shaoxing, Shao-hsing shouˈhĭngˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 205,300), N Zhejiang prov., SE China, on the south shore of Hangzhou Bay. It is a marketing center handling grain, fruit, and oil crops....

Corumbá

(Encyclopedia)Corumbá ko͝oro͞ombäˈ [key], city, Mato Grosso do Sul state, SW Brazil, on the Paraguay River. A ...

chalcopyrite

(Encyclopedia)chalcopyrite pīrīˈtēz, pə– [key], brass-yellow mineral, sometimes with an iridescent tarnish. It is a sulfide of copper and iron, CuFeS2 . It crystallizes in the tetragonal system but is usua...

Giessen

(Encyclopedia)Giessen gēˈsən [key], city, Hesse, central Germany, on the Lahn River. It is an industrial...

Davis, Alexander Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Alexander Jackson, 1803–92, American architect, b. New York City. He was the partner of Ithiel Town of New Haven, with whom he designed many important buildings in both the Greek and Gothic r...

Falun

(Encyclopedia)Falun fäˈlŭnˌ [key], city, capital of Kopparberg co., S central Sweden; chartered 1624 an...