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Helmont, Jan Baptista van

(Encyclopedia)Helmont, Jan Baptista van yän bäptĭsˈtä vän hĕlˈmônt [key], 1577–1644, Flemish physician, chemist, and physicist. He attributed physiological changes to chemical causes, but his conclusions...

mandates

(Encyclopedia)mandates, system of trusteeships established by Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations for the administration of former Turkish territories and of former German colonies. As finally adopt...

Goyen, Jan Josephszoon van

(Encyclopedia)Goyen, Jan Josephszoon van yän yōˈzəfsōn vän gōˈyən [key], 1596–1656, Dutch landscape painter. He studied at Leiden and Haarlem. In 1631 he settled at The Hague. His typically Dutch landsca...

Millin, Sarah Gertrude (Liebson)

(Encyclopedia)Millin, Sarah Gertrude (Liebson), 1889–1968, South African writer. The first of her novels about colonial and racial problems in South Africa is Dark River (1920). Later novels include God's Stepchi...

smut

(Encyclopedia)smut, name for an order of parasitic fungi (Ustilaginales) and the various diseases of plants caused by them. Smuts produce sootlike masses of spores on the host. The spore masses may break up into a ...

Transvaal

(Encyclopedia)Transvaal trănzvälˈ [key], former province, NE South Africa. With the new constitution of 1994, it was divided into Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga), Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo), Pretoria-Wi...

Johannesburg

(Encyclopedia)Johannesburg jōhănˈĭsbörgˌ, yōhäˈnəsbörkhˌ [key], city, now part and seat of City of Johannesburg metropolitan municipality, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa, on the southern slopes of the W...

Groote Schuur

(Encyclopedia)Groote Schuur khro͝oˈtə skür [key] [Afrik.,=large barn], estate, Cape Town, Western Cape, SW South Africa. The main building of the estate, which is a good example of Dutch colonial architecture, ...

Huygens, Constantijn

(Encyclopedia)Huygens, Constantijn hoiˈgəns [key], 1596–1687, Dutch humanist and poet, b. The Hague; father of Christiaan Huygens. He was broadly educated in languages, law, and social protocol to follow a pub...

oats

(Encyclopedia)oats, cereal plants of the genus Avena of the family Poaceae (grass family). Most species are annuals of moist temperate regions. The early history of oats is obscure, but domestication is considered ...