Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

mudpuppy

(Encyclopedia)mudpuppy, common name for North American salamanders of the genus Necturus, found in rivers and streams throughout the E United States and SE Canada. The name derives from an erroneous belief that mud...

honey locust

(Encyclopedia)honey locust, leguminous deciduous tree (Gleditsia triacanthos) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to the eastern half of the United States but planted as a shade tree in many regions of...

Gorgas, William Crawford

(Encyclopedia)Gorgas, William Crawford, 1854–1920, American disease and sanitation expert, surgeon general of the United States, b. Mobile, Ala., grad. Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 1879. He served with the ...

froghopper

(Encyclopedia)froghopper or spittlebug, small, hopping insect of the order Homoptera. The adult, under 1⁄2 in. (1.2 cm) long in most species, is triangular in shape and usually gray or dull green to brown. Most f...

Jack Russell terrier

(Encyclopedia)Jack Russell terrier, breed of dog developed in the 19th cent. by an English clergyman, the Rev. John (Parson Jack) Russell, 1795–1883, for hunting. The Jack Russell resembles the fox terrier and, l...

Donovan, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Donovan, William Joseph dŏnˈəvən [key], 1883–1959, U.S. lawyer and government official, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Columbia law school. Distinguished service in World War I won him medals and the n...

copperhead

(Encyclopedia)copperhead, poisonous snake, Ancistrodon contortrix, of the E United States. Like its close relative, the water moccasin, the copperhead is a member of the pit viper family and detects its warm-bloode...

Cocteau, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Cocteau, Jean zhäN kôktōˈ [key], 1889–1963, French writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He experimented audaciously in almost every artistic medium, becoming a leader of the French avant-garde ...

chamois

(Encyclopedia)chamois shămˈē [key], hollow-horned, hoofed mammal, Rupicapra rupicapra, found in the mountains of Europe and the E Mediterranean. It is about the size of a large goat and is light brown with a bla...

climbing perch

(Encyclopedia)climbing perch, climbing gourami, or walking fish, any of several fish of the family Anabantidae, adapted to living in oxygen-depleted water or on dry land. They are not related to the true perch. Th...