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wigwam

(Encyclopedia)wigwam wĭgˈwäm [key], dwelling found among the Algonquian of the Eastern woodlands area of the United States. The wigwam was usually conical, arborlike, or domed. Some were small, accommodating a s...

ribbon grass

(Encyclopedia)ribbon grass, ornamental perennial grass (Phalaris arundinacea var. picta), a variety of the reed canary grass. It has green leaves striped with white and is often cultivated in gardens; it is also kn...

Titicaca

(Encyclopedia)Titicaca tētēkäˈkä [key], lake, c.3,200 sq mi (8,290 sq km), 110 mi (177 km) long, and c.900 ft (270 m) deep at at its deepest point, in the Andes Mts., on the Bolivia-Peru border; second largest...

Northcote, James

(Encyclopedia)Northcote, James nôrthˈkət [key], 1746–1831, English historical and portrait painter. He worked as assistant to Reynolds and studied at the Royal Academy. From 1777 to 1780 he studied in Italy an...

Kimball, Sumner Increase

(Encyclopedia)Kimball, Sumner Increase, 1834–1923, organizer of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, b. Lebanon, Maine. A lawyer, he became (1871) head of the revenue marine service of the Treasury Dept., and his invest...

Castle Mountains National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Castle Mountains National Monument, 20,920 acres (8,466 hectares), SE California. Surrounded on three sides by the Mojave National Preserve (see Mojave Desert), the monument contains Native American a...

Seir

(Encyclopedia)Seir sēˈər [key]. 1 Mountainous region, S Palestine, S of the Dead Sea. Mt. Hor is the highest point. Seir is identical with Edom, which is mentioned frequently in the Bible as Mt. Seir. The eponym...

Hicks, Granville

(Encyclopedia)Hicks, Granville, 1901–82, American writer, b. Exeter, N.H. A member of the Communist party, he edited The New Masses and wrote a pioneering Marxist interpretation of American literature, The Great ...

sarrusophone

(Encyclopedia)sarrusophone sərŭsˈəfōn [key], brass keyed wind instrument, played with a double reed, thus a member of the oboe family. Invented in 1856 by Sarrus, a French bandmaster, it is made in several siz...

Amorites

(Encyclopedia)Amorites ămˈərīts [key], a people of Canaan. There is evidence of them in Babylonia, where in the 19th cent. b.c. they established under their patronage the first dynasty at Babylon. The most powe...