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Sims, William Sowden

(Encyclopedia)Sims, William Sowden, 1858–1936, American naval officer, b. Port Hope, Upper Canada (now Ontario), of American parents. After serving with the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, he was (1897–1900) naval...

plagues of Egypt

(Encyclopedia)plagues of Egypt, in the Bible, the plagues and other troubles brought on Egypt by God through the hands of Moses, because Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go out of Egypt. The account, in t...

whelk

(Encyclopedia)whelk, large marine gastropod snail found in temperate waters. The whelk is sometimes eaten, but when food is plentiful, fishermen frequently use it for bait. Whelks are scavengers and carnivores, equ...

bluefish

(Encyclopedia)bluefish, voracious marine fish of the family Pomatomidae, resembling the pompano but more closely related to the sea basses (see bass, in zoology). Bluefish are found in the warm waters of the Indian...

crab

(Encyclopedia)crab, crustacean with an enlarged cephalothorax covered by a broad, flat shell called the carapace. Extending from the cephalothorax are the various appendages: five pairs of legs, the first pair bear...

Murnane, Gerald

(Encyclopedia)Murnane, Gerald, 1939–, Australian writer, B.A. Univ. of Melbourne, 1969. His first two novels, Tamarisk Row (1974) and A Lifetime on Clouds (1976), are semiautobiographical recollections of his ear...

rockfish

(Encyclopedia)rockfish, member of the family Sebastidae (rockfishes) according some authorities, but also classified as a member of the family Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes, lionfishes, and rockfishes) by other auth...

Chancellor, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Chancellor, Richard, d. 1556, English navigator. When, largely under the inspiration of Sebastian Cabot, a group of men in England undertook to finance a search for the Northeast Passage to Asia, Chan...

Gentileschi, Orazio

(Encyclopedia)Gentileschi, Orazio jānˌtēlĕsˈkē [key], c.1562–c.1639, Tuscan painter, b. Pisa. His real surname was Lomi, but he adopted his uncle's name. He studied in Rome, where he was associated with Ag...

Des Barres, Joseph Frederick Wallet

(Encyclopedia)Des Barres or Desbarres, Joseph Frederick Wallet dābärˈ [key], 1721?–1824, British army officer, surveyor, and artist. He was born of French parents (probably in Switzerland), was educated at Bas...