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East Sussex

(Encyclopedia)East Sussex, county, 693 sq mi (1,795 sq km), extreme SE England. It comprises five administrative districts: Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother, and W...

Spotswood, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Spotswood, Alexander, 1676–1740, colonial governor of Virginia, b. Tangier, Morocco. Appointed in 1710, he was officially lieutenant governor under the nominal governorship of George Hamilton, 1st e...

Ruisdael, Jacob van

(Encyclopedia)Ruisdael or Ruysdael, Jacob van both: yäˈkōp vän roisˈdäl [key], c.1628–1682, Dutch painter and etcher, the most celebrated of the Dutch landscape painters. He studied with his father Isack an...

chestnut

(Encyclopedia)chestnut, name for any species of the genus Castanea, deciduous trees of the family Fagaceae (beech or oak family) widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. They are characterized by thin-shelled...

gall, in botany

(Encyclopedia)gall, abnormal growth, or hypertrophy, of plant tissue produced by chemical or mechanical (e.g., the rubbing together of two branches) irritants or hormones. Chemical irritants are released by parasit...

Ewing, William Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Ewing, William Maurice, 1906–74, American oceanographer and geologist, b. Lackney, Tex., grad. Rice Institute, now Rice Univ. (B.S., 1926; M.A., 1927; Ph.D., 1931). He taught physics and geology at ...

Price, Sterling

(Encyclopedia)Price, Sterling, 1809–67, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Prince Edward co., Va. After moving to Missouri, he practiced law and entered politics. He served in Congress (1844–46),...

Sherman, Cindy

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, Cindy (Cynthia Morris Sherman), 1954–, American photographer, b. Glen Ridge, N.J. In images in which makeup, costumes, wigs, and the like allow her to take on a variety of guises and roles,...

cuesta

(Encyclopedia)cuesta kwĕsˈtə [key], asymmetric ridge characterized by a short, steep escarpment on one side, and a long, gentle slope on the other. The steep side exposes the edge of erosion-resistant rock layer...

gaur, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)gaur, large wild ox of Southeast Asia, having a humplike ridge on the back. The gaur, Bos gaurus, is thought to be the largest of the wild cattle; the bulls may measure more than 6 ft (1.8 m) at the s...