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rickettsia

(Encyclopedia)rickettsia rĭkĕtˈsēə [key], any of an order (Rickettsiales) of very small microorganisms, many disease-causing, that live in vertebrates and are transmitted by bloodsucking parasitic arthropods s...

bell, musical instrument

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bell bell, in music, a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow metal vessel, often cup-shaped with an outward-flaring rim, damped at one end and set into vibration by a blow from a clappe...

Lawrence, D. H.

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert Lawrence), 1885–1930, English author, one of the primary shapers of 20th-century fiction. Lawrence believed that industrialized Western culture was dehumanizing beca...

Common Weights and Measures (table)

(Encyclopedia)Common Weights and Measures Length Area Volume and Capacity (Liquid and Dry) Weight (Mass) ...

Swiss literature

(Encyclopedia)Swiss literature. The literature of Switzerland is written in German, French, Italian, and Romansh, with German predominating. The extensive literature in Romansh dialect (see Rhaeto-Romanic) is littl...

leprosy

(Encyclopedia)leprosy or Hansen's disease hănˈsənz [key], chronic, mildly infectious malady capable of producing, when untreated, various deformities and disfigurements. It is caused by the rod-shaped bacterium ...

power, electric

(Encyclopedia)power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some ...

English units of measurement

(Encyclopedia)English units of measurement, principal system of weights and measures used in a few nations, the only major industrial one being the United States. It actually consists of two related systems—the U...

Russo-Turkish Wars

(Encyclopedia)Russo-Turkish Wars. The great eastward expansion of Russia in the 16th and 17th cent., during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, nevertheless left the shores of the Black Sea in the hands of the Ottom...

Slavs

(Encyclopedia)Slavs slävz, slăvz [key], the largest ethnic and linguistic group of peoples in Europe belonging to the Indo-European linguistic family. It is estimated that the Slavs number over 300 million in the...