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Serpukhov

(Encyclopedia)Serpukhov syĕrˈpo͝okhəf [key], city (1989 pop. 143,600), central European Russia, on the Oka River. It is an important textile center. A fortress town since 1339, it retains a stone kremlin (16th ...

cellulose

(Encyclopedia)cellulose, chief constituent of the cell walls of plants. Chemically, it is a carbohydrate that is a high molecular weight polysaccharide. Raw cotton is composed of 91% pure cellulose; other important...

straw

(Encyclopedia)straw, dried stalks of threshed grains, especially wheat, barley, oats, and rye. It has been used from antiquity for bedding, covering floors, and thatching roofs, as fodder and litter for animals, an...

perfume

(Encyclopedia)perfume, aroma produced by the essential oils of plants and by synthetic aromatics. The burning of incense that accompanied the religious rites of ancient China, Palestine, and Egypt led gradually to ...

sponge

(Encyclopedia)sponge, common name for members of the aquatic animal phylum Porifera, and for the dried, processed skeletons of certain species used to hold water. Over 4,500 living species are known; they are found...

Easthampton

(Encyclopedia)Easthampton ēst-hămpˈtən [key], town (2020 pop. 16,211), Hampshire co., W Mass.; inc. 1809. It is ...

Aksu

(Encyclopedia)Aksu, city (1994 est. pop. 193,700), SW Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the Aksu River. The center of an oasis at the foot of the Tian Shan mts., it is a caravan hub on the Old Silk Road. ...

Idlib

(Encyclopedia)Idlib ĭdˈlĭb [key], town (1995 est. pop. 100,000), capital of Idlib governorate, NW Syria. It is an important market center for a fertile agricultural region where grains, grapes, olives, sesame, a...

Gadsden

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden gădzˈdən [key], city (2020 pop. 33,945), seat of Etowah co., NE Ala., on the Coosa ...

Medinipur

(Encyclopedia)Medinipur mĭdˈnəpûrˌ [key], town (1991 pop. 125,498), West Bengal state, E India, on the Kasai River. It is a district administrative center and has textile and chemical manufactures. A canal lin...