Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey

Murchison joined the Geological Society of London in 1825 and in the following five years explored Scotland, France, and the Alps and collaborated alternately with the British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Charles

Tiwi

Resort town, southeastern Luzon, Philippines. It is situated along Lagonoy Gulf of the Philippine Sea. The town lies in a bed of volcanic vents over an active geothermal area; through the vents, sulfurous live steam pours continuously. Tiwi Hot Springs National Park is nearby; there tourists can boil food in the steaming water. There are local handicraft industries

France, History Of, Mitterrand's first term

Mitterrand moved at once to carry out what appeared to be the voters' mandate. He named as prime minister a longtime Socialist militant, Pierre Mauroy, whose Cabinet was almost solidly Socialist except for four Communists. Major reforms followed quickly. A broad sector of the economy was nationalized (including 11 large industrial conglomerates and most private

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Von

German philosopher and educator, a major figure of German idealism, in the post-Kantian development in German philosophy. He was ennobled (with the addition of von) in 1806.

Yalu River

Wade-Giles romanization �Ya-l� Chiang�, Pinyin �Yalu Jiang�, Korean �Amnok-kang� river that forms the northwestern boundary between North Korea and the Northeast Region (Manchuria) of China. The Chinese provinces of Kirin and Liaoning are bordered by the river. Its length is estimated to be 491 miles (790 km), and it drains an area of some 12,259 square miles (31,751 square km). From a mountainous source in the Ch'ang-pai Mountains, the river flows southwestward to drain into

Colenso, John

Colenso became rector of Forncett St. Mary's Church, Norfolk, in 1846 and in 1853 bishop of Natal, where he served until his death.

Pacific Ocean, Temperature

The surface zone, where temperature variations are perceptible, is between 300 and 1,000 feet thick. It is more compressed in the temperate Eastern Pacific, along the coasts of North and Central America,

Deep-scattering Layer

Horizontal zone of living organisms, usually schools of fish, occurring below the surface in many ocean areas, so called because the layer scatters or reflects sound waves, causing echoes in depth sounders. Originally mistaken by some for the ocean bottom, the deep-scattering layer was later observed to rise toward the surface in the evening and to sink again at dawn,

Norske Folkeeventyr

(1841 - 44; Eng. trans. Norwegian Folktales), collections of folktales and legends, by Peter Christen Asbj�rnsen and J�rgen Engebretsen Moe, that had survived and developed from Old Norse pagan mythology in the mountain and fjord dialects of Norway. The authors, stimulated by a revival of interest in Norway's past, gathered the tales of ghosts, fairies, gods, and mountain trolls

Tigranes Ii The Great

Tigranes was the son or brother of Artavasdes I and a member of the dynasty founded in the early 2nd century by Artaxias. He was given as a hostage to the Parthian king Mithradates II, but later he purchased his freedom by ceding 70 valleys bordering on Media, in northwestern

Chadwick, Sir Edwin

As secretary of the royal commission on reform of the poor laws (1834 - 46), Chadwick was largely responsible for devising the system under which the country was divided into groups of parishes administered by elected boards of guardians,

Abu Jirab

Also spelled �Abu Gurab� ancient Egyptian site, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Abu Sir, between Saqqarah and Giza; it is known as the location of two 5th-dynasty (c. 2465 - c. 2325 BC) sun temples. The first part of the 5th dynasty is recognized as a period of unusually strong emphasis on the worship of the sun god Re, contemporary inscriptions recording that six sun temples were built. Only those of King Userkaf and King Neuserre

Eight, The

Group of American painters who exhibited together only once, in New York City in 1908, but who established one of the main currents in 20th-century American painting. The original Eight included Robert Henri, leader of the group, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur B. Davies, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast, George Luks, and William J. Glackens. George Bellows later joined them.

Celibacy

The state of being unmarried and, therefore, sexually abstinent, usually in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term is applied only to those for whom the unmarried state is the result of a sacred vow, act of renunciation, or religious conviction. Celibacy has existed in one form or another throughout history and in virtually

Eretna Dynasty

The dynasty's founder, Eretna, was an officer of Uighur (Uyghur) origin in the service of Demirtas, the Il-Khanid governor of Anatolia, who revolted (1326) against the Il-Khanid ruler Abu Sa'id and escaped to Egypt. Eretna then became governor of Anatolia under the suzerainty of Hasan

Anselm Of Canterbury, Saint

Founder of Scholasticism, a philosophical school of thought that dominated the Middle Ages; he was recognized in modern times as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God (based on the idea of an absolutely perfect being, the fact of the idea being in itself

Oum Er-rbia River

Chief river of central Morocco, rising in the Middle (Moyen) Atlas mountains and flowing generally westward for 345 miles (555 km) to the Atlantic Ocean near Azemmour. Although not navigable, it is a perennial, torrential river and a major source of hydroelectric power and irrigation: dams on the river include Afourer, Kasba Zidania, Im Fout, Daourat, Sidi Sa�d Maachou, and Bine

Kusti

Also spelled �Kosti, � town, central Sudan. It lies on the western bank of the White Nile, about 65 miles (104 km) south of Ad-Duwaym. Its basic agricultural economy is augmented by light manufacturing. The Kosti bridge, 4 miles (6 km) upstream from Kusti, provides a railway connection with Al-Ubayyid and accommodates motor-vehicular traffic. A domestic airport is located at Kusti. Pop. (1973) 65,257.

Vel�zquez, Diego

According to Palomino, Vel�zquez's first master was the Sevillian painter Francisco Herrera the Elder (c. 1576 - 1656). In 1611 he was formally apprenticed to Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter he married in 1618. �After five years of education and training,� Pacheco writes, �I married him to my daughter, moved by his virtue, integrity, and good parts and by the expectations of his disposition

Greenville

City, seat (1809) of Darke county, western Ohio, U.S., on Greenville Creek, 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Dayton. Laid out in 1808, it was the site of Fort Greenville, named for General Nathanael Greene and built by General �Mad� Anthony Wayne (1793). After his victory at Fallen Timbers (near the present site of Toledo), Wayne signed a peace treaty at the fort with Indians (1795) that opened the Northwest Territory

Saw-scaled Viper

The saw-scaled viper is irritable and aggressive and commonly hides under stones and in rodent runs. It is sand-coloured or gray,

Accused, Rights Of

All legal systems provide, at least on paper, guarantees

General Italian Confederation Of Labour

Italian �Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL), � Italy's largest trade-union federation. It was organized in Rome in 1944 as a nationwide labour federation to replace the dissolved Fascist syndicates. Its founders, who included communists, social democrats, and Christian Democrats, intended it to be the sole labour federation in Italy and to be generally independent of political parties. Within three years, however,

Eisenh�ttenstadt

City, Brandenburg Land (state), eastern Germany. The city lies along the Oder River at the Polish border, southeast of Frankfurt an der Oder. It was formed in 1961 by the union of F�rstenberg, Stalinstadt, and Sch�nfliess. Stalinstadt was a planned-residence town for workers employed in a metallurgical complex established in 1951 just west of the old town of F�rstenberg. Now one

Zagreus

In Orphic myth, a divine child who was the son of Zeus (as a snake) and his daughter Persephone. Zeus intended to make Zagreus his heir and bestow on him unlimited power, but Hera out of jealousy urged the Titans to attack the child while she beguiled him with toys. The Titans, who were opposed to Zeus' power, tore Zagreus to pieces and consumed him except for his heart. Athena

Silicone

Also called �Polysiloxane, � any of a diverse class of chemical polymers manufactured in the form of fluids, resins, or elastomers. Although they are partially organic in composition, the molecules of silicones differ from those of most polymers in that the backbone of their structure does not contain carbon, the characteristic element of organic compounds, but is a polysiloxane chain, in which

Faysal Ii

Faysal II, the grandson of Faysal I and great-grandson of Husayn ibn 'Ali, former sharif of Mecca and king of the Hejaz, became king of Iraq following the untimely death of his father, King Ghazi. Because Faysal was only four years old, his maternal uncle 'Abd al-Ilah became regent. In April 1941, when the nationalist prime

Gumma

Sericulture and wheat cultivation are major economic activities.