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soap plant

(Encyclopedia) soap plant, any of various plants having cleansing properties. A few are of commercial importance, but most soap plants are used locally, as in early times, for toilet and laundry…

Arthropoda

(Encyclopedia) ArthropodaArthropodaärthrŏpˈədə [key] [Gr.,=jointed feet], largest and most diverse animal phylum. The arthropods include crustaceans, insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders,…

Mivart, St. George Jackson

(Encyclopedia) Mivart, St. George JacksonMivart, St. George Jacksonmīˈvərt [key], 1827–1900, English anatomist and biologist. He contributed important anatomical studies of the insectivores and…

rook

(Encyclopedia) rook, term used for a common Eurasian bird (genus Corvus) of the family Corvidae (Crow family), smaller than the American crow. The jackdaw is a European species of the genus. Rooks…

Bates, Henry Walter

(Encyclopedia) Bates, Henry Walter, 1825–92, English naturalist and explorer. In 1848 he went with A. R. Wallace to Brazil, where he explored the upper Amazon, returning in 1859 with some 8,000 new…

copaiba

(Encyclopedia) copaibacopaibakōpāˈbə, –pīˈ– [key], oleoresin (see resin) obtained from several species of tropical South American trees of the genus Copaifera. The thick, transparent exudate varies…

Garden, Alexander

(Encyclopedia) Garden, Alexander, c.1730–1791, Scottish-American naturalist and physician, b. Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He settled in Charleston, S.C., where he collected mineral, plant, and animal…

synecdoche

(Encyclopedia) synecdochesynecdochesĭnĕkˈdəkē [key], figure of speech, a species of metaphor, in which a part of a person or thing is used to designate the whole—thus, “The house was built by 40…

whale oil

(Encyclopedia) whale oil, oil extracted from the blubber and other parts of certain species of whales. It varies in composition, color, and the degree of fishy odor according to the method and extent…

Castle Mountains National Monument

(Encyclopedia) Castle Mountains National Monument, 20,920 acres (8,466 hectares), SE California. Surrounded on three sides by the Mojave National Preserve (see Mojave Desert), the monument contains…