Qalam

Ancient reed pen still used in Arabic calligraphy and formerly used for all writing. The qalam was cut from between two nodes of the stem of a reed chosen for its straight fibres. As thick as a finger and 8 or 10 inches (20 or 25 cm) long, the reed segment was soaked and sun-dried, and a nib, somewhat resembling that of a steel pen, was fashioned by slicing off the thicker end at an angle

Cond�, Louis I De Bourbon, 1er Prince De (1st Prince Of)

Louis de Bourbon was the hunchback youngest son of Charles, duc de Vend�me, and Fran�oise d'Alen�on. Brought up among Huguenots, he was married in

Armenian Catholic Church

An Eastern-rite member of the Roman Catholic church. The Armenians embraced Christianity about AD 300 and were the first people to do so as a nation. About 50 years after the Council of Chalcedon (451), the Armenians repudiated the Christological decisions of the council and became the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church, a body that basically adhered to the doctrinal beliefs

Yama

The second stage, niyama (Sanskrit: �discipline�), in its ethical

Yama

The second stage, niyama (Sanskrit: �discipline�), in its ethical

Ashcroft, Dame Peggy

After graduation from London's Central School of Dramatic Art, Ashcroft made her debut as Margaret in the Birmingham Repertory's production of Dear Brutus (1926). She made her initial London appearance in 1927, but her first important notices were for the role of Naomi in

Fairfax (of Cameron), Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron

The son of Ferdinando, 2nd Baron Fairfax of Cameron, he

Conselheiro Lafaiete

City, southeastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It lies in the highlands at 3,054 feet (931 m) above sea level. Formerly known as Lueluz, the settlement was made the seat of a municipality in 1790 and given city status in 1886. Agriculture (cassava, potatoes, corn [maize], feij�o [beans]) and livestock raising are important economic activities. Also important are the rebuilding of locomotives

External Auditory Canal

Also called �External Auditory Meatus, or External Acoustic Meatus, � passageway that leads from the outside of the head to the tympanic membrane, or eardrum membrane, of each ear. The structure of the external auditory canal is the same in all mammals. In appearance it is a slightly curved tube that extends inward from the floor of the auricle, or protruding portion of the outer ear, and ends blindly at the eardrum membrane, which separates

Arion

Semilegendary Greek poet and musician of Methymna in Lesbos. He is said to have invented the dithyramb (choral poem or chant performed at the festival of Dionysus); that is, he gave it literary form. His father's name, Cycleus, indicates the connection of the son with the cyclic or circular chorus of the dithyramb. None of his works survives, and only one story about his life

Cloud Forest

Also called �montane rainforest, � vegetation of tropical mountainous regions in which the rainfall is often heavy and persistent condensation occurs because of cooling of moisture-laden air currents deflected upward by the mountains. The trees in a cloud forest are typically short and crooked. Mosses, climbing ferns, lichens, and epiphytes (air plants, such as orchids) form thick blankets on the

Moses Lake

City, Grant county, central Washington, U.S., situated on the northeast shore of Moses Lake. Located on a traditional hunting and fishing ground, the town was settled in 1897 and was laid out in 1910 as Neppel; in 1938 it was renamed for the Columbia-Sinkiuse Indian leader Moses. Located in the Columbia River basin, the city serves as the trade centre of an irrigated farm region producing

Shabonee

By birth an Ottawa Indian, Shabonee married the daughter of a Potawatomi chief and succeeded him as tribal leader. Although an adherent

Nordhausen

City, Thuringia Land (state), central Germany, lying on the Zorge River, at the southern slopes of the Harz Mountains, in the fertile lowland known as the Goldene Aue (�Golden Meadow�). First mentioned in 927 as the site of a royal castle near the older Frankish settlement of Northusen (Nordhusa), it was made a free imperial city in 1290 and accepted the Reformation in 1522. It lost its independence

Exterminator

Byname �Old Bones� (foaled 1915), American racehorse (Thoroughbred), a dependable and durable horse who won 50 of 100 races in eight seasons. Because of the length of his career and his extraordinary ability to win sprints and long-distance races under heavy weights, some horsemen considered him superior to Man o' War, his greatest contemporary and doubtless the fastest American horse of the time.

Japanese Literature, The novel between 1905 and 1941

The dominant stream in Japanese fiction since the publication of Hakai (1906; The Broken Commandment), by Shimazaki Toson, and Futon (1907; The Quilt), by Tayama Katai, has been naturalism. Although the movement was originally inspired by the works of the 19th-century French novelist �mile Zola and other European naturalists, it quickly took on a distinctively Japanese colouring,

Elam

Throughout the late prehistoric periods, Elam was closely tied

Rab

Italian �Arbe, � island in the Adriatic Sea forming the northernmost part of Dalmatia in Croatia. With an area of 35 sq mi (91 sq km), it reaches a maximum altitude of 1,339 ft (408 m) at Mt. Kamenjak and comprises three ridges of limestone. Over 300 freshwater springs provide a valuable water supply to the population of the island - which, in contrast to most of the Adriatic islands, is increasing, in part because

Botrytis Blight

Also called �botrytis rot�, or �gray mold blight� disease of plants growing in humid areas that is usually caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. Most vegetables, fruits, flowers, and woody plants are susceptible; injured, old, and dead plant parts become infected first. Soft, tan to brown spots or blotches become covered with a dusty mold in moist weather. Seedlings, young shoots, or leaves may wither and collapse; buds

Gates, Frederick T.

During his college days at the University of Rochester, N.Y., Gates worked as a bank clerk. His undergraduate studies were followed by three years at the Rochester Theological

Akund Floss

Also called �Calotropis Floss, � downy seed fibre obtained from Calotropis procera and C. gigantea, plants of the Asclepiadaceae family. The plants are native to southern Asia and Africa and were introduced to South America and the islands of the Caribbean. The yellowish material is made up of thin fibres 2 to 3 cm (0.75 to 1.12 inches) long and 12 to 42 microns (a micron is about 0.00004 inch) in diameter and is harvested by hand.

Ashgabat

Formerly �Ashkhabad, Ashkabad, Askhabad, or (1919 - 27) Poltoratsk, � city and capital of Turkmenistan. It lies in an oasis at the northern foot of the Kopet-Dag (Turkmen: K�petdag) Range and on the edge of the Karakum (Turkmen: Garagum) Desert, about 19 miles (30 km) from the Iranian frontier. It was founded in 1881 as a Russian military fort and took the name of the nearby Turkmen settlement of Askhabad. It became the administrative centre of the Transcaspian

B�k�scsaba

Town, seat of B�k�s megye (county), southeastern Hungary. A central point for road and rail communications, it is also connected by canal with the K�r�s River and serves as an agricultural and industrial centre for a large fertile countryside. A 13th-century Roman Catholic church (rebuilt in the 18th century) is evidence of the town's long occupation. The settlement in the

Clapton, Eric

Clapton was raised by his grandparents after his mother abandoned him at an early age. He began playing the guitar in his teens and briefly studied at the Kingston College of Art. After playing lead guitar with

Sabbatini, Nicola

In his major and most enduring written work, Pratica di fabricar scene e macchine ne' teatri (1638; �Manual for Constructing Scenes and Machines in the Theatre�), Sabbatini described

Harrison, Anna

In 1858 Anna's house was destroyed in a fire, and she spent the remaining six years of her life with her son John Scott Harrison, the only one of her children to outlive her. She was buried beside her husband in North Bend, Ohio.

Lovelace, Augusta Ada King, Countess Of

She was the daughter of the 6th Lord Byron (the famous poet) and Annabella Milbanke Byron, who legally separated

Shimabara

Shimabara

Arno River

Italian �Fiume Arno, �Latin �Arnus, � principal stream of the Toscana (Tuscany) region, in central Italy. Rising on the slopes of Monte Falterona in the Tuscan Apennines, it flows for 150 mi (240 km) to the Ligurian Sea, receiving the Sieve, Pesa, Elsa, and Era rivers. Its drainage basin covers 3,184 sq mi (8,247 sq km). Navigation on the river is negligible. In its upper course the Arno flows generally south through the former lake basin