Dehri

City, western Bihar state, northeastern India, west of the Son River. It has major road and rail connections and houses railway workshops. Dehri is the headworks of the Son canal system and the site of a hydroelectric dam. Its industries include sugar production, sawmilling, ghee processing, and varied manufactures. Nearby, on the Son, lies the ancient Rohtas fortress. Pop.

Carnivore, Form and function

Being highly carnivorous, mustelids have well-developed carnassials and a reduced number of premolar and molar teeth, the total number of teeth being between 30 and 38 (average, 34). With such a reduction in tooth number, the facial area of these animals is shortened. In the wolverine and American badger the bone of the lower jaw has a projection, the postglenoid process, that

Carnivore, Form and function

Any of 21 species of medium-sized toothed whales with extended snouts, including the bottlenose whales. Little is known about this family of cetaceans; one species was first described in 1995, two others are known only from skeletal remains, and the bodies of undescribed species occasionally drift ashore.

Arabia, Northern Arabia

The Wadi As-Sirhan, a depression rather than a true wadi, is about 200 miles long and 1,000 feet below the adjacent plateau. Northeast of Wadi As-Sirhan are wide lava fields and chert plains belonging to the southern part of Al-Hamad, the Syrian Desert. The basin containing An-Nafud is rimmed on the north by escarpments, down the northern slope of which run the 'Anizah Wadis (the wadis of the

Arabia, Animal life

The camel has traditionally been the chief support of nomadic life in Arabia. Without the camel, the Bedouin could never have moved far from water fit for human beings; with the camel, he could survive for months on its milk and penetrate deep into the deserts. The camel also furnished food, clothing, fuel (dung), transportation, and power for drawing water or for plowing.

Widmann, Joseph Viktor

As literary editor of the Bern daily newspaper Der Bund from 1880 to 1910, Widmann occupied an authoritative position in Swiss letters and promoted many talented writers. He was himself an accomplished though not a strikingly original writer, and he handled such

Dandruff

Skin disorder, a form of seborrheic dermatitis (q.v.) that affects the scalp.

Tadjoura, Gulf Of

French �Golfe De Tadjoura, � gulf indenting the coastline of Djibouti, eastern Africa, located at the extreme western end of the Gulf of Aden. It provides some shelter for the port of Djibouti on the southeastern shore of the gulf. The gulf is 35 miles (56 km) wide at the mouth and 50 miles long, with a depth of as much as 3,550 feet (1,082 m) near the centre. It is about 164 feet deep off the coast of Djibouti. The coastline is rather

Obscenity

In most

Ila

Also spelled �Illa�, also called �Ila Orangun� town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. The town lies in the Yoruba Hills and on the road from Oshogbo to Omu-Aran. One of the oldest settlements of the Yoruba people, it was founded according to tradition by the orangun (�ruler�) of Ila, a son of Oduduwa, the deity who is said to have spread earth on the primeval water. Modern Ila is a collecting centre for locally produced cotton

Ila

Also spelled �Illa�, also called �Ila Orangun� town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. The town lies in the Yoruba Hills and on the road from Oshogbo to Omu-Aran. One of the oldest settlements of the Yoruba people, it was founded according to tradition by the orangun (�ruler�) of Ila, a son of Oduduwa, the deity who is said to have spread earth on the primeval water. Modern Ila is a collecting centre for locally produced cotton

Saint Albans

A British town was established on the west bank of the Ver in the 1st century BCE, and subsequently the Romans built their town of Verulamium on the site. In 61 CE the town was sacked by Queen Boudicca. Sections of the town wall dating

Caitanya Sect

Also spelled �Chaitanya� intensely emotional form of Hinduism that has flourished from the 16th century, mainly in Bengal and eastern Orissa, India. It takes its name from the medieval saint Caitanya (Chaitanya; 1485 - 1533), whose fervent devotion to Lord Krishna (Krsna) inspired the movement. For Caitanya the legends of Krishna and his youthful beloved, Radha, were both symbolic of and the highest expressions

Iron Mask, The Man In The

He was first imprisoned at Pignerol (Pinerolo, in Piedmont) sometime before 1681, then at other prisons

Ibn Al-'awwam

Agriculturist who wrote the Arabic treatise on agriculture, Kitab al-fila-hah, the outstanding medieval work on the subject. The Spanish translation, published in the early 1800s, consists of 35 chapters dealing with agronomy, cattle and poultry raising, and beekeeping. It deals with 585 plants; explains the cultivation of more than 50 fruit trees; and includes

World War I, The Egyptian frontiers, 1915 - July 1917

Even after the evacuation from Gallipoli, the British maintained 250,000 troops in Egypt. A major source of worry to the British was the danger of a Turkish threat from Palestine across the Sinai Desert to the Suez Canal. That danger waned, however, when the initially unpromising rebellion of the Hashimite amir Husayn ibn 'Ali against the Turks in the Hejaz was developed by the

Andreini, Giovambattista

Andreini began his stage career with the Compagnia dei Gelosi founded by his parents, but about 1601 he formed his

Balaam

A non-Israelite prophet described in the Old Testament (Num. 22 - 24) as a diviner who is importuned by Balak, the king of Moab, to place a malediction on the people of Israel, who are camped ominously on the plains of Moab. Balaam states that he will utter only what his god Yahweh inspires, but he is willing to accompany the Moabite messengers to Balak. He is met en route by an angel

Fields, Dorothy

Fields was the daughter of Lew M. Fields of the vaudeville comedy team of Weber and Fields. After graduating from high school in New York City, she taught drama

Hetzer, Ludwig

After studies at Freiburg im Breisgau, Hetzer published Judicium Dei (1523; �The Judgment of God�), in which he condemned the use of images, and Ein Beweis (1524; �One Proof �), a work on the conversion of the Jews. The first work became a major part of the Reformed effort

Pacific Ocean

The wind and pressure systems of the Pacific conform closely with the so-called planetary system - i.e., the patterns of air pressure and the consequent wind patterns that develop in the atmosphere of the Earth as a result of its rotation (Coriolis force) and the inclination of its axis (ecliptic) toward the Sun. They are, in essence, a three-celled latitudinal arrangement

Mercy, Claudius Florimund, Graf Von

Mercy entered the Austrian army in 1682, and distinguished himself in Hungary and Italy as a resolute and versatile cavalry commander. After the outbreak of the War of the Spanish

Biblical Literature, The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness

One of the most interesting Dead Sea Scrolls is The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, a description of the eschatological war between the Sons of Light - i.e., the sect - and the rest of mankind, first with the other Jews and then with the Gentiles. At the end the Sons of Light will conquer the whole world, and in this war they will be helped by heavenly hosts;

Ba'al Shem Tov

Byname of �Israel Ben Eliezer, �acronym �Besht� charismatic founder (c. 1750) of Hasidism, a Jewish spiritual movement characterized by mysticism and opposition to secular studies and Jewish rationalism. He aroused controversy by mixing with ordinary people, renouncing mortification of the flesh, and insisting on the holiness of ordinary bodily existence. He was also responsible

Netanyahu, Benjamin

Netanyahu was the son of the historian Benzion Netanyahu. In 1963 the family moved to Philadelphia in the United States, where Benjamin attended high school. He enlisted in the Israeli military in 1967 and became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matcal.

Mammal, Circulatory system

In mammals, as in birds, right and left ventricles of the heart are completely separated, so that pulmonary (lung) and systemic (body) circulations are completely independent. Oxygenated blood arrives in the left atrium from the lungs and passes to the left ventricle, whence it is forced through the aorta to the systemic circulation. Deoxygenated blood from the tissues

Polecat

The European, or common, polecat, also called foul marten for its odour (Mustela, sometimes Putorius, putorius), occurs in woodlands of Eurasia and North Africa. It weighs 0.5 - 1.4 kg (1 - 3 pounds)

Interior Design, Residential interiors

Residential interiors are obviously much freer and much more personal for both the interior designer and the occupants than other types of interiors. In fact, homes that have been designed unconsciously by creative occupants without any standard decorative rules are often the most beautiful ones. Certain planning and functional considerations are constant

Aristotle, Third period: founding and directing of the Lyceum

Aristotle remained in Stagira until 335, when, nearing 50 years of age, he once again returned to Athens. At this time the presidency of the Academy became vacant by the death of Speusippus, and Xenocrates of Chalcedon, his old associate in biological research, was elected to the post. Although Aristotle appears never to have wholly severed his links with the Academy, he nonetheless