(Encyclopedia) leopard, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera pardus, widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It is commonly yellow, buff, or gray, patterned with black spots and rings. The…
(Encyclopedia) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, founded in 1870. The Metropolitan Museum is the foremost repository of art in the United States and one of the world's great museums. It…
(Encyclopedia) alligator, large aquatic reptile of the genus Alligator, in the same order as the crocodile. There are two species—a large type found in the S United States and a small type found in E…
(Encyclopedia) CovenantersCovenanterskəvənănˈtərz [key], in Scottish history, groups of Presbyterians bound by oath to sustain each other in the defense of their religion. The first formal Covenant…
(Encyclopedia) coyotecoyotekīˈōt, kīōˈtē [key] or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. Historically found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country…
(Encyclopedia) Peasants' War, 1524–26, rising of the German peasants and the poorer classes of the towns, particularly in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia. It was the climax of a series of local…
(Encyclopedia) polar bear, large white bear, Ursus maritimus, formerly Thalarctos maritimus, of the coasts of arctic North America, Asia, and Europe. Polar bears usually live on drifting pack ice,…
(Encyclopedia) Balzac, Honoré deBalzac, Honoré debălˈzăk, bôl–, Fr. ōnôrāˈ də bälzäkˈ [key], 1799–1850, French novelist, b. Tours. Balzac ranks among the great masters of the novel. Of a bourgeois…
(Encyclopedia) walrus, marine mammal, Odobenus rosmarus, found in Arctic seas. Largest of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds (see seal), the walrus is also distinguished by its long tusks and by…
(Encyclopedia) JacobitesJacobitesjăkˈəbītsˌ [key], adherents of the exiled branch of the house of Stuart who sought to restore James II and his descendants to the English and Scottish thrones after…
