(Encyclopedia) medicine man, among Native Americans and other traditional peoples as far back as Paleolithic times, a person believed to possess supernatural healing powers. Like the shaman the…
(Encyclopedia) chitinchitinkītˈən [key], main constituent of the shells of arthropods. Chitin, a polysaccharide (see carbohydrate) analogous in chemical structure to cellulose, consists of units of a…
(Encyclopedia) alloyalloyălˈoi, əloiˈ [key] [O. Fr.,=combine], substance with metallic properties that consists of a metal fused with one or more metals or nonmetals. Alloys may be a homogeneous…
(Encyclopedia) ephorsephorsĕfˈərz [key] [Gr.,=overseers], in ancient Greece, magistrates in several Dorian states. In Sparta they comprised an executive, legislative, and judicial board of five…
(Encyclopedia) bronze, in metallurgy, alloy of copper, tin, zinc, phosphorus, and sometimes small amounts of other elements. Bronzes are harder than brasses. Most are produced by melting the copper…
(Encyclopedia) Amalfi Amalfi ämälˈfē [key], town, in Campania, S Italy, a small fishing port on the Gulf of Sorrento. Built on a mountain slope, it is also a picturesque…
(Encyclopedia) ironwork, ornamental. The shaping of wrought iron, used almost exclusively until the 16th cent., is primarily an art of the blacksmith, who must work with the metal while it is at the…
(Encyclopedia) LecomptonLecomptonləkŏmpˈtən [key], small town, Douglas co., NE Kans., on the Kansas River between Lawrence and Topeka. The pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution was formulated (Sept.,…
(Encyclopedia) Pirogov, Nikolai IvanovichPirogov, Nikolai Ivanovichnyĭkəlīˈ ēväˈnəvĭch pĭrōgôfˈ [key], 1810–81, Russian surgeon, b. Moscow. He entered Moscow Univ. at the age of 14 and completed the…
