(Encyclopedia) spectrophotometer, instrument for measuring and comparing the intensities of common spectral lines in the spectra of two different sources of light. See photometry; spectroscope;…
(Encyclopedia) spiderwort, common name for some members of the Commelinaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical succulent herbs found especially in Africa and the Americas. Species of the…
(Encyclopedia) spinel, magnesium aluminum oxide, MgAl2O4, a mineral crystallizing in the isometric system, usually as octahedrons. It occurs as an accessory mineral in basic igneous rocks, in…
(Encyclopedia) broom rape, common name for plants of the Orobanchaceae, the broom rape family. They are parasitic on the roots of other plants; they have small leaves and little or no green color. In…
(Encyclopedia) aukaukôk [key], common name for a member of the family Alcidae (alcid family), swimming and diving birds of the N Atlantic and Pacific, which includes the guillemots and puffins. Their…
(Encyclopedia) grouper, common name for a large carnivorous member of the family Serranidae (sea bass family), abundant in tropical and subtropical seas and highly valued as food fish. There are…
(Encyclopedia) earwig, common name for any of the smooth, elongated insects of the order Dermaptera. Earwigs are small, with pairs of horny, forcepslike abdominal appendages, larger in the male than…
(Encyclopedia) crow, partially migratory black bird, genus Corvus, of the same family as the raven, the magpie, the jay, and the rook and the jackdaw of Europe. The American, or common, crow, C.…
(Encyclopedia) crucifixion, hanging on a cross, in ancient times a method of capital punishment. It was practiced widely in the Middle East but not by the Greeks. The Romans, who may have borrowed it…
(Encyclopedia) cormorantcormorantkôrˈmərənt [key], common name for large aquatic birds, related to the gannet and the pelican, and found chiefly in temperate and tropical regions, usually on the sea…
