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ferret

(Encyclopedia)ferret, name for a domesticated polecat, Mustela putorius, common in the Old World. It has been used for centuries to hunt rats, mice, and rabbits. Domestic ferrets are found in many color types inclu...

roulette

(Encyclopedia)roulette ro͞olĕtˈ [key], game of chance popular in gambling casinos, and in a simplified form elsewhere. In gambling houses the roulette wheel is set in an oblong table. Its outer area is marked of...

Newfoundland, breed of dog

(Encyclopedia)Newfoundland, breed of massive, powerful working dog developed in Newfoundland, probably in the 17th cent., and later perfected in England. It stands from 25 to 28 in. (63.5–71.1 cm) high at the sho...

Pyrenean shepherd

(Encyclopedia)Pyrenean shepherd or Berger des Pyrénées, breed of medium-sized herding dog that originated in the Pyrenees of S France; its name is often shortened to pyr shep. The breed comes in two varieties, th...

gibbon

(Encyclopedia)gibbon, small ape, family Hylobatidae, found in the forests of SE Asia. The gibbons are known as the small, or lesser, apes; they are the most highly adapted of the apes to arboreal life. They are hig...

ink

(Encyclopedia)ink, pigmented fluid used for writing and drawing, or a viscous compound used for printing, both of various colors but most frequently black. The oldest known variety, India ink or China ink, is still...

sunfish

(Encyclopedia)sunfish, common name for members of the family Centrachidae, comprising numerous species of spiny-finned, freshwater fishes with deep, laterally flattened bodies found in temperate North America. All ...

Manych

(Encyclopedia)Manych mäˈnĭch [key], two rivers, SE European Russia. The Western Manych, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rises near Stavropol in the N Caucasus and flows NW through Lake Manych-Gudilo into the lower Don R...

Thomson, Sir Charles Wyville

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Sir Charles Wyville, 1830–82, Scottish naturalist, noted as a marine biologist and deep-sea explorer. He participated in three deep-sea dredging expeditions (1868–70) and obtained evidenc...

Cunningham, Allan

(Encyclopedia)Cunningham, Allan, 1784–1842, Scottish author. His collection of The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern (4 vol., 1825) included his own “A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea,” one of the best-known ...