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puffball

(Encyclopedia)puffball or smokeball, fungus in which the aboveground portion is typically a stemless brownish sac with an opening at the top through which issues the dustlike mass of ripe spores. The common puffbal...

Pullman, George Mortimer

(Encyclopedia)Pullman, George Mortimer, 1831–97, American industrialist and developer of the railroad sleeping car, b. Brocton, N.Y. As a young man he became a cabinetmaker, and after he moved (1858) to Chicago h...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Coltrane, John

(Encyclopedia)Coltrane, John kōltrānˈ, kōlˈtrān [key], 1926–67, American jazz musician, b. Hamlet, N.C. He began ...

hoatzin

(Encyclopedia)hoatzin wätsēnˈ [key] [Aztec], common name for a peculiar marsh bird, Opisthocomus hoatzin. The hoatzin is a slender bird with a brownish plumage spotted with white above and reddish-yellow to rust...

mammary gland

(Encyclopedia)mammary gland, organ of the female mammal that produces and secretes milk for the nourishment of the young. A mammal may have from 1 to 11 pairs of mammary glands, depending on the species. Generally,...

Abd al-Hamid II

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Hamid II, 1842–1918, Ottoman sultan (1876–1909). His uncle, Abd al-Aziz, was deposed from the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1876 by the Young Turks, a liberal reformist group. Ab...

Darcy, Thomas Darcy, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Darcy, Thomas Darcy, Baron därˈsē [key], 1467–1537, English nobleman. He served in a number of military expeditions for Henry VII and for the young Henry VIII. He disapproved of Henry VIII's divo...

creosote

(Encyclopedia)creosote krēˈəsōt [key], volatile, heavy, oily liquid obtained by the distillation of coal tar or wood tar. Creosote derived from beechwood tar has been used medicinally as an antiseptic and in th...

convulsion

(Encyclopedia)convulsion, sudden, violent, involuntary contraction of the muscles of the body, often accompanied by loss of consciousness. It is not known what causes the abnormal impulses from the brain that resul...