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Szechenyi, Count Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Szechenyi, Count Stephen sāˈchĕnyē [key], Hung. Széchenyi István, 1791–1860, Hungarian politician. Influenced by his studies in England, he championed the modernization of Hungarian economic, ...

Reformation

(Encyclopedia)Reformation, religious revolution that took place in Western Europe in the 16th cent. It arose from objections to doctrines and practices in the medieval church (see Roman Catholic Church) and ultimat...

Miki, Takeo

(Encyclopedia)Miki, Takeo, 1907–88, Japanese politician, prime minister of Japan (1974–76). He attended Meiji Univ. and the Univ. of California, Los Angeles, and was first elected to the Diet in 1937. An advoca...

toucan

(Encyclopedia)toucan to͞okănˈ, to͞oˈkän [key], perching bird of the New World tropics, related to the woodpeckers. Toucans vary in size from the jay-sized toucanets to the 24-in. (62-cm) tocos of the Amazon b...

skimmer

(Encyclopedia)skimmer, common name for certain sea birds resembling the related tern. Skimmers (genus Rhynchops) have long, laterally compressed bills of which the lower mandible is one fourth longer than the movab...

peccary

(Encyclopedia)peccary pĕkˈərē [key], small wild pig, genus Tayassu, the only pig native to the Americas. Although similar in appearance to Old World pigs, peccaries are classified in a family of their own becau...

gall, in botany

(Encyclopedia)gall, abnormal growth, or hypertrophy, of plant tissue produced by chemical or mechanical (e.g., the rubbing together of two branches) irritants or hormones. Chemical irritants are released by parasit...

inchworm

(Encyclopedia)inchworm, name for the larvae of moths of the family Geometridae, a large, cosmopolitan group with over 1,200 species indigenous to North America. Also called measuring worms, spanworms, and loopers, ...

boat-billed heron

(Encyclopedia)boat-billed heron or boatbill, a tropical New World heron, Chochlearius chochlearius. With shorter legs and a squatter appearance than most herons, this bird is remarkable chiefly for its broad bill, ...

Meiji

(Encyclopedia)Meiji māˈjē [key], 1852–1912, reign name of the emperor of Japan from 1867 to 1912; his given name was Mutsuhito. He ascended the throne when he was 15. A year later the shogun fell, and the powe...