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Chapala

(Encyclopedia)Chapala chäpäˈlä [key], lake, c.50 mi (80 km) long and 8 mi (12.8 km) wide, W Mexico, in Jalisco and Michoacán states. It is the largest lake in Mexico. Set in a depression on the central plateau...

Fitch, John

(Encyclopedia)Fitch, John, 1743–98, American inventor, b. Windsor, Conn. Fitch began (1785) work on the invention of the steam engine and steamboat and secured soon afterward the exclusive right to build and oper...

Hula, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Hula, Lake, or Lake Huleh both: ho͞oˈlā [key], Arabic Bahr al Hulah, near sea-level lake formed by a natural dam of basalt, NE Israel; the Jordan River exits from its southern end. In ancient times...

Glauber's salt

(Encyclopedia)Glauber's salt, common name for sodium sulfate decahydrate, Na2SO4·10H2O; it occurs as white or colorless monoclinic crystals. Upon exposure to fairly dry air it effloresces, forming powdery anhydrou...

mullet

(Encyclopedia)mullet, blunt-nosed, tropical and temperate water fishes of the family Mugilidae, found worldwide. Small schools of mullets frequent shallow waters, feeding on aquatic plants and on mud, which is grou...

Miyagi

(Encyclopedia)Miyagi mēyäˈgē [key], prefecture (1990 pop. 2,248,521), 2,808 sq mi (7,273 sq km), N Honshu, Japan. A mountainous prefecture, it is known for the more than 200 pine-covered islands in Matsushima B...

Palk Strait

(Encyclopedia)Palk Strait pôk, pôlk [key], 40 to 85 mi (64–137 km) wide, between India and Sri Lanka. At its southern end, it is studded with shoal reefs, forming Adam's Bridge (or Rama's Bridge), and by small ...

lake dwelling

(Encyclopedia)lake dwelling, prehistoric habitation built over the shallow waters of a lake shore or a marsh, usually erected on pile-supported platforms, but sometimes on artificial islands or mounds. Such a site ...

Philae

(Encyclopedia)Philae fīˈlē [key], former island, SE Egypt, NE Africa, in the Nile River N of the Aswan High Dam. Of its temples, all dating from late Egyptian and classical times (600 b.c.–a.d. 600), the most ...

Pori

(Encyclopedia)Pori pôˈrē [key], Swed. Björneborg, city (1998 pop. 76,375), Western Finland prov., SW Finland, near the mouth of the Kokemaënjoki River. Timber and metals are exported, and chemical and wood pro...