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Safed Koh

(Encyclopedia)Safed Koh säfādˈ kō [key], mountain range on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, SE of Kabul; rises to 15,620 ft (4,761 m) at Mt. Sikaram. It parallels the Kabul River. A spur of the range is crossed...

swan

(Encyclopedia)swan, common name for a large aquatic bird of both hemispheres, related to ducks and geese. It has a long, gracefully curved neck and an extremely long, convoluted trachea which makes possible its far...

soil

(Encyclopedia)soil, surface layer of the earth, composed of fine rock material disintegrated by geological processes; and humus, the organic remains of decomposed vegetation. In agriculture, soil is the medium that...

Oruro

(Encyclopedia)Oruro ōro͞oˈrō [key], city (1992 pop. 183,422), capital of Oruro dept., W Bolivia. It is Bolivia's railroad center. Oruro's economy is based on exploitation of the region's tin, tungsten, and copp...

Garrett, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Garrett, Thomas, 1789–1871, American abolitionist, b. Upper Darby, Pa. A Quaker, he joined the Pennsylvania Abolition Society in 1818. At Wilmington, Del., where he became a hardware merchant and to...

Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Burlamaqui, Jean Jacques zhäN zhäk bo͝orlämäkēˈ [key], 1694–1748, Swiss jurist. His chief works are Principes du droit naturel [principles of natural law] (1747) and Principes du droit politi...

National Forest System

(Encyclopedia)National Forest System, federally owned reserves, c.191 million acres (77.4 million hectares), administered by the Forest Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The system is made up of 155 nationa...

hydraulic machine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Hydraulic pressure: In any hydraulic device the pressure exerted by one piston is transmitted throughout the fluid. Since pressure equals force divided by area, a small force (F1) exerted on a ...

Yunnan

(Encyclopedia)Yunnan or Yun-nan both: yünˈnän [key] [south of the clouds], province (2010 pop. 45,966,239), c.162,000 sq mi (419,600 sq km), SW China. It borders Myanmar on the west and Laos and Vietnam on the s...