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oarfish

(Encyclopedia)oarfish, large, elongated fish, genus Regalecus, found in the oceans worldwide except for the polar regions. Oarfish species are solitary and rarely seen by humans. The giant oarfish, R. glesne, is th...

Brandenburg, city, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brandenburg, city, Brandenburg, E Germany, a port on the Havel River. It is an industrial center and rail junction. Manufactures include steel, machiner...

Dupuytren, Guillaume, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Dupuytren, Guillaume, Baron gēyōmˈ bärôNˈ düpüēträNˈ [key], 1777–1835, French surgeon. As professor at the Hôtel Dieu, Paris, from 1812, he was noted as diagnostician, lecturer, and surg...

encaustic

(Encyclopedia)encaustic, painting medium in which the binder for the pigment is wax or wax and resin. Examples of encaustic tomb portraits from Roman Egypt bear witness to the durability of the medium, which is tho...

Faure, Élie

(Encyclopedia)Faure, Élie ālēˈ fōr [key], 1873–1937, French art historian. Trained in medicine, he brought his scientific knowledge to bear in his study of the history of art, relating it to the progress of ...

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

(Encyclopedia)Ursa Major ûrˈsə [key] and Ursa Minor [Lat.,=the great bear; the little bear], two conspicuous northern constellations. Known to many peoples from ancient times, these constellations have had vario...

Eckener, Hugo

(Encyclopedia)Eckener, Hugo, 1868–1954, German airship designer and pilot, Ph.D. Univ. of Leipzig, 1892. As a journalist he covered early flights of Zeppelin's first rigid airships. He joined (1908) Zeppelin's co...

Hazen, William Babcock

(Encyclopedia)Hazen, William Babcock, 1830–87, American general, b. West Hartford, near Hartford, Vt. In the Civil War he fought at Shiloh, Perryville, and Murfreesboro, and in the Chattanooga campaign. Promoted ...

timberline

(Encyclopedia)timberline, elevation above which trees cannot grow. Its location is influenced by the various factors that determine temperature, including latitude, prevailing wind directions, and exposure to sunli...

Ross, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Sir John, 1777–1856, British arctic explorer and rear admiral. In 1818 he went in search of the Northwest Passage but turned back after exploring Baffin Bay. Financed by Sir Felix Booth, he co...