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Mission Indians

(Encyclopedia)Mission Indians, Native Americans of S and central California; so called because they were under the jurisdiction of some 21 Spanish missions that were established between 1769 and 1823. The major gro...

Monaghan, county, Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Monaghan mŏnˈəhən, –hănˌ [key], county (1991 pop. 51,293), 498 sq mi (1,290 sq km), N Republic of Ireland, bordered on the N by Northern Ireland. The county seat is Monaghan. The northwest por...

Negro, Río, river, Uruguay and Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Negro, Río rēˈō nāˈgrō [key], principal river of Uruguay, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in S Brazil and flowing SW across central Uruguay to the Uruguay River. It traverses a sheep-raising reg...

Pennines

(Encyclopedia)Pennines pĕnˈīnz [key] or Pennine Chain, mountain range, sometimes called the “backbone of England,” extending c.160 mi (260 km) from the Cheviot Hills on the Scottish border to the Peak Distri...

Kidman, Sir Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Kidman, Sir Sidney,1857–1935, Australian stockman, b. near Adelaide. He worked as a stockman and a drover in the outback of New South Wales before he began a business carting supplies to miners duri...

polybrominated biphenyl

(Encyclopedia)polybrominated biphenyl or PBB, any of a group of organic compounds used as a fire retardant. In 1973 several thousand pounds of PBB were accidentally mixed with livestock feed that was later distribu...

border collie

(Encyclopedia)border collie, breed of medium-sized, sheepherding dog developed in the British Isles. It stands about 18 in. (45.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 30 to 45 lb (13.6–20.4 kg). Its double co...

VX

(Encyclopedia)VX vēˈĕks [key], nerve gas several times more toxic than sarin but less volatile. It kills within minutes if inhaled or deposited on the skin; protection from VX would require both protective suits...

Xiangyang

(Encyclopedia)Xiangyang shyängˈfänˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 606,100), N Hubei prov., E central China, on the Han River; formed from the merger of the ancient cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng (on opposite ba...

goat

(Encyclopedia)goat, ruminant mammal with hollow horns and coarse hair belonging to the genus Capra of the cattle family and closely related to the sheep. True wild goats, all of Old World origin, include the Persia...