Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Frontinus

(Encyclopedia)Frontinus (Sextus Julius Frontinus) frŏntīˈnəs [key], fl. a.d. 74, Roman administrator and writer. As governor of Britain from a.d. 74 or a.d. 75 to a.d. 78, he reduced the Silures, a rebellious t...

fuller's earth

(Encyclopedia)fuller's earth, mineral substance characterized by the property of absorbing basic colors and removing them from oils. It is composed mainly of alumina, silica, iron oxides, lime, magnesia, and water,...

Aquarius

(Encyclopedia)Aquarius əkwârˈēəs [key] [Lat.,=water carrier], large constellation located on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Capricornus and Pisces; it is one of the constell...

Min

(Encyclopedia)Min mĭn [key]. 1 Chief river of Fujian prov., SE China, c.350 mi (560 km) long, rising in Wuyi shan and flowing SE to the South China Sea near Fuzhou; it receives several tributaries near Nanping. Fu...

leaching

(Encyclopedia)leaching, method of extraction in which a solvent is passed through a mixture to remove some desired substance from it. A simple example is the passage of boiling water through ground coffee to dissol...

bowfin

(Encyclopedia)bowfin, primitive freshwater fish found in the Mississippi basin, the Great Lakes, and E to Vermont. The bowfin has a light covering of rounded, overlapping scales, a large mouth, and sharp teeth. Its...

Sudd

(Encyclopedia)Sudd so͝od [key], swampy region, c.200 mi (320 km) long, and c.150 mi (240 km) wide, central South Sudan, E central Africa. It is fed by the Bahr el Jebel, the Bahr el Ghazal, and the Bahr el Arab, h...

Vaal

(Encyclopedia)Vaal fäl [key], river, c.750 mi (1,210 km) long, rising in Mpumalanga, NE South Africa, and flowing SW to the Orange River. It forms most of the northern border of the Free State. The river's flow is...

Provo, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Provo, river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Uinta Mts., NE Utah, and flowing SW past Provo to Utah Lake. It was early used for irrigation, but after Utah Lake was badly depleted in the 1930s, t...

Browse by Subject