Dominion Arboretum And Botanic Garden, Central Experimental Farm

Ottawa, part of the Plant Research Institute of Agriculture Canada (formerly Canada Department of Agriculture). Established in 1889, the arboretum is Canada's oldest. It occupies 40 hectares (99 acres) and includes about 10,000 kinds of plants. Its special collections of flowering crabs, lilacs, lilies, and hedge plants are as much for experimental work and study as for display to the

Botosani

Judet (county), northeastern Romania, occupying an area of 1,946 square miles (4,965 square km), and bounded on the north by Ukraine and on the east by Moldova. The Prut and Siret rivers are, respectively, the county's eastern and western borders. Both rivers drain southeastward. Botosani (q.v.) city, a textile centre, is the county capital. Other towns include Trusesti, Nicolae Balcescu, Dorohoi,

Fukasaku, Kinji

Japanese filmmaker (b. July 3, 1930, Mito, Japan - d. Jan. 12, 2003, Tokyo, Japan), created a series of increasingly violent and well-received yakuza (gangster) movies. His first movie was Hakuchu no buraikan (1961; Greed in Broad Daylight). Standouts among the more than 60 films that he directed were Kurotokage (1968; Black Lizard), Gunki hatameku motoni (1972; Under the Flag of the Rising Sun), and Jingi naki

Sinaitic Inscriptions

Also called �Proto-sinaitic Inscriptions, � archeological remains that are among the earliest examples of alphabetic writing; they were inscribed on stones in the Sinai Peninsula, where they were first discovered in 1904 - 05 by the British archaeologist Sir William Flinders Petrie. Apparently influenced both by Egyptian hieroglyphic writing and by the Canaanitic writing system (1900 - 1800 BC; probably ancestral to the North

V�chodn� Slovensko

Czech �V�chodoslovensk� kraj (region), eastern Slovakia. It is bordered by Stredn� Slovensko kraj to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, and Hungary to the south. The Vysok� Tatry (High Tatras) and N�zke Beskydy Mountains extend across the northern part of V�chodn� Slovensko kraj, and the N�zke Tatry (Low Tatras) give way to the Slovensk� Rudo (�Slovak Ore�) Mountains in the west. A major

Ascoli Piceno

City, capital of Ascoli Piceno provincia, Marche regione, central Italy. Ascoli Piceno lies at the confluence of the Tronto and Castellano rivers. The ancient centre of the Picenes (early inhabitants of the Adriatic coast), it was conquered in the 3rd century BC by the Romans, who knew it as Asculum Picenum. After 1006 the city was ruled by its bishops and successive feudatories

Earle, John

An outstanding book of �characters,� it avoids didacticism and displays genuine personalities, such as a �child,� a �Good old Man,� a �young raw Preacher,� and a �Grave Divine.� It is alive with its humour, perception, and epigrammatic

Hands, Imposition Of

Also called �Laying On Of Hands, � ritual act in which a priest or other religious functionary places one or both hands palms down on the top of another person's head, usually while saying a prayer or blessing. The imposition of hands was first practiced in Judaism and was adopted by Christianity. In the Hebrew Bible it is associated with three interrelated ideas: consecration (i.e., setting apart for

Computers, The first stored-program machines

But engineers in Britain beat the Americans to the goal of building the first stored-program digital computer. At the University of Manchester, Maxwell H.A. Newman, Thomas Kilburn, and Frederic C. Williams built a simple stored-program computer, known as the Manchester Mark I, in 1949. (See the photograph.) Among its innovations was Williams's invention of a way to store information

China, Justice

The legal apparatus that existed before the changes made during the Cultural Revolution has been resurrected. The State Council again has a Ministry of Justice, and procuratorial organs and a court system have been reestablished. The legal framework for this system has been provided through the adoption of various laws and legal codes. For the first time, the law

Kernite

Also called �Rasorite, � borate mineral, hydrated sodium borate (Na2B4O7�4H2O), that was formerly the chief source of borax (q.v.). It forms very large crystals, often 60 to 90 centimetres (2 to 3 feet) thick; the largest observed measured 240 by 90 cm. The crystals are colourless and transparent but are usually covered by a surface film of opaque white tincalconite. Kernite is associated with other borate minerals as

Race

The idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. Genetic studies in the late 20th century denied the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that �races� are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different

Passeriform, Size range and structural diversity

Passerines are small to medium-sized land birds, ranging from about 7.5 to about 117 centimetres (three to 46 inches) in overall length. Among the tiniest species are the New World flycatchers (Tyrannidae), New Zealand wrens (Xenicidae), titmice (Paridae), flower-peckers (Dicaeidae), tanagers (Thraupidae), and waxbills (Estrildidae). The heaviest are the lyrebirds (Menuridae) of Australia

Bethel

Ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was important in Old Testament times and was frequently associated with Abraham and Jacob. Excavations, carried out by the American School of Oriental Research and the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, suggest that Bethel may have been the

Bahr Al-ghazal

Also spelled �Bahr el-Ghazal, �English �Gazelle River, � river, The Sudan, chief western affluent of the Nile River. It is 445 miles (716 km) long and joins the upper Nile (Bahr al-Jabal) through Lake No, from which it flows eastward as the White Nile (Bahr al-Abyad). Vaguely known to early Greek geographers, the river was mapped in 1772 by the French geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. It is known as the Bahr al-Ghazal only after joining with

G.c.b.

Knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Bath, member of the highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order of the.

Crawford, William H(arris)

After living in Virginia and South Carolina, the Crawford family moved to Georgia, where William attended Moses Waddel's Carmel Academy. He then taught school in Augusta,

Crawford, William H(arris)

After living in Virginia and South Carolina, the Crawford family moved to Georgia, where William attended Moses Waddel's Carmel Academy. He then taught school in Augusta,

Cordilleran Geosyncline

A linear trough in the Earth's crust in which rocks of Late Precambrian to Mesozoic age (roughly 600 million to 66 million years ago) were deposited along the western coast of North America, from southern Alaska through western Canada and the United States, probably to western Mexico. The eastern boundary of the geosyncline extends from southeastern Alaska along the eastern

Cordilleran Geosyncline

A linear trough in the Earth's crust in which rocks of Late Precambrian to Mesozoic age (roughly 600 million to 66 million years ago) were deposited along the western coast of North America, from southern Alaska through western Canada and the United States, probably to western Mexico. The eastern boundary of the geosyncline extends from southeastern Alaska along the eastern

Mau Mau

Militant African nationalist movement that originated in the 1950s among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. The Mau Mau (origin of the name is uncertain) advocated violent resistance to British domination in Kenya; the movement was especially associated with the ritual oaths employed by leaders of the Kikuyu Central Association to promote unity in the independence

Lipogram

A written text deliberately composed of words not having a certain letter (such as the Odyssey of Tryphiodorus, which had no alpha in the first book, no beta in the second, and so on). The French writer Georges Perec composed his novel La Disparition (1969; A Void) entirely without using the letter e; his English translator, Gilbert Adair, succeeded in avoiding that letter as

Erik I

Byname �Erik Bloodax, �Norwegian �Eirik Blod�ks� king of Norway (c. 930 - 935) and later king of Northumberland (948, 952 - 954). On the death of his father, Harald I Fairhair, first king of united Norway, Erik attempted to make himself sole king of Norway, defeating and slaying two of his brothers to whom vassal kingdoms had been assigned by their father; but his tyranny fostered the reaction that had set in against the strong rule

Existentialism, Manner and style of human existence

Existentialism is never a solipsism in the proper sense of the term (that I alone exist), because every existential possibility relates man to things and to other men. Sometimes it is presented as humanism in the sense that it places human destiny in the hands of men themselves. But this version is rejected by all of the currents of the movement that, starting with Heidegger,

Gabon, Industry

Gabon is one of the world's largest producers of manganese. Expansion of production at Moanda has been possible since the completion of the railroad to nearby Franceville in December 1986 and by the completion of improved ore handling facilities at the rail terminus at the deepwater port of Owendo in 1988. The exploitation and processing of uranium, which began 16 miles north

United Kingdom, Labour and taxation

Government revenues are derived from several main sources, including income taxes, corporate taxes, taxes on the sale of goods and services, and national insurance contributions. After World War II the government adopted individual income tax rates that were among the highest in Europe. During the last two decades of the 20th century, individual income tax rates

Amado, Jorge

Brazilian novelist (b. Aug. 10, 1912, Ferradas, near Ilh�us, Braz. - d. Aug. 6, 2001, Salvador, Braz.), was the literary patriarch of his country. The first half of his career was characterized by ideological works and the second by humorous, often ribald, novels of Brazilian life. The publication of Amado's second novel, in 1933, led to his being briefly detained, the first of many harassments by the government.

Sta�l, Germaine De

In full �Anne-Louise-Germaine Necker, Baronne (baroness) de Sta�l-Holstein�, byname �Madame de Sta�l� French-Swiss woman of letters, political propagandist, and conversationalist, who epitomized the European culture of her time, bridging the history of ideas from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. She also gained fame by maintaining a salon for leading intellectuals. Her writings include novels, plays, moral and political essays, literary