Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) curlew kûrˈlo͞o [key], common name for large shore birds of both hemispheres, generally brown and buff in color and with decurved bills. There are eight species, belonging to the genus Numenius. Th...

(Encyclopedia) Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728–1814, American writer, b. Barnstable, Mass.; sister of James Otis and wife of James Warren, who was speaker of the Massachusetts house of representatives. An ardent patriot,...

(Encyclopedia) Quincy, Josiah kwĭnˈzē [key], 1744–75, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Boston. An outstanding lawyer, he wrote a series of anonymous articles for the Boston Gazette in which he op...

(Encyclopedia) Platt, Orville Hitchcock, 1827–1905, U.S. Senator (1879–1905), b. Washington, Litchfield co., Conn. Platt held many public offices in Connecticut before he served in the U.S. Senate. He helped fra...

(Encyclopedia) counterfeiting, manufacturing spurious coins, paper money, or evidences of governmental obligation (e.g., bonds) in the semblance of the true. There must be sufficient resemblance to the genuine artic...

(Encyclopedia) lupine or lupin lo͞oˈpĭn [key], any species of the genus Lupinus, annual or perennial herbs or shrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). These leguminous plants have been cultivated in the M...

(Encyclopedia) Moran, Edward mərănˈ [key], 1829–1901, American painter of marine and historical subjects, b. England. He came to the United States with his family in 1844. In 1899 he completed a series of 13 pa...

(Encyclopedia) black fly, name for any of the flies of the family Simuliidae. The black fly is about 1⁄8 in. (3.2 mm) long and has large eyes, short legs, a stout, humped back, broad gauzy wings, and piercing-suck...

(Encyclopedia) Hidatsa hēdätˈsä [key], Native North Americans, also known as the Minitari and the Gros Ventre. Their language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native America...

(Encyclopedia) Kootenai ko͞otˈənāˌ [key], group of Native North Americans who in the 18th cent. occupied the so-called Kootenai country (i.e., N Montana, N Idaho, and SE British Columbia). Their language is tho...