Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) peyotism, religion of some Native North Americans in which the hallucinogenic peyote button is used as the sacramental food. It is the most widespread indigenous contemporary Native American religion....

(Encyclopedia) Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus hĕkˈəvĕldər [key], 1743–1823, Moravian missionary in the United States, b. Bedford, England. Settling (1754) in Bethlehem, Pa., with his parents, he later wa...

(Encyclopedia) cypress, common name for members of the Cupressaceae, a widely distributed family of coniferous shrubs and trees, several yielding valuable timber. The major genera are Juniperus (juniper), Thuja (arb...

(Encyclopedia) Maritime Territory or Primorsky Kray prēmôrˈskē krī [key], administrative division (1992 pop. 2,309,000), c.64,900 sq mi (168,100 sq km), Russian Far East, between China (Manchuria or the Northea...

(Encyclopedia) Hyperboreans hīˌpərbôrˈēənz, –bôrēˈənz [key], in Greek mythology, people dwelling in a state of perfect bliss in the Far North who were Apollo worshipers. ...

(Encyclopedia) bean, name applied to the seeds of leguminous trees and shrubs and to various leguminous plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) with edible seeds or seed pods (legumes). The genera and specie...

(Encyclopedia) National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, cooperative agency of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations. Formed in 1950, with headquarters in New York Cit...

(Encyclopedia) Pentecostalism, worldwide 20th–21st-century Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The name derives from Pente...

(Encyclopedia) shell money, medium of exchange consisting of shells, the most widely distributed type of ancient currency. Shells are particularly useful as money because they may be strung in long strips of proport...

(Encyclopedia) Compromise of 1850. The annexation of Texas to the United States and the gain of new territory by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the close of the Mexican War (1848) aggravated the hostility betwee...