Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) spinal cord, the part of the nervous system occupying the hollow interior (vertebral canal) of the series of vertebrae that form the spinal column, technically known as the vertebral column. Extending...

(Encyclopedia) Thomson, James, 1700–1748, Scottish poet. Educated at Edinburgh, he went to London, took a post as tutor, and became acquainted with such literary celebrities as Gay, Arbuthnot, and Pope. His most f...

(Encyclopedia) Buckinghamshire bŭkˈĭng-əmshĭr [key], Buckingham, or Bucks, county (2020 est. pop. 817,0...

(Encyclopedia) arsenopyrite mĭsˈpĭkəl [key], silver-white to steel-gray mineral with the metallic luster characteristic of a pyrite. It is a sulfarsenide of iron, FeAsS, crystallizing in the orthorhombic system ...

(Encyclopedia) whippet, breed of small, slender hound developed in England in the mid-18th cent. It stands between 18 and 22 in. (45.7–55.8 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 20 lb (9 kg). Its close-lying, ...

(Encyclopedia) coot, common name for a migratory marsh bird related to rails and gallinules and found in North America and Europe. The American coot (Fulica americana), or mud hen, is slate gray with a white bill, b...

(Encyclopedia) stibnite stĭbˈnīt [key], antimony sulfide, Sb2S3, a mineral, silvery gray in color, with a metallic luster. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system. Found in many parts of the world, it is the m...

(Encyclopedia) bayberry, common name for the Myricaceae, a family of trees and shrubs with aromatic foliage, found chiefly in temperate and subtropical regions. The waxy gray “berries” of the North American wild...

(Encyclopedia) quartzite, usually metamorphic rock composed of firmly cemented quartz grains. Most often it is white, light gray, yellowish, or light brown, but is sometimes colored blue, green, purple, or black by ...

(Encyclopedia) Doulton ware dōlˈtən [key], English pottery produced at Lambeth after 1815, first by John Doulton and his partners, then by his descendants. It won the medal at the Exhibition of 1851 and more than...