Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) blowgun, hollow tube from which a dart or an arrow is blown by a person's breath. The arrow was usually tipped with a poison, such as curare, which would stun or kill the struck prey. Blowguns were wi...

(Encyclopedia) Rachel ālēˈzä fālēksˈ [key], 1821–58, French actress, b. Switzerland. Exploited by her father in her childhood, she sang in the streets with her sister Sarah. In Paris, showing great promise ...

(Encyclopedia) Essequibo ĕsākēˈbō [key], longest river of Guyana, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising in the Guiana Highlands, S Guyana, and flowing generally N to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the river's course is b...

(Encyclopedia) Kemp, Jack French, 1935–2009, American politician and government official, b. Los Angeles. He played football while at Occidental College (grad. 1957) and was a professional quarterback for 13 seaso...

(Encyclopedia) Robert I, c.865–923, French king (922–23), son of Count Robert the Strong and younger brother of King Eudes. He inherited from Eudes the territory between the Seine and the Loire rivers. In 922, R...

(Encyclopedia) souari or swarri nut, name for tropical trees of the genus Caryocar, abundant in N South America. The fatty “nuts,” botanically drupe fruits, somewhat resemble Brazil nuts but are much larger and ...

(Encyclopedia) French Revolutionary calendar, the official calendar of France, Nov. 24, 1793–Dec. 31, 1805. Its introduction was decreed by the Convention on Oct. 5, 1793, but it was computed from Sept. 22, 1792, ...

(Encyclopedia) Louis IV or Louis d'Outremer lwē do͞otrəmĕrˈ [key] [Fr.,=Louis from overseas], 921–54, French king (936–54), son of King Charles III (Charles the Simple). He spent his youth as an exile in En...

(Encyclopedia) Sabatier, Paul, 1854–1941, French organic chemist, D.Sc. Collège de France, 1880. He joined the faculty at the Univ. of Toulouse in 1882 and taught there until he retired in 1930. Sabatier was a co...

(Encyclopedia) Ypres, John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st earl of: see French, John Denton Pinkstone, 1st earl of Ypres. ...