Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) satinwood, name for a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indi...

(Encyclopedia) Rajagopalachari, Chakravarti chəkrəvärˈtē räˌjəgōpäˈləchäˌrē [key], 1878–1972, Indian political leader. He was educated in Bangalore (now Bengaluru) and Madras (now Chennai) and admit...

(Encyclopedia) Southern Ocean or Antarctic Ocean, name sometimes given to those parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans that surround Antarctica S of roughly 60°S. These waters are marked by the Antarctic...

(Encyclopedia) Green, Samuel, 1615–1702, early American printer. He established himself at Cambridge, Mass., in 1649, using a press owned by Henry Dunster, the first president of Harvard. Green succeeded Stephen D...

(Encyclopedia) Gujral, Inder Kumar, 1919–2012, Indian political leader, prime minister of India (1997–98), b. Jhelum, British India (now in Pakistan). Active in the Indian independence movement, he was a member ...

(Encyclopedia) manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into deg...

(Encyclopedia) Justice, United States Department of, federal executive department established in 1870 and charged with providing the means for enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, and c...

(Encyclopedia) histamine hĭsˈtəmēnˌ [key], organic compound derived in the body from the amino acid histidine by the removal of a carboxyl group (COOH). Although found in many plant and animal tissues, histamin...

(Encyclopedia) Old Sarum sârˈəm [key], site of a former city, Wiltshire, S England, just N of Salisbury (New Sarum). Excavations and scanning technologies have revealed remains of a British Iron Age fort, the Rom...

(Encyclopedia) oxalic acid ĕthˌāndīōĭk [key], HO2CCO2H, a colorless, crystalline organic carboxylic acid that melts at 189℃ with sublimation. Oxalic acid and oxalate salts are poisonous. Oxalic acid is found...