Leaf Fibre

Hard, coarse fibre obtained from leaves of monocotyledonous plants (flowering plants that usually have parallel-veined leaves, such as grasses, lilies, orchids, and palms), used mainly for cordage. Such fibres, usually long and stiff, are also called “hard” fibres, distinguishing them from the generally softer and more flexible fibres of the bast, or “soft,” fibre group. Commercially

Cahaba

Historic village, Dallas county, southwest-central Alabama, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Selma. Founded in 1819 as the first capital of Alabama, Cahaba thrived until floods forced the state government to move to Tuscaloosa in 1826. The site of a Confederate prison camp during the American Civil War, Cahaba remained the seat

Yessentuki

Also spelled  Jessentuki , or  Essentuki  city, Stavropol kray (region), southwestern Russia, in the valley of the Podkumok River. It was founded in 1798, developed as a fortress in the 1830s, and became a city in 1917. It is located at mineral springs at the base of the Caucasus Mountains. The city is composed of an old Cossack village in the southern sector and a newer city in the north. It is a major health resort, with sanatoriums

Wild Pig

Also called  Wild Boar,   any of the wild members of the pig species Sus scrofa (family Suidae, order Artiodactyla), the ancestors of domestic pigs. See boar.

Fish Sauce

In Southeast Asian cookery, a liquid seasoning prepared by fermenting freshwater or saltwater fish with salt in large vats. After a few months time, the resulting brownish, protein-rich liquid is drawn off and bottled. It is sometimes allowed to mature in the sun in glass or earthenware bottles before use. Called nam pla in Thailand, nuoc nam in Vietnam, patis in the Philippines,

Obstfelder, Sigbjørn

Most of Obstfelder's works appeared in the 1890s: his first volume of poetry, Digte (1893; Poems); a play, De røde draaber (1897; “The Red Drops”); several novellas; and the posthumously published

Gumma

Soft, granulomatous, tumourlike mass, sometimes appearing during the late stages of syphilis, that occurs most often beneath the skin and mucous membranes but that may also be found in the bones, nervous system, and other organs and tissues. See also syphilis.

Mashriq Al-adhkar

(Arabic: “place where the uttering of the name of God arises at dawn”), temple or house of worship in the Baha'i faith. The mashriq is characterized by a nine-sided construction, in keeping with the Baha'i belief in the mystical properties of the number nine. Free of ritual and clergy, the mashriq is open to adherents of all religions and offers a simple service consisting of readings

Ekman, Gösta

Ekman premiered in 1906 at Stockholm's Oscar Theatre and, after an apprenticeship on tour and in the provinces, returned to Stockholm (1913) to win acclaim for his classic portrayals, such as Lionel in Friedrich Schiller's Maid of Orleans (1914), Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing (1916), and

Ring

Basically, a ring consists of three parts: the circle, or hoop;

Marrah Mountains

Arabic  Jabal Marra,  mountain range, a rugged volcanic chain extending for 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest of Al-Fashir, in west-central Sudan. The highest point of the Nile-Lake Chad watershed, the mountains reach heights of more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Some intermittent tributaries of the Al-'Arab River rise on the southern flanks.

Yürük Rug

Rugs from eastern Anatolia, many

Cloud Forest

Also called  montane rainforest,   vegetation of tropical mountainous regions in which the rainfall is often heavy and persistent condensation occurs because of cooling of moisture-laden air currents deflected upward by the mountains. The trees in a cloud forest are typically short and crooked. Mosses, climbing ferns, lichens, and epiphytes (air plants, such as orchids) form thick blankets on the

Andrade, Mário De

Educated at the conservatory in São Paulo, Andrade helped organize what proved to be a key event in the

Amorphous Solid, Other preparation techniques

Numerous other methods exist for preparing amorphous solids, and new methods are continually invented. In melt spinning, a jet of molten metal is propelled against the moving surface of a cold, rotating copper cylinder. A solid film of metallic glass is spun off as a continuous ribbon at a speed that can exceed a kilometre per minute. In laser glazing, a brief intense