Thursday, April 29, 2004

Orb Weaver

Notable among them are the silk spiders (subfamily Nephilinae), so called because of the great strength of their silk, which is sometimes used in the manufacture of textiles.

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Strabismus

Also called  squint , or  heterotropia  failure of the eyes to align properly on the object toward which a person seeks to direct his gaze. The deviant eye may be directed inward, toward the other eye (cross-eye, or esotropia); outward, away from the other eye (walleye, or exotropia); upward (hypertropia); or downward (hypotropia). The squint is called comitant if the deviation remains constant no matter in what direction

Monday, April 26, 2004

Henogamy

The custom by which one, and only one, member of a family is permitted to marry. The classic example is that of the patrilineal Nambudiri Brahmans of Malabar in Tamil Nadu, India; among them, only eldest sons were permitted to marry Nambudiri women and have legitimate children. The custom is concerned with the need to keep property intact and to limit the number of legitimate

Friday, April 23, 2004

Austin

The state's

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Frieze

The frieze in

Monday, April 19, 2004

Pigeon Racing

The earliest record of the domestication of pigeons is from the fifth Egyptian dynasty (about 3000 BC). The sultan of Baghdad established a pigeon post system in AD 1150, and Genghis Khan used such a system as his conquests

Saturday, April 17, 2004

Tribonian

From 530 to 532, and from 534 until his death, Tribonian served as Justinian's quaestor sacri

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Macaroni

In art, Late Paleolithic finger tracings in clay, the oldest form of art known. Innumerable examples appear on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves associated with human habitation in France and Spain, the oldest dating from about 30,000 BC. They range from simple scratchings and jumbled aimless lines to deliberate meanders and arabesques and outline drawings of

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Akutagawa Prize

The Akutagawa Prize was created in 1935 by the

Monday, April 12, 2004

Malachi, The Book Of

The book consists of six distinct sections, each in the form of a question-and-answer discussion. With the aid of this unusual discussion technique,

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Mesopotamia, History Of, Mesopotamia under the Persians

Cyrus II, the founder of the Achaemenian Empire, united Babylonia with his country in a personal union, assuming the title of “King of Babylonia, King of the Lands.” His son Cambyses was appointed vice-king and resided in Sippar. The Persians relied on the support of the priests and the business class in the cities. In a Babylonian inscription, Cyrus relates with pride his

Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Ziguinchor

River-port town, southwestern Senegal, lying along the Casamance River. Ziguinchor has long been known and visited by European mariners. In 1457 the Venetian navigator Alvise Ca' da Mosto (Cadamosto), envoy of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, reconnoitred the harbour. In 1886 the Portuguese ceded Ziguinchor to the French. The town's industries include a peanut- (groundnut-)

Monday, April 05, 2004

Carlile, Richard

Radical English journalist who was a notable champion of the freedom of the press. Although convinced that the free propagation of ideas was more important than specific reforms, he was an early advocate of almost all the Radical causes of his time, including the abolition of monarchy, completely secular education, and the

Sunday, April 04, 2004

Plunket (of Newton), William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron

Called to the Irish bar in 1787, Plunket was highly successful as an equity lawyer. Entering

Friday, April 02, 2004

Peter Martyr, Saint

Peter's parents were members of the Cathari, and there was some family opposition to Peter's