Maha Sarakham

Also spelled �Mahasarakhan, or Mahasarakham, � town, northeastern Thailand. Maha Sarakham is located at a road junction on a bend of the Chi River. Rice is widely grown in the surrounding region, particularly in shallow river valleys, and freshwater fishing is also important. Pop. (1993 est.) 41,812.

Tapestry, 19th and 20th centuries

Most 19th-century tapestries reproduced paintings or previously woven designs. The influence of the Industrial Revolution was inescapable, of course, not only in tools, materials, and dyes but in the new middle-class market and its demands. Machine-made tapestry, although an achievement in mechanical weaving, became a threat to the survival of the original

Bone Marrow

Also called �Myeloid Tissue, � soft, gelatinous tissue that fills the cavities of the bones. Bone marrow is either red or yellow, depending upon the preponderance of vascular (red) or fatty (yellow) tissue. In humans, the red bone marrow forms all of the blood cells with the exception of the lymphocytes, which are produced in the marrow and reach their mature form in the lymphoid organs. Red bone marrow

Sarapul

City and centre of Sarapul rayon (sector) of Udmurtia, in western Russia. It is a port on the Kama River. Founded in the 16th century as a Russian stronghold on the trade route to Siberia, it was attacked by Pugachov rebels in 1774; it was chartered in 1780. Sarapul's industries produce machine tools, radios, footwear, and foods. Several technical colleges and an agricultural college

Albert

Albert's love of the sea developed at an early age, and as a young

Low Countries

Also called �Benelux Countries� coastal region of northwestern Europe, consisting of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg (qq.v.). These are together known as the Benelux countries, from the initial letters of their names. The Low Countries are bordered by Germany to the east and France to the south. In 1947 the three nations formed the Benelux Customs Union, which broadened over the years into what a

Simeon

Following the Exodus out of Egypt and the death of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land and divided the new territory among the 12 tribes. Though sources do

Maha Bodhi Society

An organization that was established to encourage Buddhist studies in India and abroad. The society was founded in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1891 by Anagarika Dharmapala; one of its original goals was the restoration of the Mahabodhi temple at Buddh Gaya (Bihar state, India), the site of the Buddha's enlightenment, which at that time was in the hands of a Hindu landowner. In 1949 the

Probenecid

Drug used in the treatment of chronic gout, a disorder that is characterized by recurrent acute attacks of inflammation in one or more joints of the extremities. Probenecid inhibits the transport of most organic acids in the renal tubules of the kidneys. It was used in medicine originally to prolong the action of the antibiotic penicillin by preventing its loss

Soto, Hernando De

Hernando also spelled �Fernando� Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquests of Central America and Peru and, in the course of exploring what was to become the southeastern United States, discovered the Mississippi River.

Meramec River

Tributary of the Mississippi River rising in the Ozark Mountains, near Salem in Dent county, southeast Missouri, U.S. The river winds 207 miles (333 km) generally north, northeast, and southeast through the limestone Meramec Caverns and Meramec State Park (near Sullivan) to enter the Mississippi River 20 miles (32 km) below St. Louis. Lead was mined along its banks in the 1700s, and the river

Extensor Muscle

Any of the muscles that increase the angle between members of a limb, as by straightening the elbow or knee or bending the wrist or spine backward. The movement is usually directed backward, with the notable exception of the knee joint. In humans, certain muscles of the hand and foot are named for this function. In the hand these include the extensor carpi radialis brevis,

Lopes, Manuel

Lopes studied at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, then returned to Cape Verde. In 1944 he took up work for Western Telegraph, and in 1951 he was transferred to the Azores. Subsequently, he worked in Portugal,

Turkey

Either of two species of birds in the family Meleagrididae (order Galliformes). The best known is the common turkey (Meleagris gallopavo; see photograph), a native game bird of North America but widely domesticated for the table. The other species is Agriocharis (or Meleagris) ocellata, the ocellated turkey. For unrelated but similar birds, see bustard

Turkey

Negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The first agreements, known as SALT I and SALT II, were signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively, and were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic

'abd Al-rahman Iii

'Abd al-Rahman succeeded his grandfather 'Abd Allah as emir of C�rdoba in October 912 at the age of 21. Because of his intelligence and character he had been the obvious favourite of his grandfather, who had designated him heir presumptive in preference to the other royal princes. In appearance he is described as having been light-skinned, handsome, thickset, and short-legged.

Furniture, England

The Italian Renaissance did not affect the design or ornament of furniture in England until about 1520. Evolution from the Gothic style was a gradual process, influence coming first from Italy and, in the second half of the 16th century, from the Low Countries. In the early stages, furniture remained Gothic in form, though Italian motifs slowly replaced the older Gothic ornament.

Uruguay, Flag Of

As part of the United Provinces of the R�o de la Plata (formed in 1816), the Banda Oriental - which would eventually become the country known as Uruguay - was originally under the blue-white-blue horizontally striped flag raised by General Manuel Belgrano in 1812. However, like many other Argentine provinces, Uruguay developed a flag of its own. The earliest example, dating from

Chemical Banking Corporation

The holding company's principal subsidiary was Chemical Bank, which was chartered in 1824 in New York City as a division of the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company. Manufacturing activities were dropped in 1832. In 1844 the company was reconstituted as a state bank, and the chemical

Zabrze

German �Hindenburg� (1915 - 45), town, Katowice wojew�dztwo (province), southwestern Poland. It is situated in the Upper Silesian industrial district. The town became Prussian in 1742, and in 1921, when Upper Silesia was partitioned between Poland and Germany, it remained in German hands. Badly damaged in World War II, it was transferred to Poland in 1945. A major industrial and cultural centre, Zabrze is also one of

Paper Wasp

(Polistes), any of a worldwide genus of insects of the family Vespidae (order Hymenoptera). A striking-looking wasp, about 16 millimetres long, it has orange antennae, wings, and tarsi; the body is jet black with narrow yellow bands and paired segmental spots. The sting is painful but less toxic to humans than that of the more familiar species of wasps and hornets (Vespa,

Indexation

In fiscal policy, a means of offsetting the effect of inflation or deflation on social security payments and taxes by measuring the �real value� of money from a fixed point of reference, usually a price index. Without indexing, recipients of social security benefits, for example, would suffer during times of inflation if their benefits remained at a fixed rate. Indexation

Beach, Sylvia

Beach was educated mainly at home. In 1901 she accompanied her father, a Presbyterian

Henry

Unit of either self-inductance or mutual inductance, abbreviated h (or hy), and named for the American physicist Joseph Henry. One henry is the value of self-inductance in a closed circuit or coil in which one volt is produced by a variation of the inducing current of one ampere per second. One henry is also the value of the mutual inductance of two coils arranged such that

Awangarda Krakowska

Avant-garde literary movement in Poland, launched in Krak�w in 1922 and centring around a local periodical, Zwrotnica (1922 - 27; �Switch�). Tadeusz Peiper, the first poet in Poland to advance a poetics opposed to that of the Skamander group of poets (who had turned toward the classical in their effort to forge a modernist poetry), was Zwrotnica's editor from 1922 to 1923 and again from 1926 to 1927. (Peiper

Index Fossil

Any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a particular span of geologic time or environment. A useful index fossil must be distinctive or easily recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographic distribution and a short range through time. Index fossils are the basis for defining boundaries in the geologic time scale

Buckinghamshire Lace

Lace made in Buckinghamshire, Eng., from c. 1665 or earlier until the first quarter of the 20th century. This bobbin-lace industry, which was centred in Olney and Newport Pagnell, is thought to have originated from the successive influx of refugee laceworkers to the east Midlands counties. These refugees were reportedly Flemish, especially from Mechlin (1563 - 68), and French, especially

Wage And Salary

The residual-claimant theory holds that, after all other factors of production have received their share of the product, the amount left goes to the remaining factor. Adam Smith implied such a theory for wages, since he said that rent would be deducted first and profits next. Francis A. Walker in 1875 worked out a residual theory of wages in which the shares of the landlord,

Deira

A northern Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britain which, by the last quarter of the 7th century AD, had been united with its neighbour Bernicia (q.v.) to form the kingdom of Northumbria. Deira stretched from the Humber to the Tees River. There is a tradition that its first recorded king, Aelle, reigned from 560 and that, on his death in 588 or 590, Deira was seized by Aethelric of Bernicia, whose son

Aydin

City, southwestern Turkey, near the Menderes River (the ancient Maeander). It is an important trading centre on the Afyon-Izmir highway and rail line. Nearby is the site of ancient Tralles, said to have been founded by the Argives. Aydin was called G�zelhisar (�Beautiful Castle�) under the Turkmen Mentese emirs in the 13th century. Renamed for the 14th-century ruling dynasty of