Alfisol is a fertilesoil found in humid regions worldwide, especially where native broadleaf forests were established. It is very productive for agriculture. Research Alfisl
Epistolae ObscurorumVirorum ('Letters of Obscure Men') is the title of a collection of satirical letters which appeared in Germany in 1515-1517, and professed to be the composition of certain ecclesiastics and professors in Cologne and other places. It is considered as one of the most masterly sarcasms in the history of literature, and its importance is enhanced by the effect it had in promoting the cause of the Reformation. The authorship of this satire has been a fertile subject of controversy, and is yet apparently far from being settled. Research Epistolae ObscurorumVirorum
A plain is an expanse of low and nearly level land. Some plains, such as the Fens of England, large parts of Holland, and extensive areas of Russia, are almost perfectly flat; but generally an extensive plain consists of wide, gently sloping valleys separated by low hills. Such a plain is termed ' rolling' or 'undulating'. Many plains look extremely flat when viewed from the top of the neighbouring hills, but on descending one finds numerous instances of steep gradients, the valley slopes of the streams which cross the plain.
Plains are not all of the same type. Some plains may have been formed by the wearing down of lands that were once much higher. Such areas are more correctly called 'peneplains', e.g. Finland, a lowland area of very old rock, the HudsonBaylowlands, and Anglesey. Secondly, where layers of rock have not been folded but remain almost horizontal, extensive plains also occur. The Central Plains of the United States and the great plains of European Russia are in this group. Thirdly, plains may have been formed by the gradual accumulation of silt brought down by rivers. These are usually called alluvial plains. Good examples are the plain of North China, the Indo-Gangetic plain, the plains of Iraq, and much of the Amazonlowland. Some plains are the beds of old lakes. Rivers entering a lake deposit silt which is spread by the movement of the water over the lake floor. Such plains, though not large in size, are usually very fertile. Much of the great wheat land of Southern Manitoba is the bed of an old lake -lake Agassiz. The fertile plains of Hungary are of similar origin. Finally, some plains, such as the coastal plains of the United States from ChesapeakeBay to Florida, have been formed by the uplift of part of the sea floor bordering a continent.
The plains of the world tend to be areas of most advanced development and densest settlement. They are easier to cultivate than highland areas as the soil is usually deeper and more fertile. Hence the great plains, except where covered with large tracts of uncleared forest or occasional deposits of infertile soil, are important agricultural lands. Some plains, such as portions of Central Asia or of the Murray-Darling Basin, are too dry for successful agriculture. Unless irrigation is a practical possibility such plains are occupied by pastoral farmers engaged in rearing animals, and even the pastoral farmers sometimes have to bore wells for water, as in Hungary and in Australia. Where coal is found in or near plains, densely populated industrial centres usually develop, as in the North-Central United States. Movement is easy in all directions over lowlands, and rivers are generally slow and easily navigable, so that they are used as commercial highways. This is well illustrated by the United States, where the Mississippi and its tributaries provided the main lines of communication before the period when railways were developed.
Sex is a division of living organisms based upon their reproductive capabilities. This then leads to two main divisions: male and female. The term gender meaning sex is actually a colloquialism, sex is the correct term to use when referring to 'male' or 'female' organisms, gender being properly used when referring to classes of nouns and pronouns in grammar. In its widely understood slang form, sex refers to intimate physical contact between two animals. In most animals the purpose of sexual intimacy is for procreation, and to this end the male and females of the species are only attracted to one another at such time when the female is fertile. In the humananimal, however, sexual intimacy has a dual purpose. The primitive reproductive element still exists, but is very much secondary to the primary purpose of pair bonding, and this explains the elaborate and involved mechanisms of the human sexual intimacy which are not restricted to simple penetration, but encompass touching, kissing, licking and sucking. Because of the nature of the humananimal, in the natural state the female requires the services of her male partner long after the initial fertilisation. To retain the males attention, the couple embark on pair bonding and continue pair bonding throughout their relationship. Sexual intimacy in humans in essential in creating and strengthening this pair bond, hence the expression 'making love' and the belief in many cultures that if a woman swallows a man's semen that she will 'love him too much'. Far from being 'wrong' sexual intimacy and pleasure are essential to human pair bonding. Sex (whether solo - masturbation - or with others) also has major health benefits. It reduces stress, relaxes participants, aids sleep and stimulates and encourages the immune system. Research Sex
Coniferae (the Conifers) are the pines, firs, and their allies, a natural order of gymnospermous exogens, the essential character of which consists in the manner in which the ovules, not inclosed in an ovary, receive directly the action of the pollen without the intervention of a stigma. The ovules in these plants are borne on scales or modified leaves, which are spread out, not folded, and generally grouped in such a manner as to form a cone composed of a greater or smaller number of these leaves, of which only a portion may be fertile and bear ovules. The disposition, of the ovules in relation to these scales permits of a division of the Coniferae into three distinct families or tribes.
In the Cupressineae, which include the juniper, cypress, etc, the cones are formed of simple scales, each of which bears towards the base of its superior surface the ovules erect and sessile.
The second family, Abietineae, has in place of simple scales, scales actually double or formed of two parts; the lower one usually designated the bract; the other bearing at its base the ovules reversed. This family includes the pines, firs, and larches, the araucarias, Wellingtonias, dammaras, etc. In these two families the ovules are completely covered by the scales which constitute the cones, which unite after fecun-dation, and inclose the seedtill their maturity.
In the Taxineae, which constitute the third family, the scales are short, imperfect, and partly sterile, and neither cover the ovules at the period of fecundation nor at that of maturation. The ovules are usually set in the same manner as in the Cupressineae. The yew, the gingko, etc, belong to this family.
The Conifers are found in large forests in the north of Europe and America, and are of great importance as timber trees. They abound also in resinous juices and yield turpentine, pitch, tar, succinic acid, etc. The leaves are usually alternate, and awl or needle shaped, the naked flowers are monoecious or dioecious, the male flowers being in deciduous catkins, the female in cones. Research Coniferae
The Dog (Canis vulgaris) is a digitigrade, carnivorousanimal, forming the type of the genus Canis, which includes also the wolf, the jackal, and, as a sub-genus, the fox. The origin of the dog is a much-debated question, some considering the breed derived from the wolf, an opinion which is based on resemblances of structure, the susceptibility which the wolf shows of being domesticated, the fact of the two animals breeding together and producing fertile young, and the equality in the period of gestation. But all those points are subject to exceptions and reservations which make the matter doubtful. It is generally agreed that no trace of the dog is to be found in a primitive state, the dhole of India, and dingo of Australia being believed to be wild descendants from domesticated ancestors.
Several attempts to make a systematic classification of the varieties of dogs have been made but without much success, it being difficult in many cases to determine what are to be regarded as types, and what as merely mongrels and cross-breeds. Colonel Hamilton Smith divided dogs into six groups as follows: (1) Wolf-dogs, including the Newfoundland, Esquimaux, St Bernard, shepherd's dog, etc; (2) Watchdogs and Cattle-dogs, including the German boar-hound, the Danish dog, the matin dog, etc; (3) Greyhounds, the lurcher, Irish hound, etc; (4) Hounds, the bloodhound, staghound, foxhound, setter, pointer, spaniel, cocker, poodle, etc; (5) Cur-dogs, including the terrier and its allies; (6) Mastiffs, including the different kinds of mastiffs, bull-dog, pug-dog, etc.
Dogs have in the upper jaw six incisors, two strong curved canines, and six molars on each side, the first three, which are small and have cutting edges, being called false molars; in the lower jaw are six incisors, two canines, and on each side seven molars. The fore-feet have five toes, the hind-feet four or five; the claws are strong, blunt, and formed for digging, and are not retractile. The tail is generally long, and is curled upwards. The female has six to ten mammae; she goes with young nine weeks as a rule. The young are born blind, their eyes opening in ten to twelve days; their growth ceases at two years of age. The dog commonly lives about ten or twelve years, at the most twenty. Research Dog
The hop (Humulus Lupulus) is a native British and European plant of the hemp family Cannabiaceae, natural order Urticaceae. The root is perennial giving out several herbaceous, rough, twining stems with large lobed leaves. The the fertile flowers are green; the fruit is a catkin and the catkins are added to beer to give it its aromatic and bitter flavour. The young shoots are sometimes boiled and eaten like asparagus; the fibres of the old stems make good cords and were formerly used. The use of the hop catkins depends upon a peculiar bitter substance which they contain, called lupulin, which is a yellow powder, containing a bitter principle and a volatile oil. The lupulin constitutes from 10 to 12 per cent by weight of the catkin, and the bitter principle forms from 8 to 12 per cent of the lupulin. Having tonic, stomachic, and narcotic properties hops were often used medicinally. Pillows stuffed with hops are used to induce sleep. Research Hop
A hybrid is the product of a femal animal or plant which has been impregnated by a male of a different but nearly allied species or genus. Uncertainty prevails respecting the productive crossing of species, but it seems to be established that while the crossing of different genera may result in offspring, that of different orders will not.
Hybrids are obtained amongst fishes from different Species of carp; amongst birds, from the goldfinch and canary, the swan and the goose, etc; amongst mammals, from the horse and the zebra, the horse and the ass, the produce of the last two being the mule proper; from the lion and tiger, the dog and wolf, the dog and fox, the goat and ibex.
Instances of hybrids between animals of different genera have been furnished by the union of the goat and the antelope, and of the stag and the cow. It used formerly to be considered that the propagative power of hybrids was either absolutely null, or that they propagated only with an individual of the pure breed; but the experiments of Charles Darwin and other 10th century researches showed that although infertility to some degree generally attends sexual intercourse between different species, yet in such intercourse every degree of difference from absolute sterility up to complete fertility is found. The results hitherto obtained may be summarized as follows: The crossing of species of different families is in almost every case infertile; allied species are capable of producing offspring, and this capability is in indefinite ratio to the degree of their likeness; hybrids are frequently fertile with their parents, but more rarely among themselves; there is no fixed relation between the degree of fertility manifested by the parent species when crossed and that which is manifested by their hybrid progeny.
In many cases two pure species can be crossed with unusual facility, while the resulting hybrids are remarkably sterile; and, on the other hand, there are species which can only be crossed with extreme difficulty, though the hybrids when produced are very fertile. Research Hybrid
Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria) is a British fen with a curious, characteristic form and habit. It has two branches of its frond, one leafy and the other fertile, the pinnae of the former being fan-shaped or crescent-shaped. The vernation is straight. It is almost a stemless plant. Research Moonwort
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alfisl
