Carbonari was the name of an Italian political secret society, which appears to have been formed by the Neapolitan republicans during the reign of Joachim (Murat), and had for its object the expulsion of the strangers and the establishment of a democratic government. The ritual of the Carbonari was taken from the trade of the charcoal-burner. A lodge was baracca (a hut); a meeting was vendita (a sale); an important meeting alta vendita.
There were four grades in the society; and the ceremonies of initiation were characterized by many mysticrites. The language of religion was much used to express their purposes. Christ was the lamb torn by the wolf and whom they were sworn to avenge. Clearing the wood of wolves (opposition to tyranny) became the symbolic expression of their aim. By this they are said to have meant at first only deliverance from foreign dominion; but in later times democratical and antimonarchical principles sprang up, which were discussed chiefly among the higher degrees. The order, soon after its foundation, contained from 24,000 to 30,000 members, and increased so rapidly that it spread through all Italy. In 1820, in the month of March alone, about 650,000 new members are said to have been admitted.
After the suppression of the Neapolitan and Piedmontese revolution in 1821, the Carbonari, throughout Italy, were declared guilty of high treason, and punished as such by the laws. Meantime societies of a similar kind had been formed in France, with which the Italian Carbonari amalgamated; and Paris became the head-quarters of Carbonarism. The organization took on more of a French character, and gradually alienated the sympathies of the Italian members, a number of whom dissolved connection with it, in order to form the party of 'Young Italy.' Research Carbonari
The term fur is sometimes distinctively applied to hairy animal skins when prepared for being made into articles of dress, etc, while the name of peltry is given to them in an unprepared state or when merely dried. The animals chiefly sought after for the sake of their furs were the beaver, raccoon, musk-rat, squirrel, hare, rabbit, the chinchilla, bear (black, grey, and brown), otter, sea-otter, seal, wolf, wolverine or glutton, marten, ermine, lynx, coypou (nutria), polecat (fitch), opossum, fox, etc. All the preparation that skins require before being sent to the market is to make them perfectly dry, so as to prevent them from putrefying. This is done by exposing them to the heat of the sun or a fire. The small skins are sometimes previously steeped in a solution of alum. When stored in large quantities they must be carefully preserved from dampness, as well as from moths. The fur-dresser, on receiving the skins, first subjects them to a softening process. He next cleans them from loose pieces of the integument by scraping them with a metalblade. Finally, the fur is cleaned and combed, after which it is handed over to the cutter, who cuts the furs out into the various shapes required to make different articles.
In Europe the furtrade was fed chiefly by Russia, which yielded great quantities of furs, especially in the Asiatic portion of her dominions. Austria, Turkey, Scandinavia, etc, also yielded a certain quantity.
The furtrade of America has long been highly important, and several great trading companies were engaged in it, of which the Dutch East India Company was first. The French early took up the furtrade in Canada, and their chain of forts and trading posts at one time extended from Hudson's Bay to New Orleans. Quebec and Montreal were at first trading posts. In 1670 Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and others a charter empowering them to trade exclusively with the aborigines of the Hudson's Bay region. A company, then and after called the Hudson's Bay Company, was formed, which for a period of nearly two centuries possessed a monopoly of the furtrade in the vast tract of country known as the Hudson's Bay Territory. In the winter of 1783-1784 another company was formed at Montreal, called, the North-west fur Company, which disputed the right of the Hudson's Bay Company, and actively opposed it. After a long and bitter rivalry the two companies united in 1821, retaining the name of Hudson's Bay Company. The monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the original company about Hudson's Bay was much extended; but in 1868 an act of parliament was passed to make provision for the surrender, upon certain terms, of all the territories belonging to the company, and for their incorporation with the Dominion of Canada. In 1869 the surrender was carried out, Canada paying 300,000 pounds to the company by way of compensation. The company still possessed large stretches of valuable land, and many houses, forts, and posts in the region formerly belonging to it. Its operations even extended beyond British America into the United States and to the Sandwich Islands and Alaska. It employed a large staff of agents, traders, Indian hunters, etc. Some of its posts were situated far north, almost approaching the Arctic Ocean.
In the United States, the fur-trade, especially that trade in beaverfur, was an important element in the economic life of all the colonies in the seventeenth century, and in the struggle between England and France for the possession of North America, also in all negotiations respecting the northwest boundary of the United States. In 1809 John Jacob Astor secured the incorporation of the American Fur Company. He founded Astoria in Oregon, and attempted to connect it with Mackinaw by a line of posts and consolidate the whole north-western fur-trade. After the War of 1812 he renewed his attempt. In 1816 the American Congress passed an act excluding foreign fur-traders. Research Fur-Trade
The aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) is an African carnivorous mammal of the family Hyaenidae. The aardwolf, whose name in Afrikaans means 'earth wolf', resembles a small striped hyena. It is yellowish with vertical black stripes and a bushy, black-tipped tail, and it bears a long, coarse mane of erectile hairs along the length of its back. The aardwolf lives on the open, grassy plains of southern and eastern Africa. The aardwolf feeds largely on termites, particularly on the species Trinervitermes trinervoides. It is nocturnal, lives in a burrow, and is usually solitary but may forage in small packs. The litter generally consists of three or four young. The aardwolf is harmless and shy; when attacked, by dogs for example, it emits a musky-smelling fluid and may fight. Research Aardwolf
Bass is the name of a number of fishes of several genera, but originally belonging to a genus of sea-fishes (Labrax) of the perch family, distinguished from the true perches by having the tongue covered by small teeth and the preoperculum smooth. Labrax lupus, the only British species, called also sea-dace, and from its voracity sea-wolf, resembles somewhat the salmon in shape, and is much esteemed for the table, weighing about 15 Ibs. Labrax linedtus (Roccus linedtus), or striped bass, an American species, weighing from 25 to 30 Ibs., is much used for food, and is also known as rock-fish. Both species occasionally ascend rivers, and attempts have been made to cultivate British bass in fresh-water ponds with success. Two species of black bass (Micropterus salmoides and Micropterus dolomieu), American freshwater fishes, are excellent as food and give fine sport to the angler. The former is often called the large-mouthed black bass, from the size of its mouth. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs and young. The Centropristis nigricans, an American sea-fish of the perch family, and weighing 2 to 3 Ibs., is known as the sea-bass.
The Cat-fish (Anarhichadidae) is a voraciousfish of the gobies family. It was also called the Wolf-fish or Sea-Wolf in the 19th century. Research Cat-fish
The Catfish (Anarhichadidae) is various voracious fishes of the gobies family, natural order Siluriformes having several sensory barbels and scaleless bodies. They were also called the Wolf-fish or Sea-Wolf in the 19th century. Research Catfish
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
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
Lycodontinae is a subfamily of reptiles of the family Colubridae (the Typical Snakes) of the sub-order Serpentes (Snakes). The subfamily contains about fifty-one genera and 325 species found mainly in Africa and Asia. They are small to medium sized snakes, distinguished by the arrangement of their teeth which include large recurved teeth designed for catching and holding prey which are arranged in groups at the front and back of the upper jaw and at the front of the lower jaw. Many of the species are known as 'wolf snakes'. Research Lycodontinae
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Abbreviations
Research Carbonari 
