Young Mens Christian Association
Young Men's Christian Association, An Or Ganization For Social And Religious Work Among Young Men, Founded In England In 1844 By George Williams (1821-1905). It Grew Out Of Meetings For Prayer And Bible-reading Which Williams Held Among His Fellow-workers In A Dry-goods Business In The City Of London. Similar Associations ...
Youngstown
Youngstown, A City Of North-eastern Ohio, U.s.a., On The Mahoning River, About Equally Distant (65 M.) From Cleve Land And Pittsburgh; The County Seat Of Mahoning County. It Has A Municipal Airport; Is Served By The Baltimore And Ohio, The Erie, The New York Central, The Pennsylvania, The Pitts Burgh ...
Yuan Shih Kai 1859 1916
Yuan Shih-k'ai (1859-1916), Chinese Statesman, Was Born At Hsiang Cheng, A Member Of A Family Belonging To The Smaller Landed Gentry Of The Province Of Honan. His First Impor Tant Post Was In Korea, Where, As Imperial Resident And The Trusted Lieutenant Of The Viceroy Li Hung-chang, He Strove By ...
Yucatan
Yucatan, A Peninsula Of Central America, Which Includes In Its Area Of 55,400 Sq.m. The States Of Campeche And Yucatan And The Territory Of Quintana Roo In Mexico, Plus Small Parts Of British Honduras And Guatemala. The Natural Boundary Of The Peninsula On The South Is Formed In Part By ...
Yucca
Yucca, A Genus Of The Family Liliaceae (q.v.), Containing About 3o Species. The Plants Occur In Greatest Frequency In Mexico And The South-west United States, Extending Also Into Central Amer Ica, And Occurring In Such Num Bers In Some Places As To Form Straggling Forests. They Have A Woody Qr ...
Yue Chi Or Yueh Chih
Yue-chi Or Yueh-chih, The Chinese Name Of A Central Asiatic Tribe Who Ruled In Bactria And India, Are Also Known As Kushans (from One Of Their Subdivisions) And Indo-scythians (q.v.). They Appear To Have Been A Nomad Tribe, Inhabiting Part Of The Present Chinese Province Of Kan-suh, And To Have ...
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia, A Convenient Name For The Serb, Croat, And Slovene State (kraljevina Srba, Hrvata, I Slovenaca), Which Orig Inated At The End Of 1918 By The Union Of Parts Of The Former Austro-hungarian Empire With Serbia And, At A Slightly Later Date, With Montenegro. The Declared Basis Of The Union ...
Yukon
Yukon, The Largest River In Alaska, And The Fifth Largest In North America. With Its Longest Tributaries Not In Alaska, The Lewes And The Teslin (or Hootalinqua), Its Length Is About 2,300 M., In The Form Of A Great Arc, Beginning In The Yukon District Of British Columbia, Near The ...
Yukon Territory
Yukon Territory, The Most Westerly Of The Northern Territories Of Canada, Bounded South By British Columbia, West By Alaska, North By The Arctic Ocean And East By The Watershed Of Mackenzie River. It Has An Area Of 206,427 Sq.m. (excluding Water). The Territory Is Chiefly Drained By The Yukon River ...
Yuncan
Yuncan, A Group Of Tribes Of South American Indians, Forming An Independent Linguistic Stock. The Yuncas (known Also As Chimus And Muchic) Occupied Originally The Arid Coastal Region Of Northern Peru Comprised Within The Valleys Of Trujillo, Chi Cama, Jequetepeque, Lambayeque And Morope ; Later, By Conquest, They Extended The ...
Yunnan
Yunnan (i.e., Cloudy South), A South-west Province Of China, Bounded North By Szechwan, East By Kwei-chow And Kwang-si, South By Burma And The Lao Tribes, And West By Burma And Tibet; Area 146,718 Sq. Miles. The Population Is Variously Estimated At Four To 12 Millions, A Recent And Probable Estimate ...
Zacatecas
Zacatecas, A State Of Mexico. Its Area Is 28,125 Sq.m., Pop. (1930) It Belongs Wholly To The Great Central Plateau Of Mexico, With An Average Elevation Of About 7,700 Feet. The State Is Somewhat Mountainous, Being Traversed In The West By Lateral Ranges Of The Sierra Madre Occidental, And By ...
Zagreb
Zagreb, The Capital Of Croatia-slavonia, Yugoslavia (ger Man, Agram), Lies On The Sava, With A Background Of Mountains And Surrounded By Vineyards And Country Houses. Pop. (1931) 185,581. In 1910 It Was Only 79,083, But The Influx Of Officials And Business Men Since The Formation Of The State Of Yugoslavia, ...
Zambezi
Zambezi, The Fourth In Size Of The Rivers Of Africa, And The Largest Of Those Flowing Eastwards To The Indian Ocean. Its Length (taking All Curves Into Consideration) Is About 2,200 M. The Area Of Its Basin, According To Dr. Bludau, Is 513,500 Sq.m., Or Rather Less Than Half That ...
Zanesville
Zanesville, A City Of South-eastern Ohio, U.s.a., The County Seat Of Muskingum County; On The Muskingum River At The Mouth Of The Licking, 58 M. E. Of Columbus. It Is On Federal Highway 4o; And Is Served By The Baltimore And Ohio, The New York Central, The Pennsylvania, The Wheeling ...
Zante
Zante (anc. Zacynthus), Southernmost Of The Ionian Islands, West Of Greece, In 37° 4o' N. Lat. And E. Long.; 25 M. Long, About 12 Broad, And 64 M. Round, With An Area Of 277 Sq.m., And A Population In 1928 Of 40,492. Zante Lies 8 M. S. Of Ceph Alonia, ...
Zanzibar
Zanzibar, An East African Seaport, Capital Of The Island And Sultanate Of The Same Name, In 6° 9' S., 39° 15' E. Popula Tion About 6o,000. The Town Is Situated On The Western Side Of The Island 26 M. N.e. Of The Mainland Port Of Bagamoyo. Zanzibar Is' Built On ...
Zapotec
Zapotec, A South Mexican Nationality, The Most Important Of A Group Comprising Also Mixtec And Half A Dozen Other Peoples, All Speaking Tonal Languages, And Occupying A Territory Roughly Coterminous With The State Of Oaxaca. The Population In This Area Of The So-called Zapotecan Family, Of Which The Zapotec Proper ...
Zaria
Zaria, A Province Occupying A Central Position In The North Ern Provinces Of The British Protectorate Of Nigeria. It Has An Area Of 23,695 Sq.m. And A Population (1926) Of 1,031,567. The Province Was Enlarged In 1926 By The Transference To It Of The Katsina Emirate From Kano Province (see ...
Zebra
Zebra, The Name For The African Striped Members Of The Horse Tribe. The True Or Mountain Zebra (equus Zebra) Main Tains A Precarious Foothold In The Mountainous Region Of Cape Colony And Also Inhabits Angola. It Stands About 4ft. At The Shoulder, With Fairly Long Ears, A Tail Scantily Clothed ...
Zechariah
Zechariah, The Eleventh In Order Of The "minor Proph Ets" Of The Old Testament. He Was Associated With Haggai (q.v.) In Stimulating The Re-building Of The Temple At Jerusa Lem, Begun In 52o (ezra Iv. 24) And Completed In 516 (ezra Vi. 15). A Previous Attempt Made By Returned Exiles ...
Zeeland
Zeeland, The Most Southerly North Sea Maritime Province Of The Netherlands, Consists Mainly Of Six Deltaic Islands Between The Grevelingen (the Southern Sea-exit Of The Waal-maas) And De Hont Or Western Schelde Sea-channel, Together With A Strip Of The Flanders Mainland Lying South Of De Hont. Belgium Borders It On ...
Zeeman Effect
Zeeman Effect, Named After Its Discoverer, Is The Term Used To Describe The Phenomena Produced In Spectroscopy (q.v.) By A Magnetic Field. When A Substance, Which Emits A Line Spectrum, Is Placed In A Strong Magnetic Field, Every Line Is Split Up Into Several Components Each Of Which Has A ...
Zemarchus
Zemarchus (fl. 568), Byzantine General And Traveller. The Turks, By Their Conquest Of Sogdiana In The Middle Of The 6th Century, Gained Control Of The Silk Trade Which Then Passed Through Central Asia Into Persia. But The Persian King, Chosroes Nushirvan Refused To Allow The Old Commerce To Continue, And ...
Zenata Or Zanata
,zenata Or Zanata, A Berber Tribe Of Morocco In The Dis Trict Of Central Atlas. Their Tribal Home Seems To Have Been South Of Oran In Algeria, And They Early Claimed An Arab Origin, Though The Arabs Called Them Descendants Of Goliath, I.e., Philistines Or Phoenicians (ibn Khaldun, Vol. Iii. ...
Zend Language
Zend Language: See Iranian Languages And Persian. Zenith Telescope, A Form Of Telescope Specially De Vised For The Accurate Determination Of The Latitude Of A Station. It Is Used Both In Geodetic Surveys And Also At Fixed Stations For Measuring The Variation Of Latitude. The Usual Form Of Instrument Consists ...
Zeno
Zeno, East Roman Emperor From 474 To 491, Was An Isaurian Of Noble Birth. Of His Early Life Nothing Is Known ; After His Marriage To Ariadne, Daughter Of Leo I., In 468 He Became Patrician And Commander Of The Imperial Guard And Of The Armies In The East. In ...
Zeno Of Elea
Zeno Of Elea, Son Of Teleutagoras, Born Probably Towards The Beginning Of The 5th Century B.c. The Pupil And The Friend Of Parmenides, He Sought To Recommend His Master's Doc Trine Of The Existence Of The One By Controverting The Popular Belief In The Existence Of The Many. In Virtue ...
Zenobia
Zenobia (gr. Znvotila), Queen Of Palmyra, One Of The Heroines Of Antiquity. Her Native Name Was Septimia Bath Zabbai, A Name Also Borne By One Of Her Generals, Septimius Zabbai. This Remarkable Woman, Famed For Her Beauty, Her Masduline Energy And Unusual Powers Of Mind, Was Well Fitted To Be ...
Zeolites
Zeolites, A Family Of Minerals Consisting Of Hydrated Sili Cates Of Alumina With Alkalis Or Alkaline Earths Or Both. The Water They Contain Is Readily Lost, And Before The Blowpipe It Is Expelled With Intumescence ; Hence The Name Zeolite, From The Greek (to Boil) And Mos (a Stone). In ...
Zephaniah
Zephaniah, The Ninth Of The Minor Prophets In The Bible. His Ancestry Is Traced To His Great-grandfather Hezekiah, Who May, In Spite Of 2 Kings Xx. 18, Xxi. I, Be The Well-known King Of Judah (c. 720-690). This Would Agree Fairly With The Title (i. 1) Which Makes The Prophet ...
Zeus
Zeus, The Greek Counterpart Of The Roman God, Jupiter (q.v. For The Etymology Of The Name). It Is Probable That Zeus Had Already Been Conceived As A Personal And Pre-eminent God By The Ancestors Of The Leading Hellenic Tribes Before They Entered The Peninsula, Which Became Their Historic Home. In ...
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, A Bantu Name, Probably Derived From The Two Words Zimba ("houses") And Mabgi ("stones"), Given To Certain Ruins In South-east Africa. The Mediaeval Portuguese Applied It As A Generic Term For The Capital Of Any Considerable Chief And To Several Distinct Places. From About 1550 Onwards The Zimbabwe Generally ...
Zinc
Zinc, A Metallic Chemical Element (symbol Zn, Atomic Num Ber 3o, Atomic Weight 65.38). Zinc As A Component Of Brass Had Currency In Metallurgy Long Before It Became Known As An Indi Vidual Metal. The Word Zinc (in The Form Zinken) Was First Used By Paracelsus, Who Regarded It As ...
Zinc Production
Zinc Production The United States Is The Principal Producer Of Both Zinc Ore And Spelter. The Joplin Area In Missouri Has Long Been The Principal Mining Region, But Large Deposits Are Worked In The Upper Mississippi Region, Franklin Furnace (new Jersey) And, Since The Application Of Improved Methods Of Zinc ...
Zionism
Zionism Is The Lineal Heir Of The Attachment To Zion Which Led The Babylonian Exiles Under Zerubbabel To Rebuild The Temple, And Which Flamed Up In The Heroic Struggle Of The Maccabees Against Antiochus Epiphanes. During The Middle Ages, Though The Racial Character Of The Jews Was Being Transformed By ...
Zircon
Zircon, A Mineral Composed Of Zirconium Silicate, Some Times Used As A Gem-stone. It Is Believed That The Name Comes From The Arabic Zargun, And Is Essentially The Same As "jargoon," The Name Given To Certain Varieties Of Zircon. The Mineral Crystal Lizes In The Tetragonal System, Generally In Combinations ...
Zirconium
Zirconium, A Metallic Chemical Element, So-called From The Identification Of Its Oxide, Zirconia, By Klaproth (1789) In The Mineral Zircon (symbol Zr, Atomic Number 4o, Atomic Weight 91.2). It Was First Isolated By J. J. Berzelius In 1824, Who Heated Potassium Zirconifluoride, With Potassium And Obtained An Iron Grey Powder, ...
Zobeir Rahama
Zobeir Rahama. (183o-1913), Egyptian Pasha And Sudanese Governor, Came Of The Gemaab Section Of The Jaalin, And Was A Member Of A Family Which Claims Descent From The Koreish Tribe Through Abbas, Uncle Of Mohammed. He Was The Most Energetic And Intelligent Of The Arab Ivory And Slave Traders Who ...
Zodiacal Light
Zodiacal Light, A Faint Illumination Of The Sky, Sur Rounding The Sun And Elongated In The Direction Of The Ecliptic On Each Side Of The Sun. It Is Lenticular In Form, Brightest Near The Sun, And Shades Off By Imperceptible Gradations, Generally Be Coming Invisible At A Distance Of 90° ...
Zoning
Zoning. The Zoning Of Cities Has Had Considerable Influence On Their Architecture And On The Preservation Of Their Amenity. As Practised In Modern Times It Is A New Movement And Is Still In The Experimental Stage. Zoning In Has Come To Be Called Zoning In English-speaking Countries Had Its First ...
Zoological Gardens Zoological Parks
Zoological Gardens (zoological Parks), Insti Tutions In Which Wild Animals Are Kept In Captivity. The First Zoological Garden Of Which We Have Information Was Founded In China By The First Emperor Of The Chou Dynasty, Who Reigned About I Roo B.c. This Was Called The "intelligence Park," And Ap Pears ...
Zoological Nomenclature
Zoological Nomenclature Is The System On Which Names Are Given To The Various Divisions Of The Animal Kingdom. Those Divisions Range From The Great Branches Or Phyla, Through Classes, Orders, And Families, With Occasional Intermediate Groupings, Down To Genera And Species. For The Meanings Of Those Terms, See Zoology. It ...
Zoological Regions
Zoological Regions. Zoological Distribution, Also Known As Zoo-geography, Is The Science Dealing With The Distribu Tion Of Animals Over The Surface Of The Globe. It Is Concerned Not Only With Present Conditions But Also With Those Of Former Geo Logical Periods And With The Mode In Which The Present Arrange ...
Zoology
Zoology, The Science Which Is Concerned With The Study Of Animals. Its Scope Embraces All Conceivable Modes Of Study, Not Only Of Individual Animals, But Of Entire Faunas And Of The Relation Of Animals With One Another, With Plants And With The Non-living Environment. The Number Of Animals, Both Living ...
Zoroaster
Zoroaster, The Founder Of The National Religion Of The Iranian People From The Time Of The Achaemenidae To The Close Of The Sassanian Period. The Name (zc.opolcorpns) Is The Corrupt Greek Form Of The Iranian Zarathustra (new Persian, Zardushi). Its Signification Is Obscure. Zoroaster Was Famous In Antiquity As The ...
Zuhair
Zuhair [zuhair Ibn Abi Sulma Rabi' A Ul-muzani] (6th Century), One Of The Six Great Arabian Pre-islamic Poets. Of His Life Practically Nothing Is Known Save That He Belonged To A Family Of Poetic Power His Stepfather, Aus Ibn Hajar, His Sister, Khansa, And His Son, Ka'b Ibn Zuhair, Were ...
Zululand
Zululand, A Country Of South-east Africa, Forming The North-eastern Part Of The Province Of Natal, In The Union Of South Africa. The "province Of Zululand," As It Was Known From 1898 To 1910, Lies Between 26° 50' And 29° 15' S. And 3o° 4o' And 33° E. The Country Has ...
Zurich
Zurich, The Canton Of North-eastern Switzerland And Which Ranks Officially First In The Confederation. Its Total Area Is Sq.m., Of Which The High Proportion Of 90.4% Is Reckoned As "pro Ductive" (forests, 184.9 Sq.m., And Vineyards 4.6 Sq.m., The Latter Showing A Rapid Decrease During The 2oth Century, And Now ...