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Snowdonia National Park ... social Darwinism

Snowdonia National Park national park in Gwynedd county and Conwy county borough, northern Wales, with an area of 838 square miles (2,171 square km). It is best known for its mountains, composed largely of volcanic rock and cut by valleys that show the influence of Ice Age glaciers. Snowdon mountain's summit, Yr Wyddfa, ... snowdrop any of the white-flowered Eurasian plants comprising the genus Galanthus of the family Amaryllidaceae. There are about 12 species and many variations of the spring-blooming, bulbous herbs. Snowe, Lucy fictional character, a shy, plain British teacher in Belgium who is the protagonist of Charlotte Bronte's semiautobiographical novel Villette (1853). snowflake (genus Leucojum), flowering plant of the family Amaryllidaceae, related to the snowdrop (genus Galanthus). snowman porcelain class of porcelain figures made at Longton Hall, Staffordshire, Eng., from c. 1750 to 1752. Called snowmen because of their thick white enveloping glaze, they include figures of human beings and animals sometimes inspired by Meissen originals. Stylistically they are more robust than some of their later, coloured counterparts. snowmobile a one- or two-passenger motorized vehicle with one or two skis in front and an engine-driven single or double continuous track to propel it. Snowmobiles almost all follow the basic design of skis, fuel tank, engine, and seating for driver. They are steered by handlebars that control the skis and ... Snows of Kilimanjaro, The short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published in Esquire magazine in 1936 and later collected in The Fifth Column and the First Forty-nine Stories (1938). The stream-of-consciousness narrative relates the feelings of Harry, a novelist dying of gangrene poisoning while on an African safari. Hemingway considered The Snows of Kilimanjaro ... snowshoe a light, oval wooden frame that is usually strengthened by two or more crosspieces, strung with thongs, and attached to the foot and that is used to enable a person to walk or run on soft snow without sinking. Snowshoes were used by Indians and Eskimos in the wintry northern ... snowshoe hare Northern North American species (Lepus americanus) of hare that undergoes an annual colour change from brownish or grayish in summer to pure white in winter. The hind feet are heavily furred, and all four feet are large in proportion to body size, a snowshoe-like adaptation that enables the hare to ... snowy egret White New World egret (Egretta thula; family Ardeidae). It is about 24 in. (60 cm) long and has filmy recurved plumes on the back and head. Formerly hunted for its plumes, it ranges from the U.S. to Chile and Argentina. Snowy Mountains range in the Australian Alps, southeastern New South Wales, including several peaks that exceed 7,000 feet (2,100 metres)-notably Mount Kosciuszko, the highest in Australia. On their slopes rise the Murray, Murrumbidgee, and Tumut rivers, which flow inland, and the Snowy River, which flows southward to Bass Strait. Waters are diverted ... snowy owl white or barred, brown-and-white bird of prey of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes). It inhabits the Arctic tundra and sometimes wanders southward in Europe, Asia, and North America. Snowy owls are about 60 centimetres (about 2 feet) long and have broad wings and a round head without ear tufts. They ... Snowy River river, southeastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, Australia, rising on the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains near Mount Kosciuszko and flowing about 270 miles (435 km) southeast, then west and south to Bass Strait at Marlo. Its chief tributaries are the Eucumbene, Thredbo, and Bombala rivers in New ... snub-nosed monkey any of four species of large and unusual leaf monkeys (see langur) found in highland forests of central China and northern Vietnam. They have a broad, short face with wide-set slanting eyes and a short, flat nose with forward-facing nostrils. snuff powdered preparation of tobacco used by inhalation or by dipping-that is, rubbing on the teeth and gums. Manufacture involves grinding the tobacco and subjecting it to repeated fermentations. Snuffs may be scented with attar of roses, lavender, cloves, jasmine, etc. snuffbox small, usually ornamented box for holding snuff (a scented, powdered tobacco). The practice of sniffing or inhaling a pinch of snuff was common in England around the 17th century; and when, in the 18th century, it became widespread in other countries as well, the demand for decorated snuffboxes, considered valuable ... snuffer metal implement used to extinguish the flame of a candle, generally in a form of a scissors (to snuff the flame and cut off the wick) or a hollow cone at the end of a long handle. The earliest surviving example is a silver-gilt snuffer in the Victoria and Albert ... Snyder county, central Pennsylvania, U.S., located midway between the cities of Williamsport and Harrisburg and bordered to the north by Penns Creek Mountain and to the east by the Susquehanna River. Its ridge-and-valley topography also includes Thick, Jacks, and Shade mountains, while Walker Lake and Penns, Middle, and Mahantango (north and ... Snyder, Gary American poet early identified with the Beat movement and, from the late 1960s, an important spokesman for the concerns of communal living and ecological activism. Snyder received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975. Snyders, Frans Baroque artist who was the most-noted 17th-century painter of animals. His subjects included still lifes of markets and pantries (featuring both live animals and dead game), animals in combat, and hunting scenes. A highly skilled painter who was celebrated for his ability to capture the textures of and play of ... so in early Japan, a land tax levied by the central government per unit of allotted land. It was introduced during the Taika reforms (645-649 CE) and fully implemented during the Heian period (794-1185). Formally considered a land rental fee, the so was usually paid as a portion of the rice ... So Big novel by Edna Ferber, published in 1924 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1925. The book tells the story of Selina Peake DeJong, a gambler's daughter with a love of life and a nurturing spirit. Soami Japanese painter, art critic, poet, landscape gardener, and master of the tea ceremony, incense ceremony, and flower arrangement who is an outstanding figure in the history of Japanese aesthetics. Soane, Sir John British architect notable for his original, highly personal interpretations of the Neoclassical style. He is considered one of the most inventive European architects of his time. soap and detergent substances that, when dissolved in water, possess the ability to remove dirt from surfaces such as the human skin, textiles, and other solids. The seemingly simple process of cleaning a soiled surface is, in fact, complex and consists of the following physical-chemical steps:Wetting of the surface and, in the case ... Soap Lake southernmost in a string of lakes in the Grand Coulee valley, central Washington state, U.S. Volcanic in origin, its water is rich in minerals and salts and is regarded as having medicinal properties. The lake derives its name from the frothy white suds that appear along its shores, created by ... soap opera broadcast dramatic serial program, so called in the United States because most of its major sponsors for many years were manufacturers of soap and detergents. The soap opera is characterized by a permanent cast of actors, a continuing story, emphasis on dialogue instead of action, a slower-than-life pace, and a ... soapberry any member of the genus Sapindus, of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), comprising about 12 species of shrubs and trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, the Americas, and islands of the Pacific. soapfish any of about 24 species of marine fishes constituting the tribe Grammistini (family Serranidae; order Perciformes), occurring from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific region. In appearance, they are characterized by a reduced spinous dorsal fin and a slightly protruding lower jaw. The name soapfish refers to their ability, when agitated, ... soapwort any of several plants of the genus Saponaria (about 40 species), in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae). While most are weedy, a few are cultivated, especially the trailing species S. ocymoides, with several varieties having pink to deep-red flower clusters. Bouncing Bet (S. officinalis), reaching to a height of 1 metre ... Soares, Mario Socialist politician and lawyer, who became president of Portugal in 1986 as the country's first elected civilian head of state in 60 years, holding the post until 1996. Sobaek Mountains largest range of mountains in southern South Korea. The range, 220 mi (350 km) long, stretches southwest from north of T'aebaek Mountain (5,121 ft [1,561 m]) in Kangwon Province to the Kohung Peninsula near Yosu. Its high mountains, Sobaek (4,760 ft), Munju (2,437 ft), Songni (3,468 ft), Dokyu (5,276 ft), ... Sobat River major tributary of the Nile, joining the Bahr al-Jabal (Mountain Nile) above Malakal, South Sudan, to form the White Nile. The Sobat is formed by the confluence of its two main headstreams-the Baro and the Pibor-on the Ethiopian border, southeast of Nasir, South Sudan. Other Ethiopian headstreams include the Jokau, ... Sobers, Sir Garfield West Indian cricketer, considered by many authorities the most gifted all-around player of all time. As a batsman, he established a record for Test (international) matches by scoring 365 runs, not out, in a single innings (West Indies versus Pakistan, 1957-58 season), a record that stood until 1994. He was ... Sobhuza I Southern African king (reigned from about 1815) who developed the chieftaincy that under his son, Mswati II, was to become the Swazi nation (now Swaziland). Sobhuza II king of the Swazi from 1921 and of the Kingdom of Swaziland from 1967 to 1982. Sobibor Nazi German extermination camp located in a forest near the village of Sobibor in the present-day Polish province of Lublin. Built in March 1942, it operated from May 1942 until October 1943, and its gas chambers killed a total of about 250,000 Jews, mostly from Poland and occupied areas of ... Sobral city, northwestern Ceara estado (state), northeastern Brazil, on the Acarau River. It was given town rank in 1773 and raised to city status in 1841. The city is a commercial, cotton-milling, and agricultural-processing centre; fishing also is important. Railroads and highways link Sobral to Fortaleza to the east and to ... Sobraon, Battle of (Feb. 10, 1846), the fourth, last, and decisive battle of the First Sikh War (1845-46). The Sikhs were entrenched on the eastern British-held bank of the Sutlej River, their retreat secured by a bridge of boats. After an intense artillery duel, the Sikh entrenchments were stormed. The bridge of boats ... Sobukwe, Robert (Mangaliso) South African black nationalist leader. Sobukwe insisted that South Africa be returned to its indigenous inhabitants ("Africa for the Africans"). Charging the African National Congress with being contaminated by non-African influences, he founded the Pan-Africanist Congress in 1959 and became a leader in the Pan-African movement. Arrested in 1960, he ... soca Trinidadian popular music that developed in the 1970s and is closely related to calypso. Used for dancing at Carnival and at fetes, soca emphasizes rhythmic energy and studio production-including synthesized sounds and electronically mixed ensemble effects-over storytelling, a quality more typical of calypso songs, which are performed for seated audiences. socage in feudal English property law, form of land tenure in which the tenant lived on his lord's land and in return rendered to the lord a certain agricultural service or money rent. At the death of a tenant in socage (or socager), the land went to his heir after a ... Soce, Ousmane Senegalese writer and politician who was one of the first novelists of his country. Sochi city and resort area of Krasnodar kray (territory), southwestern Russia. The city stretches along the Black Sea coast at the foot of the western part of the main Caucasus mountain range. It was established in 1896 on the site of the former Navaginskoye fort and began developing as a resort ... Socho Japanese renga ("linked-verse") poet and chronicler of the late Muromachi period (1338-1573) who, along with two other renga poets, wrote Minase sangin hyakuin (1488; Minase Sangin Hyakuin: A Poem of One Hundred Links Composed by Three Poets at Minase). social behaviour, animal the suite of interactions that occur between two or more individual animals, usually of the same species, when they form simple aggregations, cooperate in sexual or parental behaviour, engage in disputes over territory and access to mates, or simply communicate across space. social change in sociology, the alteration of mechanisms within the social structure, characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behaviour, social organizations, or value systems. social class a group of people within a society who possess the same socioeconomic status. Besides being important in social theory, the concept of class as a collection of individuals sharing similar economic circumstances has been widely used in censuses and in studies of social mobility. social contract in political philosophy, an actual or hypothetical compact, or agreement, between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each. In primeval times, according to the theory, individuals were born into an anarchic state of nature, which was happy or unhappy according to the particular version. They ... Social Credit Party minor Canadian political party founded in 1935 by William Aberhart in Alberta and based on British economist Clifford Douglas's Social Credit theory. By the late 1930s the party had virtually abandoned Douglas's theories; it now advocates such policies as employee participation in profits and in shareholding. social Darwinism the theory that persons, groups, and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin had perceived in plants and animals in nature. According to the theory, which was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the weak were diminished and their cultures delimited, ...