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Seleucia
Seleucia , ancient city of Mesopotamia, on the Tigris below modern Baghdad. Founded (c.312 BC) by Seleucus I, it soon replaced Babylon as the main center for east-west commerce through the valley. The city was the eastern capital of the Seleucids until the Parthians conquered it. The Seleucids then ...
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coal mining
coal mining physical extraction of coal resources to yield coal; also, the business of exploring for, developing, mining, and transporting coal in any form. Strip mining is the process in which the overburden (earth and rock material overlying the coal) is removed to expose a coal seam or coal bed....
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floodplain
floodplain level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes. Floodplains may be extensive, such as below the conflux of the Ohio and the Mississippi, where the...
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Limpopo
Limpopo , river, c.1,100 mi (1,770 km) long, rising in Limpopo prov., South Africa. It flows in a great arc, first north (forming part of the South Africa-Botswana border), then east (forming the South Africa-Zimbabwe border), and finally southeast through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The upper L...
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reproductive system
reproductive system in animals, the anatomical organs concerned with production of offspring. In humans and other mammals the female reproductive system produces the female reproductive cells (the eggs, or ova) and contains an organ in which development of the fetus takes place; the male reproducti...
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castor oil
castor oil yellowish oil obtained from the seed of the castor bean . The oil content of the seeds varies from about 20% to 50%. After the hulls are removed the seeds are cold-pressed. Medicinal castor oil is prepared from the yield of the first pressing; this is used as a purgative and laxative. O...
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caduceus
caduceus , wing-topped staff, with two snakes winding about it, carried by Hermes, given to him (according to one legend) by Apollo. The symbol of two intertwined snakes appeared early in Babylonia and is related to other serpent symbols of fertility, wisdom, and healing, and of sun gods. This staff...
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Wuxi
Wuxi or Wusih , city (1994 est. pop. 863,100), S Jiangsu prov., China, on the Grand Canal and the north bank of Tai lake. It is a silk-producing center. Foods (especially grains) are processed, and machine tools, paper products, fertilizer, and motor vehicles are also made. Wuxi has long been ...
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prostate gland
prostate gland gland that is part of the male reproductive system . It is an organ about the size of a chestnut and consists of glandular and muscular tissue. It is situated below the neck of the bladder, encircling the urethra. The prostate produces a thin, milky, alkaline fluid that is secreted ...
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Ganges
Ganges or Ganga , river, c.1,560 mi (2,510 km) long, rising in the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas in Uttaranchal state, India, and flowing generally southeast through NE India across a vast plain to the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh; the most sacred river of Hindu India. The fertile Ganges plai...
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