Baboon7

[Fr. babouin, and babines, large lips.] A kind of monkey with a short tail, very fierce and dangerous, and not so often tamed as others of the Monkey tribe. It is found in the hottest parts of Africa and in Siam. Its long snout or lips give its head somewhat the shape of a dog’s 01 COMMON THINGS 13 than in the same latitudes in Europe. Thunder¬ storms and aurorae are connected with each other —the former being characteristic of the tropics, and the latter of the polar regions. In Norway, Siberia, and Eapland auroras enliven to some extent the snowy landscapes and brighten the long winter evenings, and they furnish much light during the protracted nights at the Arctic region. [Gk. autos, self; L,. mobilis, movable.] A self-moving carriage, distinguished at first as a horsele carriage. Steam and gasoline engines and electric storage batteries are used as propelling powers, and automobiles came rapidly into use near the end of the nine¬ teenth century. A great development of them seems probable in the twentieth century. [Fr. from L. ad vallem, to the valley.] A vast body of snow, ice, earth, rocks, etc., sliding swiftly down a mountain side or falling down a precipice. [AS.] An instrument of steel or iron, with a steel edge or blade, for felling trees, hew¬ ing timber, chopping and splitting wood, etc. The handle of an axe is called the helve, the thick metal part the head, and the hole for the handle the eye, and the handle is so fixed in the eye as to be in the same plane with the blade. The carpenter’s axe for hewing timber is heavier than the chopping axe, and has a broader and thinner blade and a shorter handle. head. It lives chiefly on fruits, corn, and roots, and has large cheek pouches in which its food is kept until needed. The baboons are quadrupeds living on the ground, and running swiftly on all fours, while many of them live in herds, and are formidable to animals and property. The troops are led by patriarchs and guarded by sentinels, and fight fiercely when attacked. There are many kinds of baboon, but the best known are the pig-tailed, the dog-faced, and the mandrill. The nose and cheeks of the mandrill are ornamented with red and blue stripes, audits appearance is made remarkable by other patches of gaudy color. [AS. or Dan.] A game of chance and skill played by two persons on a board with dice and fifteen pieces or “men” each. The board is divided into tables, each table being marked with six points colored alternately white and black. The moves of men are determined by throws of the dice; and if a point is occupied partially or fully by the opponent, the man is set back. [Fr.] The back and sides of a pig salted The hair is singed instead of being scalded, and the meat is separated from the shoulder-blade and bones, and cured by salting and drying. [Gk. baktron, a rod or stick.] The name of a family of extremely minute plants, consisting of a single cell, and only visible under a high power of the microscope. They are found almost everywhere, and all fermentation and 589