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Egg

An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the animal hatches.

Most arthropods, vertebrates (excluding live-bearing mammals), and mollusks lay eggs, although some, such as scorpions, do not.

Reptile eggs, bird eggs, and monotreme eggs are laid out of water and are surrounded by a protective shell, either flexible or inflexible. Eggs laid on land or in nests are usually kept within a warm and favorable temperature range while the embryo grows. When the embryo is adequately developed it hatches, i.e., breaks out of the egg's shell. Some embryos have a temporary egg tooth they use to crack, pip, or break the eggshell or covering.

The largest recorded egg is from a whale shark and was 30 x in size. Whale shark eggs typically hatch within the mother. At 1.5 kg and up to 17.8 x, the ostrich egg is the largest egg of any living bird, though the extinct elephant bird and some non-avian dinosaurs laid larger eggs. The bee hummingbird produces the smallest known bird egg, which measures between 6.35-11.4 mm long and weighs half of a gram (around 0.02 oz). Some eggs laid by reptiles and most fish, amphibians, insects, and other invertebrates can be even smaller.

Reproductive structures similar to the egg in other kingdoms are termed "spores", or in spermatophytes "seeds", or in gametophytes "egg cells".

Eggs of different animal groups
Several major groups of animals typically have readily distinguishable eggs.

Fish and amphibian eggs

The most common reproductive strategy for fish is known as oviparity, in which the female lays undeveloped eggs that are externally fertilized by a male. Typically large numbers of eggs are laid at one time (an adult female cod can produce 4–6 million eggs in one spawning) and the eggs are then left to develop without parental care. When the larvae hatch from the egg, they often carry the remains of the yolk in a yolk sac which continues to nourish the larvae for a few days as they learn how to swim. Once the yolk is consumed, there is a critical point after which they must learn how to hunt and feed or they will die.

A few fish, notably the rays and most sharks use ovoviviparity in which the eggs are fertilized and develop internally. However, the larvae still grow inside the egg consuming the egg's yolk and without any direct nourishment from the mother. The mother then gives birth to relatively mature young. In certain instances, the physically most developed offspring will devour its smaller siblings for further nutrition while still within the mother's body. This is known as intrauterine cannibalism.

In certain scenarios, some fish such as the hammerhead shark and reef shark are viviparous, with the egg being fertilized and developed internally, but with the mother also providing direct nourishment. The eggs of fish and amphibians are jellylike. Cartilaginous fish (sharks, skates, rays, chimaeras) eggs are fertilized internally and exhibit a wide variety of both internal and external embryonic development. Most fish species spawn eggs that are fertilized externally, typically with the male inseminating the eggs after the female lays them. These eggs do not have a shell and would dry out in the air. Even air-breathing amphibians lay their eggs in water, or in protective foam as with the Coast foam-nest treefrog, Chiromantis xerampelina.

Bird eggs
Bird eggs are laid by females and incubated for a time that varies according to the species; a single young hatches from each egg. Average clutch sizes range from one (as in condors) to about 17 (the grey partridge). Some birds lay eggs even when not fertilized (e.g. hens); it is not uncommon for pet owners to find their lone bird nesting on a clutch of unfertilized eggs, which are sometimes called wind-eggs.

Colours
The default colour of vertebrate eggs is the white of the calcium carbonate from which the shells are made, but some birds, mainly passerines, produce coloured eggs. The colour comes from pigments deposited on top of the calcium carbonate base; biliverdin and its zinc chelate, and bilirubin, give a green or blue ground colour, while protoporphyrin IX produces reds and browns as a ground colour or as spotting.

Non-passerines typically have white eggs, except in some ground-nesting groups such as the Charadriiformes, sandgrouse and nightjars, where camouflage is necessary, and some parasitic cuckoos which have to match the passerine host's egg. Most passerines, in contrast, lay coloured eggs, even if there is no need of cryptic colors. However, some have suggested that the protoporphyrin markings on passerine eggs actually act to reduce brittleness by acting as a solid-state lubricant. If there is insufficient calcium available in the local soil, the egg shell may be thin, especially in a circle around the broad end. Protoporphyrin speckling compensates for this, and increases inversely to the amount of calcium in the soil.

For the same reason, later eggs in a clutch are more spotted than early ones as the female's store of calcium is depleted.

The color of individual eggs is also genetically influenced, and appears to be inherited through the mother only, suggesting that the gene responsible for pigmentation is on the sex-determining W chromosome (female birds are WZ, males ZZ).

It used to be thought that color was applied to the shell immediately before laying, but subsequent research shows that coloration is an integral part of the development of the shell, with the same protein responsible for depositing calcium carbonate, or protoporphyrins when there is a lack of that mineral.

In species such as the common guillemot, which nest in large groups, each female's eggs have very different markings, making it easier for females to identify their own eggs on the crowded cliff ledges on which they breed.

Yolks of birds' eggs are yellow from carotenoids, it is affected by their living conditions and diet.

Shell
Bird eggshells are diverse. For example:
 * cormorant eggs are rough and chalky
 * tinamou eggs are shiny
 * duck eggs are oily and waterproof
 * cassowary eggs are heavily pitted

Tiny pores in bird eggshells allow the embryo to breathe. The domestic hen's egg has around 7000 pores.

Some bird eggshells have a coating of vaterite spherules, which is a rare polymorph of calcium carbonate. In Greater Ani Crotophaga major this vaterite coating is thought to act as a shock absorber, protecting the calcite shell from fracture during incubation, such as colliding with other eggs in the nest.

Shape
Most bird eggs have an oval shape, with one end rounded and the other more pointed. This shape results from the egg being forced through the oviduct. Muscles contract the oviduct behind the egg, pushing it forward. The egg's wall is still shapeable, and the pointed end develops at the back.. One hypothesis is that long, pointy eggs are an incidental consequence of having a streamlined body typical of birds with strong flying abilities; flight narrows the oviduct, which changes the type of egg a bird can lay.

Cliff-nesting birds often have highly conical eggs. They are less likely to roll off, tending instead to roll around in a tight circle; this trait is likely to have arisen due to evolution via natural selection. In contrast, many hole-nesting birds have nearly spherical eggs.

Predation
Many animals feed on eggs. For example, principal predators of the black oystercatcher's eggs include raccoons, skunks, mink, river and sea otters, gulls, crows and foxes. The stoat (Mustela erminea) and long-tailed weasel (M. frenata) steal ducks' eggs. Snakes of the genera Dasypeltis and Elachistodon specialize in eating eggs.

Brood parasitism occurs in birds when one species lays its eggs in the nest of another. In some cases, the host's eggs are removed or eaten by the female, or expelled by her chick. Brood parasites include the cowbirds and many Old World cuckoos.

Amniote eggs and embryos
Like amphibians, amniotes are air-breathing vertebrates, but they have complex eggs or embryos, including an amniotic membrane. Amniotes include reptiles (including dinosaurs and their descendants, birds) and mammals.

Reptile eggs are often rubbery and are always initially white. They are able to survive in the air. Often the sex of the developing embryo is determined by the temperature of the surroundings, with cooler temperatures favouring males. Not all reptiles lay eggs; some are viviparous ("live birth").

Dinosaurs laid eggs, some of which have been preserved as petrified fossils.

Among mammals, early extinct species laid eggs, as do platypuses and echidnas (spiny anteaters). Platypuses and two genera of echidna are Australian monotremes. Marsupial and placental mammals do not lay eggs, but their unborn young do have the complex tissues that identify amniotes.

Mammalian eggs
The eggs of the egg-laying mammals (the platypus and the echidnas) are macrolecithal eggs very much like those of reptiles. The eggs of marsupials are likewise macrolecithal, but rather small, and develop inside the body of the female, but do not form a placenta. The young are born at a very early stage, and can be classified as a "larva" in the biological sense.

In placental mammals, the egg itself is void of yolk, but develops an umbilical cord from structures that in reptiles would form the yolk sac. Receiving nutrients from the mother, the fetus completes the development while inside the uterus.

Invertebrate eggs
Eggs are common among invertebrates, including insects, spiders, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Evolution and structure
All sexually reproducing life, including both plants and animals, produces gametes. The male gamete cell, sperm, is usually motile whereas the female gamete cell, the ovum, is generally larger and sessile. The male and female gametes combine to produce the zygote cell. In multicellular organisms, the zygote subsequently divides in an organised manner into smaller more specialised cells, so that this new individual develops into an embryo. In most animals, the embryo is the sessile initial stage of the individual life cycle, and is followed by the emergence (that is, the hatching) of a motile stage. The zygote or the ovum itself or the sessile organic vessel containing the developing embryo may be called the egg.

A recent proposal suggests that the phylotypic animal body plans originated in cell aggregates before the existence of an egg stage of development. Eggs, in this view, were later evolutionary innovations, selected for their role in ensuring genetic uniformity among the cells of incipient multicellular organisms.

Formation
The cycle of the egg's formation is started by the gamete ovum being released (ovulated) and egg formation being started. The finished egg is then ovipositioned and eventual egg incubation can start.

Scientific classifications
Scientists often classify animal reproduction according to the degree of development that occurs before the new individuals are expelled from the adult body, and by the yolk which the egg provides to nourish the embryo.

Egg size and yolk
Vertebrate eggs can be classified by the relative amount of yolk. Simple eggs with little yolk are called microlecithal, medium-sized eggs with some yolk are called mesolecithal, and large eggs with a large concentrated yolk are called macrolecithal. This classification of eggs is based on the eggs of chordates, though the basic principle extends to the whole animal kingdom.

Microlecithal
Small eggs with little yolk are called microlecithal. The yolk is evenly distributed, so the cleavage of the egg cell cuts through and divides the egg into cells of fairly similar sizes. In sponges and cnidarians, the dividing eggs develop directly into a simple larva, rather like a morula with cilia. In cnidarians, this stage is called the planula, and either develops directly into the adult animals or forms new adult individuals through a process of budding.

Microlecithal eggs require minimal yolk mass. Such eggs are found in flatworms, roundworms, annelids, bivalves, echinoderms, the lancelet and in most marine arthropods. In anatomically simple animals, such as cnidarians and flatworms, the fetal development can be quite short, and even microlecithal eggs can undergo direct development. These small eggs can be produced in large numbers. In animals with high egg mortality, microlecithal eggs are the norm, as in bivalves and marine arthropods. However, the latter are more complex anatomically than e.g. flatworms, and the small microlecithal eggs do not allow full development. Instead, the eggs hatch into larvae, which may be markedly different from the adult animal.

In placental mammals, where the embryo is nourished by the mother throughout the whole fetal period, the egg is reduced in size to essentially a naked egg cell.

Mesolecithal
Mesolecithal eggs have comparatively more yolk than the microlecithal eggs. The yolk is concentrated in one part of the egg (the vegetal pole), with the cell nucleus and most of the cytoplasm in the other (the animal pole). The cell cleavage is uneven, and mainly concentrated in the cytoplasma-rich animal pole.

The larger yolk content of the mesolecithal eggs allows for a longer fetal development. Comparatively anatomically simple animals will be able to go through the full development and leave the egg in a form reminiscent of the adult animal. This is the situation found in hagfish and some snails. Animals with smaller size eggs or more advanced anatomy will still have a distinct larval stage, though the larva will be basically similar to the adult animal, as in lampreys, coelacanth and the salamanders.

Macrolecithal
Eggs with a large yolk are called macrolecithal. The eggs are usually few in number, and the embryos have enough food to go through full fetal development in most groups. Macrolecithal eggs are only found in selected representatives of two groups: Cephalopods and vertebrates.

Macrolecithal eggs go through a different type of development than other eggs. Due to the large size of the yolk, the cell division can not split up the yolk mass. The fetus instead develops as a plate-like structure on top of the yolk mass, and only envelopes it at a later stage. A portion of the yolk mass is still present as an external or semi-external yolk sac at hatching in many groups. This form of fetal development is common in bony fish, even though their eggs can be quite small. Despite their macrolecithal structure, the small size of the eggs does not allow for direct development, and the eggs hatch to a larval stage ("fry"). In terrestrial animals with macrolecithal eggs, the large volume to surface ratio necessitates structures to aid in transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and for storage of waste products so that the embryo does not suffocate or get poisoned from its own waste while inside the egg, see amniote.

In addition to bony fish and cephalopods, macrolecithal eggs are found in cartilaginous fish, reptiles, birds and monotreme mammals. The eggs of the coelacanths can reach a size of 9 cm in diameter, and the young go through full development while in the uterus, living on the copious yolk.

Egg-laying reproduction
Animals are commonly classified by their manner of reproduction, at the most general level distinguishing egg-laying (Latin. oviparous) from live-bearing (Latin. viviparous).

These classifications are divided into more detail according to the development that occurs before the offspring are expelled from the adult's body. Traditionally:
 * Ovuliparity means the female spawns unfertilized eggs (ova), which must then be externally fertilised. Ovuliparity is typical of bony fish, anurans, echinoderms, bivalves and cnidarians. Most aquatic organisms are ovuliparous. The term is derived from the diminutive meaning "little egg".
 * Oviparity is where fertilisation occurs internally and so the eggs laid by the female are zygotes (or newly developing embryos), often with important outer tissues added (for example, in a chicken egg, no part outside of the yolk originates with the zygote). Oviparity is typical of birds, reptiles, some cartilaginous fish and most arthropods. Terrestrial organisms are typically oviparous, with egg-casings that resist evaporation of moisture.
 * Ovo-viviparity is where the zygote is retained in the adult's body but there are no trophic (feeding) interactions. That is, the embryo still obtains all of its nutrients from inside the egg. Most live-bearing fish, amphibians or reptiles are actually ovoviviparous. Examples include the reptile Anguis fragilis, the sea horse (where zygotes are retained in the male's ventral "marsupium"), and the frogs Rhinoderma darwinii (where the eggs develop in the vocal sac) and Rheobatrachus (where the eggs develop in the stomach).
 * Histotrophic viviparity means embryos develop in the female's oviducts but obtain nutrients by consuming other ova, zygotes or sibling embryos (oophagy or adelphophagy). This intra-uterine cannibalism occurs in some sharks and in the black salamander Salamandra atra. Marsupials excrete a "uterine milk" supplementing the nourishment from the yolk sac.
 * Hemotrophic viviparity is where nutrients are provided from the female's blood through a designated organ. This most commonly occurs through a placenta, found in most mammals. Similar structures are found in some sharks and in the lizard Pseudomoia pagenstecheri. In some hylid frogs, the embryo is fed by the mother through specialized gills.

The term hemotropic derives from the Latin for blood-feeding, contrasted with histotrophic for tissue-feeding.

Food
Eggs laid by many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, have probably been eaten by people for millennia. Popular choices for egg consumption are chicken, duck, roe, and caviar, but by a wide margin the egg most often humanly consumed is the chicken egg, typically unfertilized.

Eggs and Kashrut
According to the Kashrut, that is the set of Jewish dietary laws, kosher food may be consumed according to halakha (Jewish law). Kosher meat and milk (or derivatives) cannot be mixed or stored together. Eggs are considered pareve (neither meat nor dairy) despite being an animal product and can be mixed with either milk or kosher meat. Mayonnaise, for instance, is usually marked "pareve" despite by definition containing egg.

Vaccine manufacture
Many vaccines for infectious diseases are produced in fertile chicken eggs. The basis of this technology was the discovery in 1931 by Alice Miles Woodruff and Ernest William Goodpasture at Vanderbilt University that the rickettsia and viruses that cause a variety of diseases will grow in chicken embryos. This enabled the development of vaccines against influenza, chicken pox, smallpox, yellow fever, typhus, Rocky mountain spotted fever and other diseases.

Culture
Eggs are an important symbol in folklore and mythology, often representing life and rebirth, healing and protection, and sometimes featuring in creation myths. Egg decoration is a common practice in many cultures worldwide. Christians view Easter eggs as symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A popular Easter tradition in some parts of the world is the decoration of hard-boiled eggs (usually by dyeing, but often by hand-painting or spray-painting). Adults often hide the eggs for children to find, an activity known as an Easter egg hunt. A similar tradition of egg painting exists in areas of the world influenced by the culture of Persia. Before the spring equinox in the Persian New Year tradition (called Norouz), each family member decorates a hard-boiled egg and sets them together in a bowl. The tradition of a dancing egg is held during the feast of Corpus Christi in Barcelona and other Catalan cities since the 16th century. It consists of an emptied egg, positioned over the water jet from a fountain, which starts turning without falling.

Although a food item, raw eggs are sometimes thrown at houses, cars, or people. This act, known commonly as "egging" in the various English-speaking countries, is a minor form of vandalism and, therefore, usually a criminal offense and is capable of damaging property (egg whites can degrade certain types of vehicle paint) as well as potentially causing serious eye injury. On Halloween, for example, trick or treaters have been known to throw eggs (and sometimes flour) at property or people from whom they received nothing. Eggs are also often thrown in protests, as they are inexpensive and nonlethal, yet very messy when broken.

Collecting
Egg collecting was a popular hobby in some cultures, including European Australians. Traditionally, the embryo would be removed before a collector stored the egg shell.

Collecting eggs of wild birds is now banned by many jurisdictions, as the practice can threaten rare species. In the United Kingdom, the practice is prohibited by the Protection of Birds Act 1954 and Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. On the other hand, ongoing underground trading is becoming a serious issue.

Since the protection of wild bird eggs was regulated, early collections have come to the museums as curiosities. For example, the Australian Museum hosts a collection of about 20,000 registered clutches of eggs, and the collection in Western Australia Museum has been archived in a gallery. Scientists regard egg collections as a good natural-history data, as the details recorded in the collectors' notes have helped them to understand birds' nesting behaviors.

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Leonhart Fuchs

Leonhart Fuchs (17 January 1501 – 10 May 1566), sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs and cited in Latin as Leonhartus Fuchsius, was a German physician and botanist. His chief notability is as the author of a large book about plants and their uses as medicines, a herbal, which was first published in 1542 in Latin. It has about 500 accurate and detailed drawings of plants, which were printed from woodcuts. The drawings are the book's most notable advance on its predecessors. Although drawings had been used in other herbal books, Fuchs' book proved and emphasized high-quality drawings as the most telling way to specify what a plant name stands for.

Life
Fuchs was born in 1501 in Wemding (Marktplatz 5), near Donauwörth in Donau-Ries in the then Duchy of Bavaria, as the youngest son of Johann (Hans) Fuchs and his wife Anna Denten. His father was the town Burgomaster, and both parents came from families of municipal councillors (Ratsherr). The exact date of his birth is unknown, but this was at the height of the German Renaissance. His father died prematurely in 1506, leaving Leonhart to be brought up by his mother and grandfather, an earlier Burgomaster.

His family considered him gifted, but felt that local schools could not provide him with the education he needed. In 1511, with help from relatives, he was sent to the Lateinschule (grammar school) in Heilbronn (150 km west of Wemding), where Konrad Költer, the Rektor (1492–1527), also recognised his abilities. At that time, the school, had an excellent reputation, and Költer in particular for his teaching of Terence and Horace. The following year, Fuchs transferred to the Marienschule in Erfurt, Thuringia (320 km to the north), which provided intensive teaching in the classical languages, as a prerequisite to entrance in the University of Erfurt, which he then progressed to after six months. He was now eleven years old. At the time, the university at Erfurt was considered one of the premier German institutions of higher learning. At Erfurt, he matriculated in the Faculty of Arts, and by the 1516–7 winter semester had obtained his Baccalaureus artium, enabling him to teach, and he returned to Wemding to open a private school, at the age of 17. It was at Erfurt that he began his friendship with his contemporary, Joachim Camerarius.

On 28 June 1519 he started classes at the Hochschule (University of Ingolstadt), 62 km east of Wemding. There he studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew under, Johann Reuchlin and Jacob Ceporinus together with some philosophy and botany, and obtained his Magister Artium on 17 January 1521. During this time he became acquainted with the writings of Martin Luther, another graduate of Erfurt, and adopted the Lutheran faith. He then began to study medicine, obtaining his Medicinae Doctor on 1 March 1524. From 1524 to 1526, he practiced as a doctor in Munich, until he was offered the chair of medicine at the University of Ingolstadt in 1526. The university was firmly Roman Catholic and carefully monitored the religious practices and opinions of its professors, creating problems for Fuchs' Lutheran views. Thus, in 1528 he accepted a position as personal physician to Georg, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach in Ansbach (then Onoltzbach or Onsbach), a Protestant. The position, which he held to 1531, came with a promise of a professorship at a university the Margrave was planning to found there.

Fuchs was called to Tübingen by Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg in 1533 to help in reforming the University of Tübingen in the spirit of humanism. He created its first medicinal garden in 1535 and served as chancellor seven times, spending the last thirty-one years of his life as professor of medicine. Fuchs died in Tübingen in 1566.

While practicing in Munich he met and married Anna Catherina Friedberger, the daughter of a city councillor, (b. 1500 – d. 24 February 1563) in 1524. With her he had 4 sons and 6 daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

Work
While working at Ansbach, Fuchs began his long career of scientific publications, beginning with his Errata recentiorum medicorum (Errors of modern doctors) in 1530, which he dedicated to his new patron. In this list of 60 "errors", Fuchs took a stand on the controversy between "Arabist" and Greek medical traditions, siding solidly with the latter, and pointing out the contradictions. In places, he went too far in rejecting or ignoring some aspects of Arab medicine that were uncontested. He also criticized the confusion in nomenclature which led to the production of medicines that did not demonstrate the alleged effects. The book was well received by some, with Brunfels reproducing it in the second volume of his own herbal (Novi herbarii) in 1531. In others it invoked fury. Fuchs rebutted "Arabist" criticisms of the work in his Paradoxorum medicinae (1535), an expanded version of the Errata.

Of his works on botanical illustration, the Codex Fuchs (Codex Vindobonensis Palatinus) is considered the most significant example of the Renaissance, with nine volumes, consisting of 1529 coloured plates. Those that are signed, are by Ziegler or Meyer.

Scientific views
Like his medieval predecessors and his contemporaries, Fuchs was heavily influenced by the three Greek and Roman writers on medicine and materia medica, Dioscorides, Hippocrates, and Galen. He wanted to fight the Arab hegemony in medicine, as it had been transmitted by the Medical School of Salerno, and to "return" to the Greek authors. Fuchs argued in favour of a return to using herbes medicinales ("simples"), in contrast to the arcane and often noxious "compounds" of medieval prescribing. But he also saw the importance of practical experience as well and offered botanical field days for the students, where he demonstrated the medicinal plants in situ. He founded one of the first German botanical gardens. Fuchs, together with Brunfels and Bock, published herbals, and their joint efforts marked a mid-sixteenth century German botanical renaissance, each acknowledging the contributions of the others. Their connection to medicine ensured a wide and enduring audience, both professional and vernacular. The authority of these authors was based on the principles of medical humanism.

Selected publications
Leonhart Fuchs wrote more than 50 books and polemics. Fuchs's books on the anatomy of the eye and its diseases were among the standard references on this subject during this period.

 * Compendiaria in artem medendi introductio […]. Hagenau 1531
 * Hippocratis medicorum omnium longe principis Epidemiorum liber sextus 1532
 * Paradoxorum medicinae III (1535)
 * Alle Kranckheyt der Augen (All diseases of the eye) (1539)
 * De Historia Stirpium commentarii insignes, Isingrin, Basel 1542
 * Codex Fuchs, Tübingen 1536–1566
 * Codex Fuchs, Tübingen 1536–1566

Together with Joachim Camerarius and Hieronymus Gemusaeus, he published a complete edited edition of the works of Galen, which was printed by Andreas Cratander in 1538.

De Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignes
De historia is Fuchs' major work, a large book about plants and their uses as medicines (a herbal) first appearing in Latin in 1542, and being rapidly translated into other languages. Although the text is largely borrowed from earlier authors, and is not based on any system of classification, with its 512 plates it set a new standard in botanical illustration. The accurate and detailed drawings, printed from woodcuts were the most notable advance on its predecessors. Although drawings had been used in other herbal books, Fuchs' book proved and emphasized high-quality drawings as the most telling way to specify what a plant name stands for. However, it was too erudite and too expensive to replace existing herbals.

Legacy
Fuchs' name is commemorated in many ways in his home town of Wemding which has adopted the nickname of Fuchsienstadt (Fuchsia City), used the colour Fuchsia as its theme and decorated public places with plantings of Fuchsia. The house where he was born (Geburtshaus Leonhart Fuchs) bears a plaque. Because it is so small, it is known as the Zwergenhäuschen (dwarf house). The plaque reads: "1501 – 1566. Hier ist geboren Leonhart Fuchs, berühmter Arzt und Botaniker. Nach ihm wurde die Fuchsie benannt (1501 – 1566. Leonhart Fuchs, a famous doctor and botanist, was born here. The fuchsia was named after him)" For the 500th anniversary of his birth, a glass and steel pavilion for the fuchsia collection, the Fuchsienpavillon (Fuchsia house), was opened in 2001 in the Botanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen.

There is a cultivar of Fuchsia named 'Wemding' (1993), there is a Fuchsienrundgang (fuchsia tour) each year in Wemding, together with the creation of a fuchsia pyramid. There is a Fuchsien- und Kräutermarkt (fuchsia and herb market), some local businesses are named after Fuchs, and there is a Leonhart-Fuchs School.

Fuchs, together with his two older German colleagues, Otto Brunfels (1488–1534) and Hieronymus Bock (1498–1554), has been described as a father of botany (or a German father of botany) establishing it as a scientific discipline independent from medicine in the sixteenth century, and a principal representative of New Galenism. His portrait forms the frontispiece of Agnes Arber's book on herbals. After his death, the manuscript and plates of his Historia as placed in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, where it has remained.

Eponymy (proper name)
Fuchs' name is preserved by the plant Fuchsia, discovered in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean in 1696/97 by the French scientist and Minim friar Charles Plumier. He published the first description of "Fuchsia triphylla, flore coccineo" in 1703. The dye fuchsine (fuchsin, rosaniline hydrochloride or magenta) is named after the flower, and thus, the color fuchsia is indirectly named after Fuchs. The dye, developed in 1859, was given the name of fuchsine in France by its original manufacturer Renard frères et Franc because its color was similar to color of flowers of certain Fuchsia species, as well as the fact that Renard in French and Fuchs in German both mean fox.

Fuchs is also recognised in the specific epithet of the a plant widespread over Europe and northern Asia: the common spotted orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii.

Books, dictionaries and encyclopaedias

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license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Leonhart Fuchs


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Gelada

The gelada (Theropithecus gelada, ጭላዳ, Jaldeessa daabee), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of 1800–4400 m above sea level. It is the only living member of the genus Theropithecus, a name derived from the Greek root words for "beast-ape" (θηρο-πίθηκος : thēro-píthēkos). Like its close relatives in genus Papio, the baboons, it is largely terrestrial, spending much of its time foraging in grasslands, with grasses comprising up to 90% of its diet.

It has buff to dark brown hair with a dark face and pale eyelids. Adult males have longer hair on their backs and a conspicuous bright red patch of skin shaped like an hourglass on their chests. Females also have a bare patch of skin but it is less pronounced, except during estrus, when it brightens and exhibits a "necklace" of fluid-filled blisters. Males average 18.5 kg and females average 11 kg in weight. The head-body length is 50–75 cm with a tail of 30–50 cm.

The gelada has a complex multilevel social structure. Reproductive units and male units are the two basic groupings. A band comprises a mix of multiple reproductive units and male units; a community is made up of one to four bands. Within the reproductive units the females are commonly closely related. Males will move from their natal group to try to control a unit of their own and females within the unit can choose to support or oppose the new male. When more than one male is in the unit, only one can mate with the females. The gelada has a diverse repertoire of vocalizations thought to be near in complexity to that of humans.

The population of geladas is thought to have dropped from 440,000 in the 1970s to 200,000 in 2008. It is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Taxonomy and evolution
Since 1979, the gelada is customarily placed in its own genus (Theropithecus), though some genetic research suggests that this monkey should be grouped with its baboon (genus Papio) kin; other researchers have classified the species even more distantly from Papio. While Theropithecus gelada is the only living species of its genus, separate, larger species are known from the fossil record: T. brumpti, T. darti and T. oswaldi, formerly classified under genus Simopithecus. Theropithecus, while restricted at present to Ethiopia, is also known from fossil specimens found in Africa and the Mediterranean into Asia, including South Africa, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, and India (more exactly at Mirzapur, Cueva Victoria, Pirro Nord, Ternifine, Hadar, Turkana, Makapansgat, and Swartkrans).

The two subspecies of gelada are:
 * Northern gelada, T. g. gelada
 * Eastern gelada, southern gelada, or Heuglin's gelada, T. g. obscurus

Common name
The gelada has been referred to by other names, including the "gelada baboon", "bleeding-heart baboon", or simply "baboon", implying a monophyletic relationship with baboons, which historically included (apart from Theropithecus) the genera Papio (true baboons), and Mandrillus (mandrills and drills). Since the 1990s, however, molecular phylogenetic studies clarified relationships among papionin monkeys, demonstrating that mangabeys of the genus Lophocebus are more closely related to Papio and Theropithecus, while mangabeys of the genus Cercocebus are more closely related to Mandrillus. These findings largely invalidated any scientifically based justification for referring to mandrills and drills as baboons, as doing so while excluding the unbaboon-like Lophocebus mangabeys would create a polyphyletic group. The status of geladas was less clear and the relationships among Papio, Lophocebus, and Theropithecus continue to reflect high levels of uncertainty, which are further complicated by the discovery of the kipunji. Nevertheless, the most recent and extensive phylogenetic study to date demonstrates that, while large fractions of the genome show an alternative history, the dominant relationship across the genome supports a closer relationship between Papio and Lophocebus, with Theropithecus as the outgroup. As a close sister relationship between Papio and Theropithecus is the least-supported scenario in recent studies, i "gelada baboon" and other names implying a close relationship with baboons, with increasing clarity, are not scientifically justified, leading researchers to advocate for the common name to be simply "gelada".

Description
The gelada is large and robust, and it is covered with buff to dark-brown, coarse hair and has a dark face with pale eyelids. Its arms and feet are nearly black. Its short tail ends in a tuft of hair. Adult males have a long, heavy cape of hair on their backs. The gelada has a hairless face with a short muzzle that looks more similar to a chimpanzee's than a baboon's. It can also be physically distinguished from a baboon by the bright patch of skin on its chest. This patch is hourglass-shaped. On males, it is bright red and surrounded by white hair; on females, it is far less pronounced, but when in estrus, the female's patch brightens, and a "necklace" of fluid-filled blisters forms on the patch. This is thought to be analogous to the swollen buttocks common to most baboons experiencing estrus. In addition, females have knobs of skin around their patches. Geladas also have well developed ischial callosities. Sexual dimorphism is seen in this species; males average 18.5 kg (40.8 lb), while females are smaller, averaging 11 kg (24.3 lb). The head and body length of this species is 50–75 cm (19.7–29.5 in) for both sexes. Tail length is 30–50 cm (11.8–19.7 in).

The gelada has several adaptations for its terrestrial and graminivorous (grass-eating) lifestyle. It has small, sturdy fingers adapted for pulling grass and narrow, small incisors adapted for chewing it. The gelada has a unique gait, known as the shuffle gait, that it uses when feeding. It squats bipedally and moves by sliding its feet without changing its posture. Because of this gait, the gelada's rump is hidden beneath, so is unavailable for display; its bright red chest patch is visible, though.

Range and ecology
Geladas are found only in the high grasslands of the deep gorges of the central Ethiopian plateau. They live in elevations 1,800 – above sea level, using the cliffs for sleeping and montane grasslands for foraging. These grasslands have widely spaced trees and also contain bushes and dense thickets. The highland areas where they live tend to be cooler and less arid than lowland areas. Thus, the geladas usually do not experience the negative effects that the dry season has on food availability. Nevertheless, in some areas, they do experience frost in the dry season, as well as hailstorms in the wet season.

Geladas are the only primates that are primarily graminivores and grazers – grass blades make up to 90% of their diet. They eat both the blades and the seeds of grasses. When both blades and seeds are available, geladas prefer the seeds. They eat flowers, rhizomes, and roots when available, using their hands to dig for the latter two. They consume herbs, small plants, fruits, creepers, bushes, and thistles. Insects can be eaten, but only rarely and only if they can easily be obtained. During the dry season, herbs are preferred over grasses. Geladas consume their food more like ungulates than primates, and they can chew their food as effectively as zebra.

Geladas are primarily diurnal. At night, they sleep on the ledges of cliffs. At sunrise, they leave the cliffs and travel to the tops of the plateaus to feed and socialize. When morning ends, social activities tend to wane and the geladas primarily focus on foraging. They travel during this time, as well. When evening arrives, they exhibit more social activities before descending to the cliffs to sleep. Predators observed to hunt geladas include domestic dogs, leopards, servals, hyenas, and lammergeiers.

Social structure
Geladas live in a complex, multilevel society similar to that of the hamadryas baboon. The smallest and most basic groups are the reproductive units, which include up to 12 females, their young, and one to four males, and the all-male units, which are made up of 2-15 males. The next level of gelada societies are the bands, which are made up of two to 27 reproductive units and several all-male units. Herds consist of up to 60 reproductive units that are sometimes from different bands and last for short times. Communities are made of one to four bands whose home ranges overlap extensively. A gelada typically lives around 15 years.

Within the reproductive units, the females tend to be closely related and have strong social bonds. Reproductive units split if they become too large. While females have strong social bonds in the group, a female only interacts with at most three other members of her unit. Grooming and other social interactions among females usually occur between pairs. Females in a reproductive unit exist in a hierarchy, with higher-ranking females having more reproductive success and more offspring than lower-ranking females. Closely related females tend to have a similar hierarchical status. Females generally stay in their natal units for life; cases of females leaving are rare. Aggression within a reproduction unit, which is rare, is usually just between the females. Aggression is more frequent between members of different reproductive units and is usually started by females, but males and females from both sides can join and engage if the conflict escalates.

Males can remain in a reproductive unit for four to five years. While geladas have traditionally been considered to have a male-transfer society, many males appear to be likely to return and breed in their natal bands. Nevertheless, gelada males leave their natal units and try to take over a unit of their own. A male can take over a reproductive unit either through direct aggression and fighting or by joining one as a subordinate and taking some females with him to create a new unit. When more than one male is in a unit, only one of them can mate with the females. The females in the group together can have power over the dominant male. When a new male tries to take over a unit and overthrow the resident male, the females can choose to support or oppose him. The male maintains his relationship with the females by grooming them rather than forcing his dominance, in contrast to the society of the hamadryas baboon. Females accept a male into the unit by presenting themselves to him. Not all the females may interact with the male. Usually, one may be his main partner. The male may sometimes be monopolized by this female. The male may try to interact with the other females, but they are usually unresponsive.

Most all-male units consist of several subadults and one young adult, led by one male. A member of an all-male unit may spend two to four years in the group before attempting to join a reproductive unit. All-male groups are generally aggressive towards both reproductive units and other all-male units. As in reproductive units, aggression within all-male units is rare. As bands, reproductive units exist in a common home range. Within the band, members are closely related and between the units there is no social hierarchy. Bands usually break apart every eight to nine years as a new band forms in a new home range.

Researchers from the University of the Free State in South Africa, while observing gelada during field studies, discovered that the monkeys were capable of "cheating" on their partners and covering up their infidelity. A nondominant male mates surreptitiously with a female, with both suppressing their normal mating cries so as not to be overheard. If discovered, the dominant male attacks the miscreants in a clear form of punishment. It is the first time that evidence of the knowledge of cheating and fear of discovery have been recorded among animals in the wild. Dr. Aliza le Roux of the university's Department of Zoology and Entomology believes that dishonesty and punishment are not uniquely human traits, and that the observed evidence of this behaviour among gelada monkeys suggests that the roots of the human system of deceit, crime, and punishment lie very deep indeed.

Mixed-species association was observed between solitary Ethiopian wolves and geladas. According to the study's findings, gelada monkeys typically do not move on encountering Ethiopian wolves, even when they were in the middle of the herd; 68% of encounters resulted in no movement and only 11% resulted in a movement greater than 10 m. In stark contrast, the geladas always fled great distances to the cliffs for safety whenever they encountered aggressive domestic dogs.

Reproduction and parenting
When in estrus, the female points her posterior towards a male and raises it, moving her tail to one side. The male then approaches the female and inspects her chest and genital areas. A female will copulate up to five times per day, usually around midday. Breeding and reproduction can occur at any time of the year, although some areas have birth peaks. Most births occur at night. Newborn infants have red faces and closed eyes, and they are covered in black hair. On average, newborn infants weigh 464 g.

If a new male assumes mastery of a harem, females impregnated by the previous leader have an 80% likelihood of aborting, in a phenomenon known as the Bruce effect. Females come into estrus quickly after giving birth, so males have little incentive for practising infanticide, although it does occur in some communities in the Arsi region of Ethiopia, which may be an incentive for females to abort and avoid investing caring for an infant that will most likely be killed.

Infanticide in geladas remains fairly uncommon, though, compared to many primates that live in one-male units such as gorillas or gray langurs. The females that cancel their pregnancy are thought to bond with the new leader faster. When a male loses his position as dominant harem master, the females and new leader may allow him to remain in the social unit as a nonbreeding resident to act as a babysitter. This way, the ex-leader can protect any infants he had fathered from being killed by the new leader, the females can protect the infants fathered by him, and when the new leader faces a potential rival, the ex-leader will be more inclined to help support him in keeping rivals at bay.

Mortality among infants occurs at its highest in the wet season, but on average, over 85% of infants survive to their fourth birthday, one of the great advantages of living in an environment with a food source few other animals can exploit, so is unable to sustain many large predators.

Females that have just given birth stay on the periphery of the reproductive unit. Other adult females may take an interest in the infants and even kidnap them. An infant is carried on its mother's belly for the first five weeks, and thereafter on her back. Infants can move independently at around five months old. A subordinate male in a reproductive unit may help care for an infant when it is six months old.

When herds form, juveniles and infants may gather into play groups of around 10 individuals. When males reach puberty, they gather into unstable groups independent of the reproductive units. Females sexually mature at around three years, but do not give birth for another year. Males reach puberty at about four to five years, but they are usually unable to reproduce because of social constraints and wait until they are about eight to ten years old. Average lifespan in the wild is 15 years.

Communication
Adult geladas use a diverse repertoire of vocalizations for various purposes, such as: contact, reassurance, appeasement, solicitation, ambivalence, aggression, and defense. The level of complexity of these vocalizations is thought to be near that of humans. They sit around and chatter at each other, signifying to those around that they matter, in a way, to the individual "speaking". To some extent, calls are related to the status of an individual. In addition, females have calls signaling their estrus. Geladas communicate through gestures, as well. They display threats by flipping their upper lips back on their nostrils to display their teeth and gums, and by pulling back their scalps to display the pale eyelids. A gelada submits by fleeing or presenting itself.

Conservation status and human interactions
The gelada is considered a crop pest by farmers near Simien National Park. In 2005, they caused an average of 100 kg of crop damage per animal. The geladas had a distinct preference for barley.

In 2008, the IUCN assessed the gelada as least concern, although their population had reduced from an estimated 440,000 in the 1970s to around 200,000 in 2008. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES. Major threats to the gelada are a reduction of their range as a result of agricultural expansion and shooting as crop pests. Previously, these monkeys were trapped for use as laboratory animals or hunted to obtain their capes to make items of clothing. As of 2008, proposals have been made for a new Blue Nile Gorges National Park and Indeltu (Shebelle) Gorges Reserve to protect larger numbers.

title: Gelada


text:
Talk:Gelada

Gelada "language"
Has anybody detailed information about the current progress in understanding the "language" of the geladas? The chatter they emmit sounds almost identical to that of the Ewoks in Starwars. :-) LuckyStarr 21:53, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

There was a study by Dunbar, which you can find here: http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/05/65/bbs00000565-00/bbs.dunbar.html that mentioned work by someone called Richman on cataloguing and attempting to understand their language. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of another project (on the evolution of human language) right now so I don't have time to look into it fully, but if anyone feels like tracking it down it should be helpful. Danikat 04:06, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

re: Gelada (as posted on Talk:UtherRSG)
first off, let me say that i appreciate you digging up that goodman-1998 ref, it kept me from having to do it! but seriously, i see no good reason that the article shouldn't refer to the gelada as a baboon; the label is scattered all over the literature. i mean, look at the pic right there on the page! however you want to group them taxonomically speaking - however distinct you believe them to be - geladas are baboons, and it's not just me talking. further, it seems distracting to boldface "Theropithecus" halfway down the paragraph from the common names already boldfaced in the intro. lastly, it seems kind of archaic to capitalize Gelada wherever it appears in the article/sentence - it's not a proper name. one would not do the same with Puma, for instance, capping the first letter each time, regardless. either way, it should be done if only because that is largely the common convention in wikipedia.

anyhoo, don't mean to snipe! i do tend to "nit-pick" at times. just want it to be a decent encyc article, is all.

i'll post this at Talk:Gelada, just in case you want to continue the thread....

Metanoid 06:29, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

per previous post: when i said "either way, it should be done if only because that is largely the common convention in wikipedia", what i meant was actually "it should NOT be done that way, if only because it is NOT the common convention in wikipedia".

Metanoid 06:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

p.s. should the taxbox be footnoted? looks kind of messy.

Metanoid 06:38, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

 * MSW3 calls it "Gelada" not "Gelada Baboon", while it calls all of the Papio species baboons. WP:PRIM is using MSW3 as the primary source, unless there is something published after it that supercedes it. Since this article is about the one species, and the one species is the only member of the genus, the article is also about the genus. It is proper to boldface the genus in the first paragraph since it is one of the subjects of the article. (Many other articles are done this way and it 'is'' standard.) WP:PRIM also uses capitals for species names; see WP:BIRD for the reasoning. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:18, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

 * hey, np, UtherSRG, looks like you're more in the know than i am here! sorry bout changing your work pre-emptively, it was a late night kinda thing. i do have some extremely minor concerns, but as my we connection is on the fritz, i have to get back to ya. thanks! - Metanoid 20:29, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

UtherSRG, i have to say, i followed up on the WP:PRIM, and most of your reasoning made perfect sense. but i see now that you've also removed the magazine cover with the title "baboon" and the gelada pic. i apologize if this sounds rude, but that seems a bit silly to remove every single ref to the gelada as a baboon. it is frequently referred to as a "gelada baboon" in both scientific and lay arenas. tho i'm fine with sticking with just 'Gelada' the whole article, i think it's completely fine to mention the fact in the intro (and in the pic - that was a good close face shot, after all!). i will be putting it back within 24 hours unless you give me a rational reason against it. nothing personal. Metanoid 01:20, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

what ceremony?
User:Yom mentioned in the history page for this article that a ref is needed for the mention of a cultural group (not named) that uses gelada manes for a coming-of-age rite. i googled this, and found only various repeats of this "fact" borrowed right of wikipedia. does any editor out there have a legit ref? if not, i'd suggest we remove the mention. Metanoid 01:39, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

early Pleistocene
early Pleistocene monkey and Democratic Republic of the Congo - hapless. I added source; there: more about Theropithecus habitats. 76.16.176.166 (talk) 05:58, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Group size
There is some comment on groups banding together into herds, but the article doesn't say what sort of numbers we are talking about. On the BBC's Human Planet, it wad stated that they raided in groups of up to 600 - this would seem remarkable considering theories around group size and brain size. --Davoloid (talk) 21:54, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Etymology
The article lacks completely a reference as to why this animal is called like that (at least in Anglo-American environments). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.244.15.109 (talk) 19:57, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:Gelada


text:
Talk:The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show

Untitled
Is this real? Tell me this isn't real. I have the horrible feeling this exists. Jwrosenzweig 19:33, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Oh, it existed, all right! It wasn't bad, either, despite what you might be led to believe by the brief Wiki description.  Yes, it was a Ren and Stimpy knock-off (but let's face it, so was Spongebob Squarepants and a bazillion other 90's cartoons).  Yes, the Schnookums and Meat characters weren't especially entertaining.

 * However, the further away you got from them, the better the show became. Pith Possum was an amusing parody of Batman (the 60's TV show, not the 90's cartoon) and Tex Tinstar was absolutely hilarious, a satire of old cowboy movies starring a boneheaded cowpoke and a Mexican bandito with a decidedly British accent.  It was a wonderfully demented cross between The Lone Ranger, Eek! The Cat, and Dudley Do-Right, with the best parts of those three shows.

 * Too bad the producers didn't have their priorities straight when they made this... because of the emphasis on Schnookums and Meat, the show will forever be remembered as "just another Ren and Stimpy clone," and the true genius hidden within will be lost to the sands of time. --M.Neko 11:46, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

It seems to exist and looks like a copy of Ren and Stimpy. TvTome page. Secretlondon 19:39, Feb 23, 2004 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Secretlondon....well, I guess I'll just classify this under "True, Frightening but". :-) Jwrosenzweig 19:41, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

It would be helpful if the article said more than it was a "show". Could be a Broadway show for all the reader will learn here - Marshman 19:45, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Looks good now. --  user:zanimum October 18, 2005

Welker the great
Should there be any mention of the work that Frank Welker did for this particular animated program? Sochwa 20:38, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Poptart001 798.jpg
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Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot 23:24, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Disappointing Article
This article is surprisingly slight. The segment sections need to be beefed up and there's very little about the characters. Not to be a hypocrite, I did add some to the S&M and Pith Possum sections just now. I recall something about someone (likely Bill Kopp) complaining that the generic titles of P2 eps made keeping track of which episode was which almost impossible and requiring episode synopsis to be listed along with the titles in their paperwork. However, I didn't put that in the article because I don't know where I read it, don't know who made the comment, and it conceivably (but probably not) might have even been in regard to another show with generic titles (though I doubt it.) As it was I wrote:

In a parody of cartoon parents and caretakers always viewed from the waist and legs down (such as Tom & Jerry's Mammy Two Shoes, Muppet Babies' Nanny, and Roger Rabbit's Mrs. Herman), Husband and Wife literally do not have upper bodies - only waists and legs - and their voices emanate from the spaces where one would expect to find mouths.

Before remembering that it was Cow & Chicken I was remembering. That was a close one. I hate doing this from memory!

Could someone with access to the episodes themselves try to add to the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.254.80.47 (talk) 02:58, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

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Old Forest

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Old Forest was a daunting and ancient woodland just beyond the eastern borders of the Shire. Its first and main appearance in print was in the chapter of the 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring titled "The Old Forest". The hobbits of the Shire found the forest hostile and dangerous; the nearest, the Bucklanders, planted a great hedge to border the forest and cleared a strip of land next to it. A malign tree-spirit, Old Man Willow, grew beside the River Withywindle in the centre of the forest, controlling most of it.

The scholar Verlyn Flieger has observed that the hostility of the Old Forest and of Old Man Willow contradicts Tolkien's otherwise protective stance for wild nature. Scholars have discussed the symbolism of the Old Forest, likening it to "Old England", and, given that the protagonist Frodo Baggins calls it "the shadowed land", to Death.

Overview

The Old Forest lay near the centre of Eriador, a large region of north-west Middle-earth. It was one of the few survivors of the primordial forests which had covered much of Eriador before the Second Age. Indeed, it had once been but the northern edge of one immense forest which reached all the way to Fangorn forest, hundreds of miles to the south-east.

The vicinity of the Old Forest was the domain of three nature-spirits: Tom Bombadil, Goldberry, and Old Man Willow. The powers of these beings doubtless contributed to its survival when other forests were destroyed.

Old Man Willow, along with the Barrow-wight and Tom Bombadil himself, first appeared in Tolkien's narrative poem The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, where Old Man Willow trapped Bombadil himself briefly. Willow is portrayed as a sentient and evil willow tree with powers including hypnosis and the ability to move his roots and trunk. Some characters of the story speculate that he may have been related to the Ents, or possibly the Huorns. However, unlike Ents or Huorns, he is portrayed more like a tree, with roots in the ground, and without the ability to move from place to place. Tom Bombadil had power over Old Man Willow, and checked the evil as much as he could, or was willing.

According to Tom Bombadil, at the dawn of time, long before even the Awakening of the Elves, trees were the only inhabitants of vast stretches of the world. Because the Elves awoke far in the East, it was still a considerable time before any other beings spread into the vast primeval forests of western Middle-earth. A handful of trees survived from this time until the present day, who are angered at the encroachment of Elves and Men and their dominion over the earth; trees who bitterly remember a time long ago when they were as Lords of vast regions of the world. Bombadil relates that of the corrupted trees of the Old Forest, "none were more dangerous than the Great Willow; his heart was rotten, but his strength was green; and he was cunning, and a master of winds, and his song and thought ran through the woods on both sides of the river. His grey thirsty spirit drew power out of the earth and spread like fine root-threads in the ground, and invisible twig-fingers in the air, till it had under its dominion nearly all the trees of the Forest from the Hedge to the Downs."

In the First Age, Tom Bombadil "was here before the river and the trees". In the Spring of Arda, plants emerge, possibly including Old Man Willow. In the Years of the Trees, Elves skirted the forest on their primeval migration to Beleriand and the West; they were observed by Bombadil.

By the time Sauron had been defeated and driven from Eriador, most of its old forests had already been destroyed, leaving remnants such as the Old Forest. (Other vestiges included Woody End in the Shire, Chetwood in Bree-land, and Eryn Vorn in Minhiriath.) The Old Forest was now "hostile to two legged creatures because of the memory of many injuries."

Geography, flora and fauna

The Old Forest was about 1,000 square miles in area (some 2,600 km2). It was bordered on the east by the Barrow-downs, a hilly area dotted with ancient burial mounds, where Frodo's party encountered the Barrow-wight. In the north it reached towards the Great East Road, and in the west and south it approached the Brandywine river. The Withywindle, a tributary of the Brandywine, ran through the heart of the forest, which covered most of the Withywindle's drainage basin.

This was also a 'catchment area' in another sense. The landscape, trees and bushes were aligned so that if any strangers attempted to traverse the forest, then they were funnelled towards the Withywindle, and into the clutches of Old Man Willow in particular. The valley of the Withywindle within the Old Forest was known as the Dingle.

The Old Forest was a type of woodland nowadays described as temperate broadleaf and mixed forest. The west and south of the forest was dominated by "oaks and ashes and other strange trees", which were generally replaced by pines and firs in the north. Beeches and alders were found here and there in the forest, and willows were dominant along the Withywindle.

Many of the trees were covered "with moss and slimy, shaggy growths". The understorey was congested with bushes and other undergrowth, including brambles. A variety of plants grew in the forest's occasional glades: grass, hemlocks, wood-parsley, fire-weed, nettles and thistles.

Hobbits and the Old Forest
In one of his letters, Tolkien explained that "the Old Forest was hostile to two-legged creatures because of the memory of many injuries." When Gorhendad Oldbuck and his clan of Hobbits settled Buckland, they began to encroach upon the Old Forest, thus re-awakening the hostility that had first been aroused back in the Second Age. The settlers soon found themselves under threat from the forest. They felt that the trees of the Old Forest were in some manner 'awake', and were hostile. The trees swayed when there was no wind and whispered at night, and they daunted intruding hobbits by tripping them, dropping branches, and driving them deeper into the forest. Deep within the Old Forest was the Withywindle Valley, the root of all the terrors of the forest; it could be a dark, evil and malevolent place.

The Bucklanders therefore planted and maintained a great Hedge (also known as the High Hay) all the way along Buckland's eastern border, which ran right along the edge of the forest. This had occurred "many generations" before the War of the Ring.

However at length (but still "long ago" before the War of the Ring), the Bucklanders found that the Hedge was under "attack" by the forest. Trees began to plant themselves against the Hedge and lean over it. To counter this attack, the hobbits cleared a narrow strip of land on the outside of the Hedge, felling and burning many trees. They cleared a space some way inside the forest; this later became known as the Bonfire Glade.

The ruling family of Buckland, the Brandybucks, owned a private gate in the Hedge, through which they occasionally dared the threshold of the Old Forest. They also went in to maintain the cleared strip, which was still in existence during the War of the Ring. At least one non-Brandybuck visited the Old Forest: Farmer Maggot.

The heir of the Brandybucks during the War of the Ring was Merry Brandybuck: a member of the Fellowship of the Ring. He had been into the Old Forest "several times", and had a key to the gate. On Merry's advice, Frodo Baggins (the bearer of the One Ring) decided to attempt a traversal of the dreadful forest in order to evade the pursuit of Black Riders.

Old Man Willow

Old Man Willow is a malign tree-spirit of great age in Tom Bombadil's Old Forest, appearing physically as a large willow tree beside the River Withywindle, but spreading his influence throughout the forest. He casts a spell on the hobbits, trapping two of them; they are rescued by Tom Bombadil. Bombadil explains that the tree was wholly evil, and had grown to control most of the Old Forest. Tolkien made a drawing of Old Man Willow, from an unpollarded tree by the river in Oxford, to support his writing. The evil tree has puzzled critics, as it does not fit with Tolkien's image as an environmentalist "tree-hugger"; others have noted that trees too are seen by Christians as affected by the Biblical Fall of Man.

Turning to evil
The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger has observed that the Old Forest contradicts Tolkien's protective stance for wild nature and his positive views of trees in particular. Indeed, although the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings had close shaves with the Black Riders, the first real antagonist which they encountered directly is Old Man Willow. She writes also that the Bucklanders cutting and burning of hundreds of trees along the Hedge is not different from the destruction caused by Saruman's orcs in the woods around Orthanc. She notes further that Old Man Willow first appears as "a predatory tree" in the 1934 poem "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil", and that the character is developed in The Lord of the Rings, as documented in The Return of the Shadow. In an early draft from 1938, she writes, the "Willow" tree and the "Old Man" character had not yet become a single "indivisible being". Instead, Tolkien writes of "how that grey thirsty earth-bound spirit had become imprisoned in the greatest Willow of the [Old] Forest." Flieger writes that in this draft and in the 1943 "Manuscript B", Tolkien links "a tree and a spirit, a 'non-incarnate mind'" which is "imprisoned" in an individual tree. She comments that Tolkien solved the problem of how a spirit might become trapped in this way by turning them into a single being, at once a tree and a malevolent spirit. Old Man Willow is accompanied in the Old Forest, she writes, by "trees" that do what ordinary trees do – "dropping branches, sticking up roots", but which appear to be reacting to the presence of the hobbits, "giving an impression of motivation and intent that is enhanced by the ominous crowding that herds the hobbits 'eastwards and southwards, into the heart of the forest'", exactly where they do not wish to go.

Tolkien wrote that all inhabitants of Ea can be corrupted, and even "trees may 'go bad'". Matthew Dickerson notes in the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia that Old Man Willow is a prime example.

Other symbolism
Tolkien's Old Forest has been compared to "Old England" in John Buchan's 1931 The Blanket of the Dark, where the protagonist Peter Bohun disappears in the English Midlands around Evesham. The West Midlands were beloved by Tolkien because the maternal part of his family, the Suffields, were from this area.

Tom Shippey has proposed that the Old Forest contains a more fundamental symbolism. Frodo, the central protagonist of The Lord of the Rings, describes the forest as "the shadowed land"; Shippey draws on the context to suggest that the forest could be an allusion to Death.

John Garth writes that the name "Old Forest" seems plain, but is "pregnant" with meaning: "Forest" derives from medieval Latin forestem silvam, "the outside wood", in turn from Latin foris, "out of doors". He glosses this as meaning unfenced woodland, noting that the Old Forest is "very emphatically fenced out by a strip of scorched earth and a high hedge, to deter the seemingly mobile trees from invading Buckland".

Adaptations
The forest appears in the video game The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In the MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online, a quest to gather lilies for Goldberry at the foot of Old Man Willow is given to the player by Bombadil, who warns that the tree will "sing you right to sleep". Along with the adventure in Crickhollow, Tom Bombadil, and the Barrow-downs, the Old Forest is omitted from Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings.

title: Old Forest


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Kili

Kili may refer to the following:

People

 * Justin Kili (c. 1953-2015), Papua New Guinean media personality, journalist, activist, and pioneer
 * Kili Lefotu (born 1983), American football player

Places

 * Kili, a nickname for Mount Kilimanjaro
 * Kili, India, site of the Battle of Kili, a 1299 victory of the Delhi Sultanate over the Mongols
 * Kili Island, in the Marshall Islands
 * Kili Airport, on Kili Island

Other uses

 * Kíli, a Dwarf from J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit
 * KILI, a radio station in Porcupine, South Dakota
 * Kili language, a Tungusic language of Russia and China

title: Kili


text: Template:Tang class submarine

title: Template:Tang class submarine


text:
New Mexico Military Institute

New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports to the Governor of New Mexico. Located in downtown Roswell, NMMI enrolls nearly 1,000 cadets at the junior college and high school levels each year. NMMI is the only state-supported military college located in the western United States and has many notable alumni who have served at senior levels in the military and private sector.

Academic school years at NMMI usually begin with nearly 1,000 cadets enrolled, with slight attrition occurring during the school year due to demanding academic and physical requirements. The school's two-year Army ROTC Early Commissioning Program (ECP) commissions approximately 30 cadets annually as U.S. Army second lieutenants, and almost 100 cadets each year go to one of the five United States Service academies.

NMMI's motto is "Duty, Honor, and Achievement". The Cadet Honor Code, which was unanimously voted into place by the Corps of Cadets in 1921, states, "A Cadet Will Not Lie, Cheat, or Steal, Nor Tolerate Those Who Do" and is administered by an honor board of cadets, advised by cadre and staff. The school's athletic teams are the Broncos (junior college) and the Colts (high school), and its colors are scarlet and black.

History

New Mexico Military Institute was founded by Colonel Robert S. Goss and Captain Joseph C. Lea in 1891, originally as the Goss Military Institute, with an initial enrollment of 38 students. It was recognized by the territorial legislature and renamed NMMI in 1893. While the legislature had recognized the school, it failed to provide funding, and the school was forced to close its doors on "Bad Friday", March 29, 1895. In the winter of 1894–1895 a funding bill was prepared and approved by the legislature. James J. Hagerman donated a 40 acre tract of land which became the current location of the institute. The school reopened in the fall of 1898.

Hundreds of graduates served in World War I and World War II, including Medal of Honor recipient John C. Morgan and hotelier Conrad Hilton of the Hilton Hotels chain.

In 1948, the institute introduced a four-year liberal arts college program but discontinued it in 1956.

The school became fully coeducational in 1977, although some females had attended as non-cadet day students from 1891 to 1898.

The current superintendent, Major General (retired) Jerry W. Grizzle, was appointed in 2009.

In 2013, the institute broke off relations with the alumni association over disagreement about finances. Members of the alumni association claimed that this was an effort by the school to gain access and control of the over $5.2 million in assets of the association. On June 10, 2013, the school filed a lawsuit in Chaves County to take control of the assets of the alumni association. Editorial response to the institute's actions has been generally negative, calling it a "hijacking" of the group and its resources. On April 21, 2015, the Fifth Judicial District Court found that the alumni association had not breached its agreement with NMMI and that NMMI had "improperly terminated" the agreement. The judge required the association to turn over the funds.

Campus
The original area of land for the campus was donated to the school by local rancher James J. Hagerman, for whom the main barracks complex is named. The institute's buildings are made in a uniform Gothic Revival style out of buff brick. Its architecture and organization was inspired by the Virginia Military Institute. The campus is a designated area on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cadet life
Cadets are organized into a Corps of Cadets, following the organization of a cavalry regiment with a Headquarters Troop that comprises the Marching Band. The regiment comprises three squadrons consisting of four to five troops each. Cadets are structured into classes, 6th Class (9th grade high school equivalent) through 1st Class (college sophomore). Cadets are all treated on the basis of earned merit. The military boarding school environment is maintained by the cadet leadership, with all academic classes, meals, and military and physical training occurring "on post" (on campus) in a controlled environment. Based on the rank structure of the Virginia Military Institute, cadets start out as New Cadets, also known as RATs (recruits at training). College and high school cadets are RATs for one semester, then the next semester are known as yearlings, and after the one year mark they are called Old Cadets. Cadets also earn Junior or Senior Army ROTC positions outside of the Corps, although starting in the fall of 2022 school year, JROTC ranks and Corps ranks will be integrated. College and High School were separated in the Corps and in two different barracks starting in the fall of 2022 as well, except at the regimental staff level. These factors determine a cadet's privileges and authority and define social interactions at the institute.

The rules of the institute for cadets are codified in the "Blue Book".

Rules are enforced using a system of tours and demerits detailed in the Blue Book, as well as on-the-spot correction. Minor offenses may result in simply correction of behavior or disciplinary measures like physical activity, often push-ups. A tour is simply one full hour of marching in uniform with a rifle. Cadets with excessive demerits may be put on disciplinary probation, in which many of their privileges are taken away. Similarly, cadets who fail to meet standards of academic performance are put on academic probation, in which their privileges are largely revoked. There is also Honor probation administered by the NMMI Honor Board for offenses related to violations of the NMMI Honor Code. Punishment at the institute is strict and quickly administered by the cadre and staff of the institute when regulations are not followed. Leaving post is generally only authorized on weekends, holidays and during family visits.

All cadets live "on-post" (on-campus) in one of the two barracks. Services provided for Cadets include housing, the Mail Room, a Barber Shop (free to cadets), the PX restaurant, Bates Dining Facility, Reveille Coffee Shop, Game Room, Cadet Store, Laundry and Dry-Cleaning service, self-serve laundromat, Tailors, chapel services, infirmary, and cadet counseling center. There is also a bowling alley, but it is currently under renovation.

The commandant and dean of students is COL Thomas Tate, who leads a group of staff that advises the leaders in the corps of cadets, and is responsible for cadet life at the Institute.

Athletics
The football team, the Broncos, competes in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference with six Texas schools and one Oklahoma school. They are coached by head coach Kurt Taufa'asau, a former NFL pro, alumnus of the Institute, and the Bronco Team. He won the American Community College Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year in addition to NJCAA Coach of the Year and SWJCFC Coach of the Year. They won the 2021 NJCAA National football championship game, which was broadcast nationwide on CBS. Its other sports compete in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Their women's college volleyball team, coached by Shelby Fortchner, also competes in the NJCAA and were national runner-ups in the 2021-2022 season. They also have college golf, tennis, cross country, baseball and basketball teams at the NJCAA level, that compete under the Bronco name.

Their High School sports mascot is the Colts, and they compete in various divisions and districts in the NMAA (New Mexico Activities Association), including football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, swimming and diving, golf, basketball, baseball, cross country, and track and field competing with other New Mexico High Schools in the region.

Athletic facilities include: The newly renovated Cahoon Armory, Stapp Parade Field/Soccer Field, Godfrey Athletic Center, NMMI Ballpark, NMMI Football Field, Gene Hardman Memorial Tennis Courts, the NMMI Golf Course, the Outdoor Fitness Factory, and the Sports Medicine Facility.

The Athletic Director since July 2014 is NMMI COL Jose Barron. He was named the NJCAA Athletic Director of the Year in April 2022.

Notable alumni

 * Link Abrams, professional basketball player
 * Wilson Alvarez, professional football player
 * Bobby Baldock, United States federal appellate judge (Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals)
 * Ernst Bertner, first president of the Texas Medical Center
 * Norman E. Brinker, founder of Brinker International
 * Nicholas Clinch, mountaineer and lawyer, namesake of Clinch Peak
 * Matt Coates, professional football player
 * Charles A. Coulombe, writer and historian
 * William "Billy Jack" Cox, public interest attorney, author and political activist
 * Bill Daniels, cable television pioneer
 * Carlo D'Este, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, military historian
 * Sam Donaldson, news anchor for ABC News
 * Julian Ewell, U.S. Army lieutenant general
 * Taylor Force, soldier after whom the Taylor Force Act was named
 * William J. Gray, New Mexico House of Representatives member, Senior Vice President of Navajo Refining Company and Holly Corporation
 * Conrad Hamilton, professional football player
 * Ira B. Harkey Jr., awarded the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing
 * Joe Hernandez, professional football player
 * Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton Hotel chain
 * Conrad Hilton Jr., socialite
 * Paul Horgan, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author
 * Peter Hurd, artist, painted the presidential portrait of Lyndon B. Johnson
 * Jessica Jaymes, pornographic actress
 * Victor Lownes, Playboy Clubs executive
 * Enock Makonzo, football player for the Edmonton Elks
 * John C. Morgan, pilot and Medal of Honor recipient of World War II
 * Greg Morris, professional football player
 * Hal Mumme, collegiate football coach
 * Pat O'Rourke, politician
 * Guillermo Padrés Elías, governor of Sonora, Mexico
 * Diego Pavia, college football player and current starting quarterback at New Mexico State
 * Anthony Principi, fourth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
 * Bill Purifoy, professional football player
 * Chuck Roberts, news anchor for CNN Headline News
 * Dave Sherer, professional football player
 * Blair Smith, professional football player
 * Joe Smith, professional football player
 * Roger Staubach, professional football player, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
 * G. Harry Stine, sci-fi writer, model rocketry pioneer
 * Casey Urlacher, professional football player, brother of Brian Urlacher
 * Tim Van Galder, professional football player
 * Edwin Walker, U.S. Army major general
 * Frank D. White, governor of Arkansas
 * Owen Wilson, actor

title: New Mexico Military Institute


text:
Filí

The  (or filè), plural filid, filidh (or filès), was a member of an elite class of poets in Ireland, and later Scotland, up until the Renaissance. The filid were believed to have the power of divination, and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events.

In an early society where most people were illiterate – including its hierarchy of chieftains, sub-kings and kings – the oral tradition was an important means of communicating current news and historical events. As both a poet and storyteller, the fili would hope to gain a professional reputation for the authenticity and reliability of their information.

See also wiktionary:

 * 1) Old Irish < fili > ..."poet, seer".
 * 2) Old Irish < filidecht > ..."poetry, divination".
 * 3) Modern Irish < file > ..."poet".
 * 4) Modern Irish < filí > ...plural of file.

Etymology
The term fili likely derives from primitive Irish  ᚃᚓᚂᚔᚈᚐᚄ]VELITAS]; from Proto-Celtic *weleti ("to see"); and Proto-Indo-European *wel- ("to see, perceive"). An etymology from PIE welo-  is offered by Matasović. He notes: "The semantic development of Olr.fil was from 'Lo, behold' (lmpv. of *wel-o- 'see') to 'there is'. Olr.file [d m] 'poet' is a derivative from this root (cf. Ogam Gen. sg. VELITAS). The original meaning was 'seer', PCelt. *wel-et-."

The word "fili" is thought to derive from the Proto-Celtic *widluios, meaning "seer, one who sees" (attested on the Gaulish inscription from Larzac as "uidluias", which is the feminine genitive singular form), derived ultimately from the verb *widlu-, "to see".

Ollam
There were seven orders of fili, the highest order being the ollam, which required at least 12 years of training. The ollam were required to commit to memory 250 major tales and 350 minor ones.

Ollamh Érenn (Ireland)
The Ollamh Érenn was the master poet of Gaelic Ireland (the whole of Ireland "beyond The Pale"). There was a hierarchy of master poets:
 * 1) Each túath (tribal territory) had its own ollam.
 * 2) Each province had a head ollam above the túath ollams.
 * 3) The Ollamh Érenn was the head ollam above all others.

Ollamh rig Alban (Scotland)
In medieval Scotland the Ollamh rig Alban – 'Master poet of Scotland' – was an important member of the kings court. Whenever a new king was inaugurated, it was necessary for the Ollamh rig to recite the future kings genealogy, in order to verify his legitimate right to succeed.

Do gairm rig (Dal Riata)
The ancient traditions of the inauguration ceremony at Scone beside the River Tay in Scotland, including the recital of the future kings ancestry, probably originated from the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland.

Those traditions were introduced into Scottish Dal Riata – from Irish Dal Riata – where the ceremony was known as do gairm rig ..."Proclamation of the king". The Dal Riata community later moved east to the Perthshire region of Scotland, following Viking attacks on the west coast in the 9th century.

Kenneth MacAlpin
Viking attacks on the north east coast of Pictland resulted in a power vacuum, and an opportunity for Kenneth MacAlpin to become the first leader of both Dal Riata and Pictland. A new royal power base and inauguration site was created at Scone beside the River Tay.

Seanchaí
The term poet is misleading, because the filid were also seanchaí – historians – who advised chieftains and kings on political matters. The filid were believed to have the power of divination, and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events.

See also wiktionary:
 * 1) Irish  ..."Historian, storyteller".
 * 2) Scottish Gaelic  ..."storyteller".
 * 3) Old Irish < filidecht > ..."poetry, divination".

Fear of satire
The term poet is misleading, because the filid had extraordinary power and influence over the kings and political leaders who sponsored them. It was important for leaders to treat the filid with respect, and to reward them handsomely, in order to get good quality information on current affairs. The filid had the ability to portray their sponsors in a positive or negative way, and to influence neighbouring leaders.

At the darker and more extreme end of the scale – if leaders failed to treat the filid with due respect – they ran the risk of satire – a kind of blackmail – whereby the filid might ridicule them in front of neighbouring leaders.

The filid were believed to have the power of divination, and therefore able to foresee, foretell, predict – important events. It was also feared that they might have the power to influence future events.

Irish storytelling
The tales regaled by the filid were classified as:

Bérla na filed
Bérla na filed – "language of the poets" – was possibly an esoteric mix of:
 * 1) Latin
 * 2) Hebrew
 * 3) English
 * 4) Irish

Elite scholars
According to the Textbook of Irish Literature, by Eleanor Hull:

"The file is to be regarded as in the earliest times as combining in his person the functions of magician, lawgiver, judge, counsellor to the chief, and poet. Later, but still at a very early time, the offices seem to have been divided, the brehons devoting themselves to the study of law, and the giving of legal decisions, the druids arrogating to themselves the supernatural functions, with the addition, possibly of some priestly offices, and the filí themselves being henceforth principally as poets and philosophers. The division seems to have already existed in Ireland at the time of St Patrick, whose preaching brought him into constant opposition with the druids, who were evidently, at that time, regarded as the religious leaders of the nation, though there does not seem to be much sign that they were, as they undoubtedly were, even at an earlier age in Britain and Gaul, sacrificing priests."

Oral tradition
The fili maintained an oral tradition that predated the Christianisation of Ireland. In this tradition, poetic and musical forms are important not only for aesthetics, but also for their mnemonic value. The tradition allowed plenty of room for improvisation and personal expression, especially in regard to creative hyperbole and clever kenning. However, the culture placed great importance on the fili's ability to pass stories and information down through the generations without making changes in those elements that were considered factual rather than embellishment.

In this manner, a significant corpus of pre-Christian myth and epic literature remained largely intact many centuries into the Christian era. Much of it was first recorded in writing by scholarly Christian monks. The synergy between the rich and ancient indigenous oral literary tradition and the classical tradition resulted in an explosion of monastic literature that included epics of war, love stories, nature poetry, saint tales and so forth which collectively resulted in the largest corpus of non-Latin literature seen in Europe since Ancient Greece.

Decline
The ultimate accommodation of Christianity within Irish Gaelic society resulted in a strain on the resources of the Chiefs and in that they were required to provide land and titles for both fili and bishop alike. Consequently, a decision was made in the 6th century to limit the number of fili to certain families who were respected and believed to be poets as a birthright. The greatest of these families included the Ó Dálaigh (O'Daly), several of whom were accorded the rank of 'chief ollamh of poetry of all Ireland,' and Ó hUiginn (O'Higgins) who were hereditary filí in more than one Gaelic house such as O'Conor Slighit, The MacDermotts, The McDonagh and O'Doherty. The Ó Cobhthaigh (Coffey's) were known as the fili of Uisneach.

The Ó Maol Chonaire were chiefly Ollamhs of the Síol Muireadhaigh, the Ó Conchubhair Donn and the MacDermot of Moylurg, although this family was also associated with Ulster and spread from Connacht into the courts of Munster and Leinster. Finally the Ó Cléirighs who served the O'Donnel chieftains of Tír Connell.

The hereditary poets that were a fixture of court life in medieval Ireland serving as entertainers, advisors and genealogists maintained practices of and enjoyed a similar status as the pre-Christian fili. But from the 12th century onwards, Anglo-Norman elements had increasing influence on Irish society. As Gaelic culture waned, these folk became increasingly involved with written literature and such non-native traditions as heraldry. Nonetheless in Gaelic society the chief filí of the province, or Ollamh, was seen as equal status to the Ard-rí, or High King. This high social status existed right into Elizabethan times, when English nobility were horrified to see the Gaelic chieftains not just eating at the same table as their poets, but often from the same dish. Eventually classical literature and the Romantic literature that grew from the troubadour tradition of the langue d'oc superseded the material that would have been familiar to the ancient fili.

Legacy
Many manuscripts preserving the tales once transmitted by the fili have survived. This literature contributes much to the modern understanding of druids, Celtic religion and the Celtic world in general.

Besides its value to historians, this canon has contributed a great deal to modern literature beginning with retellings by William Butler Yeats and other authors involved with the Celtic Revival. Soon after, James Joyce drew from material less explicitly. Now fantasy literature and art draws heavily from these tales and characters such as Cúchulainn, Finn McCool and the Tuatha Dé Danann are relatively familiar.

Through such traditional musicians as Turlough O'Carolan (who died in 1738 and is often lauded as "the last of the bards") and countless of his less-known or anonymous colleagues, the musical tradition of the fili has made its way to contemporary ears via artists such as Planxty, The Chieftains, and The Dubliners.

In their subject matter and techniques, the seanachie are considered the inheritors of the ancient Irish tradition of oral literature.

The modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic words for "poet" are derived from fili.

 * Old Irish: fili, plural filid
 * Modern Irish: file, plural filí
 * Scottish Gaelic: filidh, plural filidhean
 * Manx Gaelic: feelee

Finally, practitioners of Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism are working to reconstruct trance and visionary techniques that were used by the filid, such as imbas forosnai and aspects of the tarbhfeis ritual.

title: Filí


text: Template:Essex class aircraft carrier

title: Template:Essex class aircraft carrier


text:
Quesadilla

A quesadilla (Mexican diminutive of quesada ) is a Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices, and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. Traditionally, a corn tortilla is used, but it can also be made with a flour tortilla.

History
The quesadilla has its origins in colonial Mexico. The quesadilla as a dish has changed and evolved over many years as people have experimented with different variations of it. Quesadillas are frequently sold at Mexican restaurants all over the world.

Original Mexican quesadilla
In the central and southern regions of Mexico, a quesadilla is a flat circle of cooked corn masa, called a tortilla, warmed to soften it enough to be folded in half, and then filled. They are typically filled with Oaxaca cheese (queso Oaxaca), a stringy Mexican cheese made by the pasta filata (stretched-curd) method. The quesadilla is then cooked on a comal until the cheese has completely melted. They are usually cooked without the addition of any oil. Often the quesadillas are served with green or red salsa, and guacamole. While Oaxaca (or string) cheese is the most common filling, other ingredients are also used in addition to the cheese. These can include cooked vegetables, such as potatoes with chorizo, squash blossoms, huitlacoche, and different types of cooked meat, such as chicharron, tinga made of chicken or beef, or cooked pork. In some places, quesadillas are also topped with other ingredients, in addition to the fillings they already have. Avocado or guacamole, chopped onion, tomato, serrano chiles, and cilantro are the most common. Salsas may also be added as a topping.

Mexican quesadillas are traditionally cooked on a comal, which is also used to prepare tortillas. As a variation, the quesadillas can be fried in oil to make quesadillas fritas. The main difference is that, while the traditional ones are prepared by filling the partially cooked tortillas, then cooked until the cheese melts, the fried ones are prepared like a pastry, preparing the uncooked masa in small circles, then topping with the filling and finally folding the quesadilla to form the pastry. It is then immersed into hot oil until the exterior looks golden and crispy.

Other variations include the use of wheat flour tortillas instead, especially in Northern Mexico. Wheat dough is most commonly used in place of corn masa. In this case, the flour tortilla is prepared, folded and filled with cheese (mainly Chihuahua cheese or queso menonita, a local cheese made by the Mennonites). The way of preparation is exactly the same as the corn variety.

In the cuisine of Mexico City, quesadillas are not assumed to come with cheese unless specifically requested. This is in contrast to the rest of Mexico, where quesadillas are considered to include cheese by definition (quesadilla literally meaning "little cheesy thing" in Spanish). This cultural trend cannot be traced back to a single origin.

Sometimes, cheese and ham are sandwiched between two flour tortillas, then cut into wedges to serve what is commonly known as a sincronizada (Spanish for "synchronized") in Mexico. Despite appearing almost the same as a quesadilla, it is considered a completely different dish. Tourists frequently confuse the sincronizada with the quesadilla because it is typically called a quesadilla in most Mexican restaurants outside of Mexico.

United States quesadilla
The quesadilla is a regional favorite in the southwestern U.S., where it is similar to a grilled cheese sandwich, with the inclusion of local ingredients. A flour tortilla is heated on a griddle, then flipped and sprinkled with a grated, usually high-moisture, melting cheese (queso quesadilla), such as Monterey Jack, Cheddar cheese, or Colby Jack. Once the cheese melts, other ingredients, such as shredded meat, peppers, onions, or guacamole may be added, and it is then folded and served.

Another preparation involves cheese and other ingredients sandwiched between two flour tortillas, with the whole package grilled on an oiled griddle and flipped so both sides are cooked and the cheese is melted. This version is often cut into wedges to serve. A home appliance (quesadilla maker) is sold to produce this kind of quesadilla, although it does not use oil and cooks both sides at once. This type is similar to the Mexican sincronizada; but in the United States, they often also have fajita beef or chicken or other ingredients instead of ham. That kind of quesadilla is also Mexican, and it is called "gringa" (the name varies in some regions in Mexico, including a type of quesadilla called "chavindeca").

Regional variations to specific recipes exist throughout the Southwest.

Variations
Quesadillas have been adapted to many different styles. In the United States, many restaurants serve them as appetizers, after adding their own twist. Some variations use goat cheese, black beans, spinach, zucchini, or tofu. A variation that combines the ingredients and cooking technique of a quesadilla with pizza toppings has been described as a "pizzadilla".

Even dessert quesadillas are made, using ingredients such as chocolate, butterscotch, caramel and different fruits.

Breakfast quesadillas are also made, using ingredients such as eggs, cheese and bacon.

title: Quesadilla