therapeutics: Wound treatment: In the late phase, the production of new and stronger collagen remodels the scar, blood vessels enlarge, and the epithelium at the surface heals.

harvest mouse: Old World harvest mouse: …back as far as the late Pliocene Epoch (3.6 to 2.6 million years ago). Wood mice are the closest living relatives of the Old World harvest mouse.

pre-Columbian civilizations: The Late Preceramic: There is ample evidence of human occupation by 3500 bce, at which time there was already considerable diversity along the Pacific. In the central and northern coastal areas lived people who cultivated beans, squash, cotton, and chili peppers and who exploited the sea,…

Precambrian: Proterozoic plate movements: During the late Proterozoic (Neoproterozoic Era), some orogenic belts, like the Pan-African belts of Saudi Arabia and East Africa, continued to develop. The intense crustal growth and the many orogenic belts that formed throughout the Proterozoic began to create large continental blocks, which amalgamated to produce a…

Ur: Foundation of the city: …the succeeding “Jamdat Nasr” (Late Protoliterate) phase, a large cemetery produced valuable remains allied to more sensational discoveries made at Erech.

Kanye West: Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s and Heartbreak: His second album, Late Registration (2005), repeated the commercial success of his first—with a number of hit singles, including “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” and “Gold Digger”—and earned West three more Grammy Awards. He also gained attention for his widely quoted assertion that the federal government’s slow response to…

Western architecture: Italian Mannerism or Late Renaissance (1520–1600): Mannerism is the term applied to certain aspects of artistic style, mainly Italian, in the period between the High Renaissance of the early 16th century and the beginnings of Baroque art in the early 17th. From the third decade of the 16th…

China: The Shang dynasty: …and the Yinxu phase of Late Shang indicates a widespread network of Shang cultural sites that were linked by uniform bronze-casting styles and mortuary practices. A relatively homogeneous culture united the Bronze Age elite through much of China about the 14th century bce.

Late Show, American late-night talk show that began airing on the CBS television network in 1993, with comedian David Letterman as host, and won numerous Emmy Awards for its innovative, frequently off-the-wall approach to the talk-show format. After Letterman stepped down in 2015, Stephen Colbert

Late Show, American late-night talk show that began airing on the CBS television network in 1993, with comedian David Letterman as host, and won numerous Emmy Awards for its innovative, frequently off-the-wall approach to the talk-show format. After Letterman stepped down in 2015, Stephen Colbert

Late Show, American late-night talk show that began airing on the CBS television network in 1993, with comedian David Letterman as host, and won numerous Emmy Awards for its innovative, frequently off-the-wall approach to the talk-show format. After Letterman stepped down in 2015, Stephen Colbert

Robert Benton: Directing: Benton next directed The Late Show (1977) from his own screenplay about an aging private eye whose partner is killed while trying to help a quirky woman find her cat. Art Carney was impressive as Ira Wells, the gumshoe who is falling apart at the seams, and Lily…

Neolithic, final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans. It was characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or animals, settlement in permanent villages, and the appearance of such crafts as pottery and

Mike Davis: In his 2000 book Late Victorian Holocausts, Davis demonstrated that economic and political decisions made by colonial powers were responsible for the famines that swept India, China, and Brazil between 1870 and 1914, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.

angiosperm: Secondary vascular system: …wood (spring wood) and the late wood (summer wood); early wood is less dense because the cells are larger and their walls are thinner. Although the transition of early wood to late wood within a growth ring may be obscure, that demarcation between the adjacent late wood of one ring…

human endocrine system: The testis: …by late-onset hypogonadism (andropause, or male menopause), which begins around age 40 and results in decreased testicular function and testosterone deficiency. Symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism include decreased libido, fatigue, depression, and erectile dysfunction. The condition may proceed unnoticed for many years because symptoms are often subtle.

Pierre Latécoère was a French aircraft manufacturer who aided the development of international airline service. The Compagnie Latécoère began commercial air flights between Toulouse, Fr., and Barcelona on Dec. 25, 1918, and extended its route to Morocco in 1919 and to Dakar, Senegal, in 1925. In

Anita Brookner: Brookner’s other novels included Latecomers (1988), chronicling the lives of two male German Jews orphaned during the Holocaust who make a life for themselves in England; Brief Lives (1990); Fraud (1992); Visitors (1997); Undue Influence (1999); the Booker-nominated The Next Big Thing (2002); The Rules of Engagement (2003); Leaving…

lateen sail, triangular sail that was of decisive importance to medieval navigation. The ancient square sail permitted sailing only before the wind; the lateen was the earliest fore-and-aft sail. The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the

human behaviour: Psychoanalytic theories: …before puberty are called the latency stage. During the final and so-called genital stage of development, mature gratification is sought in a heterosexual love relationship with another. Freud believed that adult emotional problems result from either deprivation or excessive gratification during the oral, anal, or phallic stages. A child with…

dream: Psychoanalytic interpretations: …being expressed were called the latent content. Freud suggested that the dreamer kept himself from waking and avoided unpleasant awareness of repressed wishes by disguising them as bizarre manifest content in an effort called dreamwork. He held that impulses one fails to satisfy when awake are expressed in dreams as…

fingerprint: Latent fingerprinting involves locating, preserving, and identifying impressions left by a culprit in the course of committing a crime. In latent fingerprints, the ridge structure is reproduced not in ink on a record card but on an object in sweat, oily secretions, or other substances…

latent heat, energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its physical state (phase) that occurs without changing its temperature. The latent heat associated with melting a solid or freezing a liquid is called the heat of fusion; that associated with vaporizing a liquid or a solid

Paddy Chayefsky: The Latent Heterosexual (published 1967; performed 1968) tells of a successful homosexual author who marries for tax purposes and enjoys it.

latent image, in photography, the invisible configuration of silver halide crystals on a piece of film after exposure to image-bearing focussed light; it is distinguishable from unexposed silver halide only by its ability to be reduced to metallic silver by a developing agent. According to current

eigenvalue, one of a set of discrete values of a parameter, k, in an equation of the form Pψ = kψ, in which P is a linear operator (that is, a symbol denoting a linear operation to be performed), for which there are solutions satisfying given boundary conditions. The symbol ψ (psi) represents an

tuberculosis: The course of tuberculosis: In this condition, sometimes called latent tuberculosis, the affected person is not contagious. In some cases, however, sometimes after periods of time that can reach 40 years or more, the original tubercles break down, releasing viable bacilli into the bloodstream. From the blood the bacilli create new tissue infections elsewhere…

Stephen King: Other novels: …miniseries 2020); The Institute (2019); Later (2021); and Fairy Tale (2022).

Korea: The emergence of provincial magnates: …Gung Ye, established, respectively, the Later Baekje (892) and Later Goguryeo (also called Majin or Taebong; 901) kingdoms. Together with Silla, they are commonly referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms. In this period Seon (Zen) Buddhism was most popular, with its emphasis on the importance of realizing, through contemplation,…

Deccan: century, the Chalukya, Rastrakuta, Later Chalukya, Hoysala, and Yadava families successively established regional kingdoms in the Deccan, but they were continually in conflict with neighbouring states and recalcitrant feudatories. The later kingdoms also were subject to looting raids by the Muslim Delhi sultanate, which eventually gained control of the…

China: The rise of the Manchu: …banners were created as the Manchu conquered new regions, and eventually there were Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese banners, eight for each ethnic group. By 1648 less than one-sixth of the bannermen were actually of Manchu ancestry. The Manchu conquest was thus achieved with a multiethnic army led by Manchu nobles…

Korea: The emergence of provincial magnates: …the Later Baekje (892) and Later Goguryeo (also called Majin or Taebong; 901) kingdoms. Together with Silla, they are commonly referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms. In this period Seon (Zen) Buddhism was most popular, with its emphasis on the importance of realizing, through contemplation, the inborn Buddha nature…

Five Dynasties: …name Liu Zhiyuan) founded the Hou (Later) Han dynasty and pushed the Khitan back into Inner Asia. But this regime lasted only four years before still another general usurped the throne, founding the Hou (Later) Zhou dynasty. Although progress toward a more stable government began to be made during this…

China: Dong (Eastern) Han: The Han house was restored by Liu Xiu, better known as Guangwudi, who reigned from 25 to 57 ce. His claim had been contested by another member of the Liu house—Liu Xuan, better known as Liu Gengshi—who had been actually enthroned for…

Five Dynasties: …Asia, and Gaozu established the Hou (Later) Jin dynasty. When Gaozu’s son attempted to halt his tribute payments to the Khitan in 946, they reinvaded North China and carried him into captivity, thus ending the 10-year Hou Jin dynasty. The following year a former Hou Jin general who also bore…

Korea: The emergence of provincial magnates: …the Later Baekje (892) and Later Goguryeo (also called Majin or Taebong; 901) kingdoms. Together with Silla, they are commonly referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms. In this period Seon (Zen) Buddhism was most popular, with its emphasis on the importance of realizing, through contemplation, the inborn Buddha nature…

Later Le Dynasty, (1428–1788), the greatest and longest lasting dynasty of traditional Vietnam. Its predecessor, the Earlier Le, was founded by Le Hoan and lasted from 980 to 1009. The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then

China: The Sui dynasty: …dethroned the emperor of the Hou (Later) Liang, the state that had ruled the middle Yangtze valley as a puppet of the Bei Zhou since 555. In 589 he overwhelmed the last southern dynasty, the Chen, which had put up only token resistance. Several rebellions against the Sui regime subsequently…

Five Dynasties: …the five dynasties was the Hou (Later) Liang, which was established by the rebel leader Zhu Wen after he usurped the Tang throne in 907. Zhu was murdered by his own son in 912, and the Hou Liang was overthrown by one of its generals, Zhuangzong (personal name Li Cunxu),…

Later Ly dynasty, (1009–1225), first of the three great dynasties of Vietnam. The kingdom, known later as Dai Viet, was established by Ly Thai To in the Red River Delta area of present northern Vietnam. Its capital was Thang Long (Hanoi). (It is “later” with respect to the Earlier Ly dynasty,

Korea: The emergence of provincial magnates: …Gung Ye, established, respectively, the Later Baekje (892) and Later Goguryeo (also called Majin or Taebong; 901) kingdoms. Together with Silla, they are commonly referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms. In this period Seon (Zen) Buddhism was most popular, with its emphasis on the importance of realizing, through contemplation,…

Aegean civilizations: Period of the Late Palaces in Crete (c. 1700–1450): Various disasters occurred in Crete about the turn of the 18th and 17th centuries bc. The palaces at Knossos and Mallia were damaged, while that at Phaistos and a building that may have been the residence…

China: The Shiguo (Ten Kingdoms): …Qian (Former) Shu (907–925), the Hou (Later) Shu (934–965), the Min (909–945), the Bei (Northern) Han (951–979), the Nan Han (917–971), and the Wu-Yue (907–978), the last located in China’s most rapidly advancing area—in and near the lower Yangtze delta.

Norman L. Bowen: …basis of his critical review The Later Stages of the Evolution of the Igneous Rocks (1915), a paper of such outstanding merit that it established Bowen’s position at the age of 28 as an international figure in petrology.

Five Dynasties: …Li Cunxu), who established the Hou (Later) Tang dynasty in 923. Although Zhuangzong and his successors ruled relatively well for 13 years, the Hou Tang was finally terminated when one of its generals, Gaozu (personal name Shi Jingtang), overthrew his master with the aid of the Khitan, a seminomadic people…

Grace Paley: …the Last Minute (1974) and Later the Same Day (1985), both of which continued her compassionate, often comic, exploration of ordinary individuals struggling against loneliness. All feature the character of Faith, Paley’s reputed alter ego. The Collected Stories appeared in 1994. Leaning Forward (1985) and Begin Again: New and Collected…

Korea: The emergence of provincial magnates: …commonly referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms. In this period Seon (Zen) Buddhism was most popular, with its emphasis on the importance of realizing, through contemplation, the inborn Buddha nature of the individual.

Minamoto Yoshiie: …are collectively known as the Later Three Years’ War, three years being the time of the actual fighting, not counting the pauses.

India: Later Vedic period (c. 800–c. 500 bce): The principal literary sources from this period are the Sama-, the Yajur-, and the Atharvaveda (mainly ritual texts), the Brahmanas (manuals on ritual), and the Upanishads (Upanisads) and Aranyakas (collections of philosophical and metaphysical discourses). Associated with the…

Television in the United States: The late shows: By 1988 NBC had added Later with Bob Costas (1988–94), extending weeknight network programming to 2:30 am Eastern Standard Time.

Five Dynasties: …usurped the throne, founding the Hou (Later) Zhou dynasty. Although progress toward a more stable government began to be made during this time, the emperor died, leaving an infant on the throne. As a result, another general, Zhao Kuangyin (Taizu), seized the throne, founding the more long-lived Song dynasty, thus…

ellipse: …the minor axis is a latus rectum (literally, “straight side”).

irrigation: Transport systems: …water flows into branches, or laterals, and finally to distributors that serve groups of farms. Many auxiliary structures are required, including weirs (flow-diversion dams), sluices, and other types of dams. Canals are normally lined with concrete to prevent seepage losses, control weed growth, eliminate erosion hazards, and reduce maintenance. The…

lateral, in phonetics, a consonant sound produced by raising the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth so that the airstream flows past one or both sides of the tongue. The l sounds of English, Welsh, and other languages are

plant development: Branching of the shoot: …a stem—that is, in a leaf axil. In some plants, buds may also form from the older parts of shoot or root remote from the main apices; these buds, termed adventitious, do not conform to the general plan.

lateral, in phonetics, a consonant sound produced by raising the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth so that the airstream flows past one or both sides of the tongue. The l sounds of English, Welsh, and other languages are

laterality, in biological psychology, the development of specialized functioning in each hemisphere of the brain or in the side of the body which each controls. The most obvious example of laterality is handedness, which is the tendency to use one hand or the other to perform activities. It is the

tennis elbow, an injury characterized by pain at the lateral (outer) aspect of the elbow. The patient may also complain of tenderness on palpation of the area of concern, usually the dominant arm. This entity was first described in a scientific article in 1873, and since that time the mechanism of

strike-slip fault, in geology, a fracture in the rocks of Earth’s crust in which the rock masses slip past one another parallel to the strike, the intersection of a rock surface with the surface or another horizontal plane. These faults are caused by horizontal compression, but they release their

human nervous system: Lumbar plexus: …and genital regions) and the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (to skin on the lateral thigh). Two major branches of the lumbar plexus are the obturator and femoral nerves. The obturator enters the thigh through the obturator foramen; motor branches proceed to the obturator internus and gracilis muscles as well as…

Franciscus Sylvius: …(1641) the deep cleft (Sylvian fissure) separating the temporal (lower), frontal, and parietal (top rear) lobes of the brain.

lateral flow test, method for the rapid detection and quantification of chemicals and other substances (analytes) in liquid samples from biological, environmental, and other sources. Lateral flow tests are highly versatile and can be applied in a variety of settings to detect the presence of a

fontanel: …unions of the sphenoid and mastoid bones with the parietal bone. The posterior fontanel is triangular and lies at the apex of the occipital bone. The largest fontanel, the anterior, is at the crown between the halves of the frontal and the parietals. It is diamond shaped and about 2.5…

horizontal gene transfer, the transmission of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) between different genomes. Horizontal gene transfer is known to occur between different species, such as between prokaryotes (organisms whose cells lack a defined nucleus) and eukaryotes (organisms whose cells contain a

human eye: Geniculate neurons: In general, the lateral geniculate neuron is characterized by an accentuation of the centre-periphery arrangement, so that the two parts of the receptive field tend to cancel each other out completely when stimulated together, by contrast with the ganglion cell in which one or another would predominate. Thus,…

human eye: Geniculate neurons: In general, the lateral geniculate neuron is characterized by an accentuation of the centre-periphery arrangement, so that the two parts of the receptive field tend to cancel each other out completely when stimulated together, by contrast with the ganglion cell in which one or another would predominate. Thus,…

human nervous system: The spinal cord: …of sensory neurons, (2) the lateral horns, well defined in thoracic segments and composed of visceral neurons, and (3) the ventral horns, composed of motor neurons. The white matter forming the ascending and descending spinal tracts is grouped in three paired funiculi, or sectors: the dorsal or posterior funiculi, lying…

muscle: Tetrapod musculature: …with the third group, the lateral hypaxial muscles. The third group consists of three major layers of muscle whose fibres are oriented in differing directions, a feature that gives additional strength to the body wall. Superficially lies the external oblique muscle, with fibres running longitudinally but somewhat ventrally; deep to…

human ear: Ascending pathways: …of the nuclei of the lateral lemniscus. There they are joined by the fibres from the ventral cochlear nuclei of both sides and from the olivary complex. The lemniscus is a major tract, most of the fibres of which end in the inferior colliculus, the auditory centre of the midbrain,…

lateral line system: …floor of mucus-filled structures called lateral line canals. These canals are placed just underneath the skin, and only the receptor portion of each neuromast extends into the canal. In amphibians the lateral line system occurs only in larval forms and in adult forms that are completely aquatic.

lateral line system: …a series of mechanoreceptors called neuromasts (lateral line organs) arranged in an interconnected network along the head and body. This network is typically arranged in rows; however, neuromasts may also be organized singly. At its simplest, rows of neuromasts appear on the surface of the skin; however, for most fishes,…

lateral line system, a system of tactile sense organs, unique to aquatic vertebrates from cyclostome fishes (lampreys and hagfish) to amphibians, that serves to detect movements and pressure changes in the surrounding water. It is made up of a series of mechanoreceptors called neuromasts (lateral

magnification: Linear (sometimes called lateral or transverse) magnification refers to the ratio of image length to object length measured in planes that are perpendicular to the optical axis. A negative value of linear magnification denotes an inverted image. Longitudinal magnification denotes the factor by which an…

angiosperm: Roots: …they give rise to new lateral meristems and lateral roots. In woody roots the vascular cambium (the lateral meristem that gives rise to secondary phloem and secondary xylem) originates in the pericycle as well as in the procambium; the procambium is the primary meristematic tissue between the primary phloem and…

moraine: …extend up the sides as lateral moraines. It may appear as a belt of hilly ground with knobs and kettles.

human nervous system: Brachial plexus: …supraspinatus and infraspinatus), medial and lateral pectoral (to pectoralis minor and major), long thoracic (to serratus anterior), thoracodorsal (to latissimus dorsi), and subscapular (to teres major and subscapular). The axillary nerve carries motor fibers to the deltoid and teres minor muscles as well as sensory fibers to the lateral

animal development: Differentiation of the germinal layers: …remains unsegmented, is called the lateral plate. The somites remain connected to the lateral plate by stalks of somites that play a particular role in the development of the excretory (nephric) system in vertebrates; for this reason they are called nephrotomes. Rather early the mesodermal mantle splits into two layers,…

heel: …is a small protuberance, the lateral process, developed only in humans, related to balance in the upright position. The Achilles tendon (tendo calcaneus) attaches to the posterior border of the calcaneus. The calcaneus functions both as a lever for muscles of the calf in walking and as a weight-bearing structure…

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck: The inheritance of acquired characters: …described them as forming “lateral ramifications” with respect to the general “masses” of organization represented by the classes. Lateral ramifications in species resulted when they underwent transformations that reflected the diverse, particular environments to which they had been exposed.

angiosperm: Root systems: …the taproot are produced smaller lateral roots (secondary roots) that grow horizontally or diagonally. These secondary roots further produce their own smaller lateral roots (tertiary roots). Thus, many orders of roots of descending size are produced from a single prominent root, the taproot. Most eudicotyledons produce taproots—for example, the dandelion…

nervous system disease: Motor neuron disease: lateral sclerosis are both motor neuron diseases, progressive disorders of older people that affect neurons of the ventral horns, of the medullary motor nuclei, and of the corticospinal tracts. ALS, or Lou Gehrig disease, is characterized by muscle wasting due to loss of the ventral-horn…

lateral secretion, geological process by which ore minerals dissolved from wall rocks by percolating waters are redeposited in nearby openings. Put forth in 1847, the theory was vigorously attacked in the late 1800s by geologists who contended that the deposits were formed by hot water ascending

human ear: Semicircular canals: …according to their position: superior, horizontal, and posterior. The superior and posterior canals are in diagonal vertical planes that intersect at right angles. Each canal has an expanded end, the ampulla, which opens into the vestibule. The ampullae of the horizontal and superior canals lie close together, just above the…

Franciscus Sylvius: …(1641) the deep cleft (Sylvian fissure) separating the temporal (lower), frontal, and parietal (top rear) lobes of the brain.

lighthouse: Buoyage systems: …buoyage systems divide buoys into Lateral, Cardinal, and associated classes. Lateral buoys are used to mark channels. In region A a can-profile (i.e., cylindrical) red buoy with a red light indicates the port (left) side of the channel when proceeding in the direction of buoyage, while a conical green buoy…

laterality, in biological psychology, the development of specialized functioning in each hemisphere of the brain or in the side of the body which each controls. The most obvious example of laterality is handedness, which is the tendency to use one hand or the other to perform activities. It is the

lateral line system: …a series of mechanoreceptors called neuromasts (lateral line organs) arranged in an interconnected network along the head and body. This network is typically arranged in rows; however, neuromasts may also be organized singly. At its simplest, rows of neuromasts appear on the surface of the skin; however, for most fishes,…

celibacy: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: …at the first and second Lateran Councils (1123 and 1139), which abolished clerical marriage and thus established the official and still-existing position of the Roman Catholic church.

Fifth Lateran Council, (1512–17), the 18th ecumenical council, convoked by Pope Julius II and held in the Lateran Palace in Rome. The council was convened in response to a council summoned at Pisa by a group of cardinals who were hostile to the pope. The pope’s council had reform as its chief

First Lateran Council, (1123), the ninth ecumenical council, held in the Lateran Palace in Rome during the reign of Pope Calixtus II; no acts or contemporary accounts survive. The council promulgated a number of canons (probably 22), many of which merely reiterated decrees of earlier councils. Much

Fourth Lateran Council, (1215), the 12th ecumenical council, generally considered the greatest council before Trent. The council was years in preparation as Pope Innocent III desired the widest possible representation. More than 400 bishops, 800 abbots and priors, envoys of many European kings, and

Second Lateran Council, (1139), the 10th ecumenical council, convoked by Pope Innocent II. The council was convened to condemn as schismatics the followers of Arnold of Brescia, a vigorous reformer and opponent of the temporal power of the pope, and to end the schism created by the election of

Third Lateran Council, (1179), the 11th ecumenical council, convoked by Pope Alexander III. The council was attended by 291 bishops who studied the Peace of Venice (1177), by which the Holy Roman emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, agreed to withdraw support from his antipope and to restore the church

Domenico Fontana: …Felice (1587), and the present Lateran Palace, built on the ruins of the old medieval palace. He collaborated with Giacomo della Porta on the completion of St. Peter’s dome (1588–90) from Michelangelo’s model. His most famous undertaking was the removal of the Egyptian obelisk (brought to Rome in the 1st…

Lateran Treaty, treaty (effective June 7, 1929, to June 3, 1985) between Italy and the Vatican. It was signed by Benito Mussolini for the Italian government and by cardinal secretary of state Pietro Gasparri for the papacy and confirmed by the Italian constitution of 1948. Upon ratification of the

laterite, soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly oxidizing and leaching conditions. It forms in tropical and subtropical regions where the climate is humid. Lateritic soils may contain clay minerals; but they tend to be silica-poor,

barramundi, (Lates calcarifer), species of fish in the family Latidae (order Perciformes) that is native to tropical northern Australian waters. The barramundi, also called Asian seabass or giant perch, is one of the world’s finest eating and sporting fish. To sample the mouth-watering delights of

Nile perch, (species Lates niloticus), large food and game fish of the family Centropomidae (order Perciformes), found in the Nile and other rivers and lakes of Africa. A large-mouthed fish, the Nile perch is greenish or brownish above and silvery below and grows to about 1.8 m (6 feet) and 140 kg

Japanese art: Jōmon period: Evidence from the Final Jōmon (c. 1000–3rd century bce) suggests that inhospitable forces, whether contagious disease or climate, were at work. There was a considerable decrease in population and a regional fragmentation of cultural expression. Particularly noteworthy was the formation of quite distinct cultures in the north and…

Stijn Streuvels was a Belgian novelist and short-story writer whose works are among the masterpieces of Flemish prose. The nephew of the priest and poet Guido Gezelle, Streuvels discovered his literary gifts while at school at Avelgem in West Flanders. A master baker for 15 years, he learned