lepidopteran species of the family
White butterfly (Pieris brassicae).
CHR LEDERER-BAVARIA-VERLAG
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
2054 I White Lotus ► Whitman
than 100 rooms. The British burned it in 1814, but it was rebuilt and enlarged under Hoban’s direction. In the 1820s, Hoban added eastern and western terraces as well as a semicircular southern portico and a colon¬ naded northern portico. The later addition of the West Wing (1902) and East Wing (1942) provided additional office space. Theodore Roosevelt adopted “White House” as the building’s official name in 1902. Its pub¬ lic areas are toured by about 1.5 million people every year.
White Lotus Chinese Buddhist millenarian movement that was often persecuted because of its association with rebellion. The movement had roots in 4th-century worship of the Buddha Amitabha, whose devotional cult inspired Mao Ziyuan to form the White Lotus Society, a pious veg¬ etarian group of monks and laity. By the 14th century it had developed into a millenarian sect that combined MAiTREYAn and Manichaean beliefs and was active in rebellions at the end of the Yuan dynasty. The society became most prominent through its role in the White Lotus Rebellion (1786-1804), a large-scale uprising in central China that contributed to the fall of the Qing dynasty. It was eventually put down by peasants orga¬ nized into local militia defense corps. Later Chinese governments came to use the term White Lotus for all illegal millenarian groups. Some observers saw the Nian Rebellion of 1852 as well as the secret society behind the Boxer Rebellion as new manifestations of the White Lotus Society.
White Monk See Cistercian
White Mountain, Battle of (1620) Decisive battle near Prague at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The Catholic forces of Maximilian I, duke of Bavaria, commanded by count von Tilly, defeated the Protes¬ tant forces of Frederick V, king of Bohemia. By the defeat, Bohemia lost its independence, and Protestantism was exterminated until 1648.
White Mountains Segment of the Appalachian Mountains. It extends 87 mi (140 km) across north-central New Hampshire and into western Maine. Containing the highest elevations in the northeastern U.S., its loftiest peaks, mostly 5,000-6,000 ft (1,500-1,800 m) high, occur in a series of summits that are named for U.S. presidents and make up the Presidential Range. The highest point is Mount Washington. Most of the White Mountains lie within the White Mountain National Forest. It is a popular summer and winter resort area.
White Nile See Nile River
White River River, Arkansas, U.S. It rises in the Boston Mountains in northwestern Arkansas, flows north into southern Missouri, then bends southeast and reenters Arkansas. It continues south to join the Arkansas River near its confluence with the Mississippi River. It is 685 mi (1,102 km) long.
White Sands National Monument National monument, south- central New Mexico, U.S. Established in 1933, it covers 225 sq mi (583 sq km) and lies between the San Andres and the Sacramento mountains. Its white gypsum sand constantly drifts into dunes 10-60 ft (3-18 m) high. The San Andres National Wildlife Refuge, White Sands Missile Range, and Holloman Air Force Base are nearby.
White Sea Sea, extension of the Arctic Ocean, northwestern Russia. Almost landlocked, it is connected to the more northerly Barents Sea by a long, narrow strait known as the Gorlo. It covers an area of approxi¬ mately 35,000 sq mi (90,000 sq km) and has a maximum depth of 1,115 ft (340 m). Rivers, including the Northern Dvina and Onega, flow into it. An important transportation route, it remains navigable year-round with the help of icebreakers in winter. Arkhangelsk is one of the principal ports.
white shark See great white shark
white-tailed deer or Virginia deer Common reddish brown deer (Odocoileus virginianus), an impor¬ tant game animal found alone or in small groups from southern Canada to South America. The tail, white on the underside, is held aloft when the deer is alarmed or running. The male has forwardly curved antlers with several unbranched tines. Northern white-tailed deer grow up to 3.5 ft (107 cm) tall and weigh up to 400 lbs (180 kg). The white-tailed deer lives
in open woodlands (young and cutover forests) and on the fringes of urban areas and farmlands, and eats leaves, twigs, fruits, nuts, lichen, and fungi.
White Volta River River, Burkina Faso and Ghana, western Africa. It rises in Burkina Faso (where it is known as the Nakambe) and flows southwest for about 400 mi (640 km) to empty into Lake Volta in Ghana. It is a headstream of the Volta River.
whitefish Any of several silvery food fishes (family Salmonidae, or Coregonidae), inhabiting cold northern lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America. Whitefish weigh about 2-5 lbs (1-2 kg); they eat insect larvae and other small animals. The Lake Superior whitefish ( Coregonus clu- peaformis), also called whiting or shad, is the largest of the lake white- fishes. Ciscoes, or lake herring ( Coregonus artedi), are herringlike food and sport fishes. The best sport fishes of the family are the Rocky Moun¬ tain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni ) and other round whitefishes.
whitefly Any sap-sucking member of the insect family Aleyrodidae (order Homoptera). Nymphs are flat, oval, and usually covered with a cottony substance. Adults, 0.08-0.12 in. (2-3 mm) long, are covered with a white opaque powder and resemble moths. Whiteflies are abundant in warm climates, on houseplants, and in greenhouses. The greenhouse whitefly is one of the most abundant and destructive members of the fam¬ ily. The citrus whitefly and citrus blackfly damage fruit and other crops by sucking sap and producing honeydew, a by-product of digestion on which grows a sooty fungus that ruins fruit and reduces the host plant’s ability to photosynthesize.
Whitehead, Alfred North (b. Feb. 15, 1861, Ramsgate, Isle of Tha- net, Kent, Eng.—d. Dec. 30, 1947, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) British math¬ ematician and philosopher. He taught principally at the University of Cambridge (1885-1911) and Harvard University (1924-37). His Treatise on Universal Algebra (1898) extended Boolean symbolic logic. He col¬ laborated with Bertrand Russell on the epochal Principia Mathematica (1910-13), which attempted to establish the thesis of LOGlClSM. In Process and Reality (1929), his major work in metaphysics, he proposed that the universe consists entirely of becomings, each a process of appropriating and integrating the infinity of items provided by the antecedent universe and by God. His other works include “On Mathematical Concepts of the Material World” (1905), An Introduction to Mathematics (1911), Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge (1919), The Concept of Nature (1920), Science and the Modern World (1925), and Religion in the Making (1926). He received the Order of Merit in 1945.
Whitehorse City (pop., 2001: 19,058), capital of Yukon Territory, Canada. Located on the Yukon River, it was founded during the Klondike gold rush (1897-98) as a staging and distribution centre. Robert Service got much of his inspiration for his ballads while working there. The ter¬ ritorial capital since 1952, it is an important transportation centre on the Alaska Highway, as well as an outfitting base for anglers and hunters.
Whiteman, Paul (b. March 28, 1890, Denver, Colo., U.S.—d. Dec. 29, 1967, Doylestown, Pa.) U.S. musician and bandleader. Whiteman made his first records in 1920. His instrumental concept, known as “sym¬ phonic jazz,” featured lush harmonies and simplified jazz rhythms but little improvisation; he nevertheless became known as “The King of Jazz.” Whiteman commissioned George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and con¬ ducted its premiere in 1924. The Whiteman band featured, among others, Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, and Jack Teagarden. His popularity waned in the late 1940s, but he was a television-series host in the 1950s and occa¬ sionally led bands up to the time of his death.