Wisconsin River River, central and southwestern Wisconsin, U.S. It rises near the Wisconsin-Michigan border and flows south through cen¬ tral Wisconsin, then turns west and enters the Mississippi River after a course of 430 mi (690 km). It is navigable for small craft for about 200 mi (320 km) from its mouth. Lake Wisconsin is formed by a hydroelectric dam on the river near Prairie du Sac.
Wise, Isaac Mayer (b. March 29, 1819, Steingrub, Bohemia, Aus¬ trian Empire—d. March 26, 1900, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) Rabbi and organizer of Reform Judaism in the U.S. After emigrating from Bohemia, in 1854 he accepted a pulpit in Cincinnati, a post he held the rest of his life. He propagandized tirelessly for centralized Reform institutions and was instrumental in the formation of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, both of which he presided over. In 1857 he compiled a standard Reform prayer book, Minhag America. Though he failed to unite American Jews of all persuasions, he did bring about unanimity among Reform Jews.
Wise, Stephen Samuel (b. March 17, 1874, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—d. April 19, 1949, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian- born U.S. Reform rabbi, political activist, and Zionist leader. His family immigrated to the U.S. when he was an infant. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1901 and was trained as a rabbi. In 1907, after declining a post at an influential congregation because of inadequate assurances of free speech in the pulpit, he founded the Free Synagogue. In 1898 he attended the Second Zionist Congress and helped found the Zionist Organization of America. A prominent member of the Democratic Party, he helped win U.S. government approval of the Balfour Declara¬ tion. In 1922 he founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, a seminary for liberal rabbis, which merged with Hebrew Union College in 1950.
Wister, Owen (b. July 14, 1860, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. July 21,
1938, North Kingstown, R.I.) U.S. novelist. A well-to-do Easterner who graduated from Harvard, he spent his summers in the West from 1885. After practicing law for two years, he devoted himself to a literary career. His novel The Virginian (1902), the story of a cattle-ranch foreman who depends for his life on a harsh code of ethics, was a great popular success and helped establish the cowboy as an American folk hero and stock fictional character; the novel became the basis of a play, numerous films, and even a televi¬ sion series. His other major work was Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880-1919 ' (1930), detailing his long acquaintance with his Harvard classmate Theodore Roosevelt.
Wister
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wisteria ► Wittgenstein I 2069
wisteria or wistaria \wis-'tir-e-o\ Any of the twining, usually woody vines that make up the genus Wisteria, of the pea family (see legume), native mostly to Asia and North America. The leaves are pinnately com¬ pound (feathery). They are widely cultivated for their attractive spread¬ ing growth and beautiful, profuse flowers (blue, purple, rose, or white), which grow in large, drooping clusters. American wisteria (W. frutescens) and Kentucky wisteria (VL macrostachya ) are native to the U.S.
witan \'wi-tan\ or witenagemot Vwi-t 3 n-9-g9- l mot\ Council of the Anglo-Saxon kings in medieval England. Usually attended by high- ranking nobles and bishops, the witan was expected to advise the king on all matters on which he chose to ask its opinion. It attested his grants of land to churches or laymen, consented to his issue of new laws, and helped him deal with rebels and disaffected subjects. Its composition and time of meeting were determined at the king’s pleasure.
witch hazel family Family Hamamelidaceae, comprising 23 genera of shrubs and trees, native to tropical and warm temperate regions. The six species of the genus Hamamelis include such ornamentals as witch hazel, winter hazel, and Fothergilla, which are outstanding for their early flowering and fall leaf colour. Members of the family are characterized by simple leaves and by flowers with four or five petals and sepals each. American, or common, witch hazel ( H. virginiana ) flowers in fall and retains yellow, cuplike calyxes (collections of sepals) through the winter. The common name refers to the forked twigs that were sometimes used for water-witching, or dowsing to locate underground water. The fragrant liniment witch hazel is made from the dried leaves and sometimes from twigs and bark. Brilliant autumn leaf colour is an outstanding trait of ironwood ( Parrotia persica). Another genus, Altingia, has seven species, all Asian and all valued for their timber. A. excelsa is one of the largest trees of the Asian tropics, sometimes reaching a height of 82 ft (25 m).
witchcraft and sorcery Use of alleged supernatural powers, usually to control people or events. Sorcery is sometimes distinguished from witchcraft in that sorcery may be practiced by anyone with the appropri¬ ate knowledge, using charms, spells, or potions, whereas witchcraft is considered to result from inherent mystical power and to be practiced by invisible means. Modern witches, however, claim that their craft is learned, and therefore another distinction between witchcraft and sorcery is that sorcery is always used with evil intent. Controversies over witch¬ craft and sorcery have been especially prevalent in close-knit communi¬ ties experiencing decline or misfortune and embroiled in petty social conflict and scapegoating. In ancient Greece, witchcraft was mentioned as early as Homer (see Circe). The best-known sorceress in Classical times was the legendary Medea. The Roman Horace describes two witches in his Satires. The Bible contains several references to witches, notably the Witch of Endor consulted by Saul (1 Samuel 28). The early Church Fathers held that witchcraft was a delusion and denounced its practice. In the Middle Ages, witchcraft was believed to involve demonic possession. It was also associated with heresy and so came within the scope of the Inquisition. In the witch-hunts of the 1 6th— 17 th centuries, European courts frequently regarded witches and sorcerers alike as candidates for burning. Although estimates of the number killed vary widely, it is likely that between 40,000 and 60,000 people were executed and many more were tortured and imprisoned during the witch-hunts. In the 20th century the modern witchcraft movement, Wicca, was established and promoted respect for nature and a pantheistic worldview. Belief in witchcraft is apparent in traditional societies throughout the world. The Navajo protect themselves against witches with sand or pollen paintings, and in African societies people seek aid from medical doctors and witch doctors, the former for treatment of the “external” causes of the illness and the latter for the “internal”. See also magic; Salem witch trials.