Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pipe smoking

(Encyclopedia)pipe smoking. The habit of smoking various substances probably arose independently in different parts of the world. Herodotus in the 5th cent. b.c. describes the Scythians as inhaling the fumes of bur...

poppy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Greater celandine poppy, Chelidonium majus poppy, common name for some members of the Papaveraceae, a family composed chiefly of herbs of the Northern Hemisphere having a characteristic milky ...

narcosis

(Encyclopedia)narcosis närkōˈsĭs [key], state of stupor induced by drugs. The use of narcotics as a therapeutic aid in psychiatry is believed to have a history dating back to the use of opium for mental disorde...

Osh

(Encyclopedia)Osh ôsh [key], city (1993 pop. 233,300), capital of Osh region, S Kyrgyzstan, in the Fergana Valley. Terminus of the Osh-Khorugh highway and Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, Osh has silk, cotton, te...

Shantou

(Encyclopedia)Shantou swäˈtouˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 718,800), SE Guangdong prov., China, a port on the South China Sea, in the Han River delta. When it was opened to foreign trade after the second Opium W...

oxycodone

(Encyclopedia) oxycodone is a synthetic opioid developed to treat pain. Oxycodone was originally developed in Germany in 1917 from a synthesis of thebaine, an alkaloi...

narcotic

(Encyclopedia)narcotic, any of a number of substances that have a depressant effect on the nervous system. The chief narcotic drugs are opium, its constituents morphine and codeine, and the morphine derivative hero...

Xiamen

(Encyclopedia)Xiamen ämoiˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 458,000), S Fujian prov., China, on Xiamen island, at the mouth of the Jiulong River. It has an excellent natural harbor and is connected to the mainland by ...

Fars

(Encyclopedia)Fars färsĭstänˈ [key], province, c.51,500 sq mi (133,400 sq km), SW Iran. Shiraz is the capital and chief city, ...

clipper

(Encyclopedia)clipper, type of sailing ship, designed for speed. Long and narrow, the clipper had the greatest beam aft of the center; the bow cleaved the waves; and the ship carried, besides topgallant and royal s...