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Brooke, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Henry, c.1703–1783, Irish author. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he studied law in London before returning to Ireland permanently. In 1735 he published his long philosophical poem, Uni...

Chamfort, Sébastien Roch Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Chamfort, Sébastien Roch Nicolas sābästyăNˈ rōk nēkōläˈ shäNfôrˈ [key], 1740–94, French writer. He is remembered only for his maxims and epigrams. His acute observations on literature, ...

chloral hydrate

(Encyclopedia)chloral hydrate klōrˈəl hīˈdrāt [key], central nervous system depressant that is widely used as a hypnotic, or sleep-inducing drug. Chloral hydrate is the common ingredient, along with alcohol, ...

Fitz, Reginald Heber

(Encyclopedia)Fitz, Reginald Heber, 1843–1913, American pathologist, b. Chelsea, Mass., M.D. Harvard, 1868. He studied under Virchow, and in 1870 he returned to Harvard, where he introduced Virchow's methods and ...

sty

(Encyclopedia)sty, in medicine, acute localized infection of one or more of the glands of the eyelid, with pain, swelling, and redness of the lid margin, usually caused by a staphylococcus infection. An external st...

norovirus

(Encyclopedia)norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...

Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon

(Encyclopedia)Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon zhādāôNˈ täləmäNˈ dā rāōˈ [key], 1619–92, French writer. His one great work is a series of brief anecdotal portraits of persons prominent in the Paris of h...

carbuncle

(Encyclopedia)carbuncle, acute inflammatory nodule of the skin caused by bacterial invasion into the hair follicles or sebaceous gland ducts. It is actually a boil, but one that has more than one focus of infection...

blackleg

(Encyclopedia)blackleg or black quarter, acute infectious disease of cattle, less often of sheep, caused by an organism of the genus Clostridium. It is characterized by inflammation of muscles with swelling and pai...

rubella

(Encyclopedia)rubella or German measles, acute infectious disease of children and young adults. It is caused by a filterable virus that is spread by droplet spray from the respiratory tract of an infected individua...