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blood test

(Encyclopedia)blood test, examination of blood routinely or as an aid in diagnosing a suspected disease. Tests may be performed on whole blood or on the plasma portion only. Blood typing identifies the proteins at ...

salsify

(Encyclopedia)salsify, common name for a tall, narrow-leaved biennial (Tragopogon porrifolius) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to S Europe but now naturalized and sometimes growing as a weed in Nort...

Loches

(Encyclopedia)Loches lôsh [key], town (1990 pop. 7,133), Indre-et-Loire dept., W central France, in Touraine, on the Indre River. Products include processed food and electronics. It is famous for its medieval buil...

Schwabe, Samuel Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Schwabe, Samuel Heinrich zäˈmo͞oĕl hīnˈrĭkh shväbˈə [key], 1789–1875, German apothecary and amateur astronomer. In the hope of discovering a new planet between Mercury and the sun, he made...

Alfonso II, king of Aragón

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II, 1152–96, king of Aragón (1162–96) and, as Raymond Berengar V, count of Barcelona (1162–96); son and successor of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragón. He inher...

Vivarais

(Encyclopedia)Vivarais vēvärāˈ [key], region, roughly coextensive with Ardèche dept., SE France. Its mountainous terrain rises to 5,753 ft (1,754 m) in the Mézenc. Cattle raising is the chief occupation. Silk...

Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron bīˈrən [key], 1788–1824, English poet and satirist. Ranked with Shelley and Keats as one of the great Romantic poets, Byron became famous throughout E...

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton

(Encyclopedia)Bulwer-Lytton, Edward George Earle Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, 1803–73, English novelist. The son of Gen. William Bulwer and Elizabeth Lytton, he assumed the name Bulwer-Lytton in 1843 when he inherit...

Toulouse

(Encyclopedia)Toulouse to͞olo͞ozˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 365,933), capital of Haute-Garonne dept., S France, on the Garonne River. France's fastest growing region, it is one of France's great cultural and commer...

Arnstadt

(Encyclopedia)Arnstadt ärnˈshtät [key], city, Thuringia, E Germany, on the Gera River. Known for its glove-manufacturing industries, Arnstadt also has glassworks, wood-finishing work...