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McDowell, Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)McDowell, Ephraim məkdoulˈ, –douˈəl [key], 1771–1830, American pioneer surgeon, b. Virginia. He studied with the Scottish surgeon John Bell in Edinburgh and practiced in Danville, Ky. He was n...

Agatha, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Agatha, Saint ăgˈəthə [key], 3d cent., Sicilian virgin, martyred under Roman Emperor Decius. She is mentioned in the Martyrology of Jerome and the Calendar of Carthage in the 6th cent. Agatha is i...

lie detector

(Encyclopedia)lie detector, instrument designed to record bodily changes resulting from the telling of a lie. Cesare Lombroso, in 1895, was the first to utilize such an instrument, but it was not until 1914 and 191...

GCA

(Encyclopedia)GCA, ground-controlled approach: see instrument-landing system. ...

odometer

(Encyclopedia)odometer ōdŏmˈĭtər [key], instrument provided in an automotive vehicle to indicate the total number of miles that have been traveled. The odometer generally shares a housing with the vehicle's sp...

ophthalmoscope

(Encyclopedia)ophthalmoscope ŏfthălˈməskōpˌ [key], instrument used for examining the inner structure of the eye. The device was invented by the German physiologist H. L. F. von Helmholtz in 1851. His model co...

Thomas, Michael Tilson

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Michael Tilson, 1944–, American conductor, composer, and pianist, b. Hollywood, Calif. A musical prodigy, he won Tanglewood's Koussevitsky Prize at 24 and shortly thereafter (1969) made his ...

catgut

(Encyclopedia)catgut or gut, cord made from the intestines of various animals (especially sheep and horses, but not cats). The membrane is chemically treated, and slender strands are woven together into cords of gr...

Belluno

(Encyclopedia)Belluno bĕl-lo͞oˈnō [key], city, capital of Belluno prov., Venetia, NE Italy, on the Piave ...

Judenburg

(Encyclopedia)Judenburg yo͞oˈdənbo͝orkh [key], city (1991 pop. 9,684), Styria prov., S central Austria, on the Mur River. It is an industrial city and winter sports center. Originally a settlement along a Roman...