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Linnaeus, Carolus

(Encyclopedia)Linnaeus, Carolus kärōˈləs lĭnāˈəs [key], 1707–78, Swedish botanist and taxonomist, considered the founder of the binomial system of nomenclature and the originator of modern scientific clas...

Rush, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Rush, Benjamin, 1745?–1813, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Byberry (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton, 1760), M.D. Univ. o...

serum sickness

(Encyclopedia)serum sickness, hypersensitive response that occurs after injection of a large amount of foreign protein. The condition is named for the serum taken from horses or other animals immunized against a pa...

coma, in medicine

(Encyclopedia)coma, in medicine, deep state of unconsciousness from which a person cannot be aroused even by painful stimuli. The patient cannot speak and does not respond to command. Coma is the result of damage t...

chorionic villus sampling

(Encyclopedia)chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or chorionic villus biopsy (CVB) kōrˌē-ŏnˈĭk, kôrˌ– [key], diagnostic procedure in which a sample of chorionic villi from the developing placenta is removed f...

endocarditis

(Encyclopedia)endocarditis ĕnˌdōkärdīˈtĭs [key], bacterial or fungal infection of the endocardium (inner lining of the heart) that can be either acute or subacute. In the acute form the symptoms (fever, mala...

transmutation of elements

(Encyclopedia)transmutation of elements, conversion of one chemical element into another. The expression has both historical and contemporary significance. The transmutation of certain metals into gold by means of ...

umbilical cord

(Encyclopedia)umbilical cord ŭmbĭlˈĭkəl [key], cordlike structure about 22 in. (56 cm) long in the pregnant human female, extending from the abdominal wall of the fetus to the placenta. Its chief function is t...

vampire bat

(Encyclopedia)vampire bat, name for the blood-drinking bats of the family Desmodontidae, found in the New World tropics. Vampire bats feed exclusively on the blood of living animals and are thus the only true paras...

Gulf War syndrome

(Encyclopedia)Gulf War syndrome, popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War. Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficu...