Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Yamuna

(Encyclopedia)Yamuna jŭmˈnə [key], river, c.850 mi (1,370 km) long, rising in the Himalayas, N India, and flowing generally SE, through the Shiwalik Range, past Delhi, to the Ganges River at Prayagraj (formerly ...

homeopathy

(Encyclopedia)homeopathy hōmēŏpˈəthē [key], system of medicine whose fundamental principle is the law of similars—that like is cured by like. It was first given practical application by Samuel Hahnemann of ...

Greengard, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Greengard, Paul, 1925–2019, American neuroscientist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1953. Greengard was on the staff at Geigy Research Laboratories (1959–67) and a professor at the Albert ...

colon cancer

(Encyclopedia)colon cancer, cancer of any part of the colon (often called the large intestine). Colon cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. Epidemiological evidence has shown that ...

scarlet fever

(Encyclopedia)scarlet fever or scarlatina, an acute, communicable infection, caused by group A hemolytic streptococcal bacteria (see streptococcus) that produce an erythrogenic toxin. The disease is now uncommon, p...

cough

(Encyclopedia)cough, sudden, forceful expiration of air from the lungs caused by an involuntary contraction of the muscles controlling the process of breathing. The cough is a response to some irritating condition ...

trench mouth

(Encyclopedia)trench mouth, common term for Vincent's infection, an ulcerative membranous infection of the gums and mouth, by noncontagious infection, associated with a fusiform bacillus and a spirochete. Poor oral...

phenylalanine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 phenylalanine fĕnˌəlălˈənēnˌ [key], organic compound, one of the 22 α-amino acids commonly found in animal proteins. Only the l-stereoisomer appears in mammalian protein. It is one of ...

quarantine

(Encyclopedia)quarantine kwŏrˈəntēn [key], isolation of persons, animals, places, and effects that carry or are suspected of harboring communicable disease. The term originally referred to the 40 days of offsho...

pyorrhea

(Encyclopedia)pyorrhea pīərēˈə [key], inflammation and degeneration of the gums and other tissues surrounding the teeth. The onset of the disease is marked by bleeding of the gums. As the disease proceeds, the...