Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Hofmeister, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Hofmeister, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm hōfˈmīˌstər [key], 1824–77, German botanist. Although self-taught, he made such valuable studies of the reproduction and development of plants that he was appoin...

toxoid

(Encyclopedia)toxoid, protein toxin treated by heat or chemicals so that its poisonous property is destroyed but its capacity to stimulate the formation of toxin antibodies, or antitoxins, remains. Because toxoids ...

nephrosis

(Encyclopedia)nephrosis nəfrōˈsəs [key], kidney disease characterized by lesions of the epithelial lining of the renal tubules, resulting in marked disturbance in the filtration function and the consequent appe...

Crile, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Crile, George Washington krīl [key], 1864–1943, American surgeon, b. Coshocton co., Ohio, M.D. Univ. of Wooster medical school (later merged with Western Reserve Univ.), 1887. He taught at the Univ...

gametophyte

(Encyclopedia)gametophyte gəmēˈtəfītˌ [key], phase of plant life cycles in which the gametes, i.e., egg and sperm, are produced. The gametophyte is haploid, that is, each cell contains a single complete set o...

Sprengel, Christian Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Sprengel, Christian Konrad krĭsˈtyän kônˈrät shprĕngˈəl [key], 1750–1816, German botanist. Although director of a school at Spandau and tutor in Berlin, he devoted himself chiefly to the st...

bean

(Encyclopedia)bean, name applied to the seeds of leguminous trees and shrubs and to various leguminous plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) with edible seeds or seed pods (legumes). The genera and specie...

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 ...

angiosperm

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Life cycle of an angiosperm angiosperm ănˈjēəspûrmˌ [key], term denoting seed plants in which the ovules, or young seeds, are enclosed within the ovary (that part of the pistil specializ...

Haden, Sir Francis Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Haden, Sir Francis Seymour hāˈdən [key], 1818–1910, English etcher, writer, and surgeon. He was a successful practicing surgeon in London (1847–87) and founded there a hospital for the treatmen...