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rye grass

(Encyclopedia)rye grass, short-lived perennial, leafy, tufted plant belonging to the family Poaceae (grass family). Two species are grown in the United States—Italian rye grass (Lolium multiflorum), the leading h...

Salieri, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Salieri, Antonio äntôˈnyō sälyāˈrē [key], 1750–1825, Italian composer and conductor. He received his first training in Italy, going afterward (1766) to Vienna, where he remained as conductor...

curare

(Encyclopedia)curare kyo͝orärˈē [key], any of a variety of substances originally used as arrow poisons by Native South Americans in hunting and in warfare. The main active substance of curare, tubocurarine, is ...

chloropicrin

(Encyclopedia)chloropicrin klōrˌəpĭkˈrĭn [key], colorless oily liquid used as a poison gas. It is a powerful irritant, causing lachrymation, vomiting, bronchitis, and pulmonary edema; lung injury from chlorop...

colchicine

(Encyclopedia)colchicine kŏlˈchəsēnˌ [key], alkaloid extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum and especially from the corms of the autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale (see meadow saffron). The metabolic eff...

phosgene

(Encyclopedia)phosgene fŏsˈjēn [key], colorless poison gas, first used during World War I by the Germans (1915). When dispersed in air, the gas has the odor of new-mowed hay. The gas is highly toxic; when inhale...

centipede

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Centipede, representative of the class Chilopoda centipede, common name for members of a single class, Chilopoda, of the phylum Arthropoda. Centipedes are the most familiar of the myriapodous ...

acetylcholine

(Encyclopedia)acetylcholine əsētˌəlkōˈlēn [key], a small organic molecule liberated at nerve endings as a neurotransmitter. It is particularly important in the stimulation of muscle tissue. The transmission ...

Mathewson, Christy

(Encyclopedia)Mathewson, Christy (Christopher Mathewson) măthˈəsən, –yəsən [key], 1880–1925, American baseball player, b. Factoryville, Pa., grad. Bucknell Univ., 1902. A righthander, he joined the Cincin...

tetraethyl lead

(Encyclopedia)tetraethyl lead tĕtˌrəĕthˈəl [key], (C2H5)4Pb, viscous, colorless, poisonous liquid. It is an organometallic compound prepared by reacting ethyl chloride with a sodium-lead alloy. When added to ...