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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...

chemotherapy

(Encyclopedia)chemotherapy kēˌmōthĕrˈəpē [key], treatment of disease with chemicals or drugs. One chemotherapeutic approach is the development of selectively toxic substances, i.e., substances that can destr...

colitis

(Encyclopedia)colitis, inflammation of the colon, or large intestine. The term “colitis” may be used to refer to any of a number of disorders involving the colon. Symptoms include diarrhea (often with blood and...

collagen

(Encyclopedia)collagen kŏlˈəjən [key], any of a group of proteins found in skin, ligaments, tendons, bone and cartilage, and other connective tissue. Cells called fibroblasts form the various fibers in connecti...

gold rush

(Encyclopedia)gold rush, influx of prospectors, merchants, adventurers, and others to newly discovered gold fields. One of the most famous of these stampedes in pursuit of riches was the California gold rush. The d...

diphtheria

(Encyclopedia)diphtheria dĭfthērˈēə [key], acute contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Klebs-Loffler bacillus) bacteria that have been infected by a bacteriophage. It begins as a soreness o...

ephedrine

(Encyclopedia)ephedrine ĭfĕdˈrĭn, ĕfˈĭdrēnˌ [key], drug derived from plants of the genus Ephedra (see Pinophyta), most commonly used to prevent mild or moderate attacks of bronchial asthma. Unlike epinephr...

Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of rŏtˈslē [key], 1573–1624, English nobleman and patron of letters. He succeeded to his title in 1581, was educated at Cambridge, and gained favor at the ...

Perry, Oliver Hazard

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Oliver Hazard, 1785–1819, American naval officer, b. South Kingstown, R.I.; brother of Matthew Calbraith Perry. Appointed a midshipman in 1799, he served in the Tripolitan War, was promoted t...

Benalcázar, Sebastián de

(Encyclopedia)Benalcázar or Belalcázar, Sebastián de sābästyänˈ dā bānälkäˈthär, bāläl– [key], c.1479–1551, Spanish conquistador. After accompanying Columbus on his third voyage (1498), Benalcáz...