Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ataxia

(Encyclopedia)ataxia ətăkˈsēə [key], lack of coordination of the voluntary muscles resulting in irregular movements of the body. Ataxia can be brought on by an injury, infection, or degenerative disease of the...

Laveran, Charles Louis Alphonse

(Encyclopedia)Laveran, Charles Louis Alphonse shärl lwē älfôNsˈ lävəräNˈ [key], 1845–1922, French physician. While an army surgeon in Algiers he discovered (1880) the parasite that causes malaria and wro...

bowlegs

(Encyclopedia)bowlegs (genu varum), outward curvature of the leg bone (tibia) or thighbone (femur) causing the knees to separate when the feet are placed together. When the condition is severe enough to be consider...

Windaus, Adolf

(Encyclopedia)Windaus, Adolf äˈdôlf vĭnˈdous [key], 1876–1959, German chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemistry laboratories at the Univ. of Göttingen (1915–44). For his researc...

tree surgery

(Encyclopedia)tree surgery, practice of repairing damaged trees to restore their appearance and to arrest disease. Injured or diseased parts are first removed (even small cavities in the bark may harbor injurious f...

blight

(Encyclopedia)blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of frui...

blackleg

(Encyclopedia)blackleg or black quarter, acute infectious disease of cattle, less often of sheep, caused by an organism of the genus Clostridium. It is characterized by inflammation of muscles with swelling and pai...

Richards, Dickinson Woodruff, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Richards, Dickinson Woodruff, Jr., 1895–1973, American physician and physiologist, b. Orange, N.J., grad. Yale, 1917, M.D. Columbia, 1923. He joined the staff of the College of Physicians and Surgeo...

diarrhea

(Encyclopedia)diarrhea dīərēˈə [key], frequent discharge of watery feces from the intestines, sometimes containing blood and mucus. It can be caused by excessive indulgence in alcohol or other liquids or foods...

chestnut

(Encyclopedia)chestnut, name for any species of the genus Castanea, deciduous trees of the family Fagaceae (beech or oak family) widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. They are characterized by thin-shelled...