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strychnine

(Encyclopedia)strychnine strĭkˈnĭn [key], bitter alkaloid drug derived from the seeds of a tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, native to Sri Lanka, Australia, and India. It has been used as a rat poison for five centuri...

Perry, William James

(Encyclopedia)Perry, William James, 1927–, U.S. government official, b. Vandergrift, Pa. A Ph.D. in mathematics, former Stanford engineering professor, and founder of a military electronics firm, he served (1977�...

papaverine

(Encyclopedia)papaverine pəpăvˈərēn [key], alkaloid found in opium that acts as a muscle relaxant and vasodilator. The drug relaxes the smooth muscle of the larger blood vessels and is used to increase the blo...

amphetamine

(Encyclopedia)amphetamine ămfĕtˈəmēn [key], any one of a group of drugs that are powerful central nervous system stimulants. Amphetamines have stimulating effects opposite to the effects of depressants such as...

Bellomont, Richard Coote, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Bellomont, Richard Coote, earl of bĕlˈəmŏntˌ [key], 1636–1701, colonial governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, b. Ireland. He arrived (1698) in New York at a time when a more u...

Spalding, Gilbert R.

(Encyclopedia)Spalding, Gilbert R., 1811?–1880, American showman, b. Albany co., N.Y. Known as “Doc” because he owned a drug and paint store in the early 1840s, he acquired a circus in the mid-1840s and in 18...

Pelham, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Pelham, Henry pĕlˈəm [key], 1696–1754, British statesman; brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, duke of Newcastle. He entered Parliament in 1717 and served Sir Robert Walpole as secretary for war (172...

Sakmann, Bert

(Encyclopedia)Sakmann, Bert, 1942–, German biophysicist, M.D. Univ. of Göttingen, Germany, 1974. He has been a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen since 1974. Sakmann r...

agranulocytosis

(Encyclopedia)agranulocytosis əgrănˌyəlōsītōˈsis [key], disease in which the production of granulated white blood cells by the bone marrow is impaired. Although the disease may occur spontaneously it is usu...

inspector general

(Encyclopedia)inspector general, a government official tasked with independently overseeing an agency or department. Inspectors general are utilized by many countries, as well as regional and local governments and ...