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botulism

(Encyclopedia)botulism bŏchˈəlĭzˌəm [key], acute poisoning resulting from ingestion of food containing toxins produced by the bacillus Clostridium botulinum. The bacterium can grow only in an anaerobic atmosp...

Spender, Sir Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Spender, Sir Stephen, 1909–95, English poet and critic, b. London. His early poetry—like that of W. H. Auden, C. Day Lewis, and Louis MacNeice, with whom he became associated at Oxford—was inspi...

San Juan, city, Puerto Rico

(Encyclopedia)San Juan, city (1990 pop. 437,745), capital, largest city, chief port, and commercial and cultural center of Puerto Rico, NE Puerto Rico. Coffee, tobacco, sugar, and fruit are exported from the busy p...

Campbell, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Campbell, Alexander, 1788–1866, clergyman, cofounder with his father, Thomas Campbell, 1763–1854, of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Of Scottish lineage, both were born in Ireland and ...

chromosphere

(Encyclopedia)chromosphere krōˈməsfērˌ [key] [Gr.,=color sphere], layer of rarefied, transparent gases in the solar atmosphere; it measures 6,000 mi (9,700 km) in thickness and lies between the photosphere (th...

life

(Encyclopedia)life, although there is no universal agreement as to a definition of life, its biological manifestations are generally considered to be organization, metabolism, growth, irritability, adaptation, and ...

Claude Lorrain

(Encyclopedia)Claude Lorrain zhəlāˈ [key], 1600–1682, French painter, b. Lorraine. Claude was the foremost landscape painter of his time. In Rome at about 12 years of age he was employed as a pastry cook for t...

Fukushima

(Encyclopedia)Fukushima fo͝oko͞oˈshĭmä [key], city, capital of Fukushima prefecture, N Honshu, Japan, on the Kiso ...

oils

(Encyclopedia)oils, term commonly used to indicate a variety of greasy, fluid substances that are, in general, viscous liquids at ordinary temperatures, less dense than water, insoluble in water but soluble in alco...

argon

(Encyclopedia)argon ärˈgŏn [key] [Gr.,=inert], gaseous chemical element; symbol Ar; at. no. 18; at. wt. 39.948; m.p. −189.2℃; b.p. −185.7℃; density 1.784 grams per liter at STP; valence 0. Argon is a col...