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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...

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...

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...

nitrogen mustard

(Encyclopedia)nitrogen mustard, any of various poisonous compounds originally developed for military use (see poison gas). Like mustard gas and lewisite, it is a vesicant (blistering agent). In the form of its crys...

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...

Hague Conferences

(Encyclopedia)Hague Conferences, term for the International Peace Conference of 1899 (First Hague Conference) and the Second International Peace Conference of 1907 (Second Hague Conference). Both were called by Rus...