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atropine

(Encyclopedia)atropine ătˈrəpēn, –pĭn [key], alkaloid drug derived from belladonna and other plants of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family). Available either as the tincture or extract of belladonna, or...

Kunstler, William Moses

(Encyclopedia)Kunstler, William Moses, 1919–95, American lawyer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1941), Columbia law school (1948). Flamboyant and often brilliant, Kunstler defended the unpopular and unfailingly su...

Panama, city, Panama

(Encyclopedia)Panama, city (1990 pop. 584,803), central Panama, capital and largest city of Panama, on the Gulf of Panama. Founded in 1519 by Pedro Arias de Ávila, the city flourished in early colonial times as th...

Rodriguez, Alex

(Encyclopedia)Rodriguez, Alex (Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez) rōdrēˈgəs [key], 1975–, American baseball player, b. New York City. Drafted (1993) out of high school by the Seattle Mariners as the first pick ove...

caffeine

(Encyclopedia)caffeine kăfēnˈ [key], odorless, slightly bitter alkaloid found in coffee, tea, kola nuts (see cola), ilex plants (the source of the Latin American drink maté), and, in small amounts, in cocoa (se...

Bukowski, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bukowski, Charles, 1920–94, American underground poet and fiction writer, b. Andernach, Germany. His family immigrated to the United States in 1922, settling in Los Angeles. A hard-drinking unskille...

Brown, James

(Encyclopedia)Brown, James, 1933–2006, African-American rhythm-and-blues singer known as the “godfather of soul,” b. Barnwell, S.C., as James Joe Brown, Jr. Abandoned by his parents, he left school in the sev...

Uribe Vélez, Álvaro

(Encyclopedia)Uribe Vélez, Álvaro, 1952–, Colombian politician. A lawyer from a wealthy cattle-ranching family, he held a number of government posts before becoming mayor of Medellín in 1982; he was later a Co...

scopolamine

(Encyclopedia)scopolamine hīˈəsēnˌ, –sĭn [key], alkaloid drug obtained from plants of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), chiefly from henbane, Hyoscyamus niger. Structurally similar to the nerve substance ...

peyote

(Encyclopedia)peyote pāōˈtē [key], spineless cactus (Lophophora williamsii), ingested by indigenous people in Mexico and the United States to produce visions. The plant is native to the SW United States, partic...