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fuse, electric

(Encyclopedia)fuse, electric, safety device used to protect an electric circuit against an excessive current. A fuse consists essentially of a strip of low-melting alloy enclosed in a suitable housing. It is connec...

Gary, Elbert Henry

(Encyclopedia)Gary, Elbert Henry, 1846–1927, American lawyer and industrialist, b. near Wheaton, Ill., grad. Union College of Law, Chicago, 1868. Rising rapidly as a corporation lawyer, he became mayor of Wheaton...

Huerta, Victoriano

(Encyclopedia)Huerta, Victoriano vēktōryäˈnō [key], 1854–1916, Mexican general and president (1913–14). He served under Porfirio Díaz. After the revolution of Francisco I. Madero (1911) he aided the new p...

Douhet, Giulio

(Encyclopedia)Douhet, Giulio jo͞oˈlyō do͞oāˈ [key], 1869–1930, Italian military officer and early advocate of airpower. He was an early supporter of strategic bombing and the military superiority of air for...

encephalitis

(Encyclopedia)encephalitis ĕnsĕfˌəlīˈtəs [key], general term used to describe a diffuse inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, usually of viral origin, often transmitted by mosquitoes, in contrast to a b...

toxemia

(Encyclopedia)toxemia tŏksēˈmēə [key], disease state caused by the presence in the blood of bacterial toxins or other harmful substances. The effects of the bacterial toxins known as endotoxins are relatively ...

Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de ärmäNˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ dü plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1766–1822, French statesman. An émigré from the French Revolution, he served Russi...

neostigmine

(Encyclopedia)neostigmine nēˌōstĭgˈmēn, –mĭn [key], drug used to mimic the effects of stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Along with several other drugs that have a similar mode of action, i...

van der Waals, Johannes Diderik

(Encyclopedia)van der Waals, Johannes Diderik yōhäˈnəs dēˈdərĭk vän dər väls [key], 1837–1923, Dutch physicist. It had been known for some time that the behavior of real gases differs from that of an i...

Szymborska, Wisława

(Encyclopedia)Szymborska, Wisława wēswäˈvä shĭmbôrˈskä [key], 1923–2012, Polish poet, b. Bnin, studied Jagiellonian Univ., Kraków (1945–48). Although highly acclaimed in her homeland, Szymborska was l...