Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) senility sənilˈətē [key], deterioration of body and mind associated with old age. Indications of old age vary in the time of their appearance. Stooped posture, wrinkled skin, decrease in muscle st...

(Encyclopedia) Gehrig, Lou (Louis Gehrig) gârˈĭg [key], 1903–41, American baseball player, b. New York City. He studied and played baseball at Columbia, where he was spotted by a scout for the New York Yankees....

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Meninges: Section of spine showing meningeal layers meninges mĭnĭnˈjēz [key], three membranous layers of connective tissue that envelop the brain and spinal cord (see nervous system). The ...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) osteopathy ŏstēŏpˈəthē [key], practice of therapy based on manipulation of bones and muscles. This school of medicine, founded by A. T. Still in 1874, maintains that the normal body produces for...

(Encyclopedia) meditation, religious discipline in which the mind is focused on a single point of reference. It may be a means of invoking divine grace, as in the contemplation by Christian mystics of a spiritual th...

(Encyclopedia) depressant, any one of various substances that diminish functional activity, usually by depressing the nervous system. Barbiturates, sedatives, alcohol, and meprobamate are all depressants. Depressant...

(Encyclopedia) dogwood or cornel kôrˈnəl [key], shrub or tree of the genus Cornus, chiefly of north temperate and tropical mountain regions, characteristically having an inconspicuous flower surrounded by large, ...

(Encyclopedia) snail, name commonly used for a gastropod mollusk with a shell. Included in the thousands of species are terrestrial, freshwater, and marine forms. Some eat both plant and animal matter; others eat on...

(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 ...