Herbert Spencer was a British philosopher. He was born in 1820 at Derby and died in 1903. Privately educated, from 1837 until 1846 he was engaged in civil engineering, and from 1848 until 1853 was sub-editor of 'The Economist'. He was the first philosopher to apply Darwinism to psychology, publishing in 1855 'Principles of Psychology' - in the same year suffering a nervous breakdown - followed in 1860 by the first prospectus of his System of Synthetic Philosophy, the first of the ten volumes of which, 'First Principles', was published in 1862, the remaining volumes occupying him for a further thirty-six years. Research Herbert Spencer
The digestive system is responsible for processing food, breaking it down into usable proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, fats, and other substances, and introducing these into the bloodstream so that they can be used by the body. The digestive, or alimentary, tract begins at the mouth, where the teeth and tongue begin the breakdown of food, aided by saliva secreted by the salivary glands. The chewed food, combined with saliva, is swallowed, carrying it in peristaltic waves down the esophagus to the stomach. In the stomach, the food combines with hydrochloric acid which further assists in breaking it down. When the food is thoroughly digested, the fluid remaining, called chyme, is passed through the pylorus sphincter to the small intestine and large intestines. Within the long, convoluted intestinal canals, the nutrients are absorbed from the chyme into the bloodstream, leaving the unusable residue. This residue passes through the colon (where most of the water is absorbed into the bloodstream) and into the rectum where it is stored
prior to excretion. This solid waste, called faeces, is compacted together and, upon excretion, passes through the analcanal and the anus. Along the way through the digestive tract, the pancreas, spleen, liver, and gall bladder secrete enzymes which aid in the digestive process. Research Digestive System
Jaundice is a yellowing of the skin, conjunctivae, and mucous membranes caused by excessive amounts of bile pigments in the blood tissues. These pigments, normally present in blood as a result of the breakdown of haemoglobin in red blood cells, are filtered through the liver and excreted. Excessive amounts of these pigments produce four types of jaundice. In haemolytic jaundice there is increased production of bile pigment because of red blood-cell damage. This damage can be caused by antibodies created by a mismatched blood transfusion. In infants the antibodies can be caused by prenatal mismatch between the Rhfactor in the infant' s blood and that of the mother. Newborns can also be jaundiced as a consequence of the condition known as hyperbilirubinemia. In these cases, there is a temporary defect in synthesis of the enzyme that breaks down bile to an excretable form. Hepatocellular jaundice occurs when liver cells are damaged either by viruses or by excessive intake of alcohol and lose the ability to filter pigment. Obstructive jaundice
follows physical obstruction of the ducts that transport pigment from the liver to the intestine. Blockage can be due to gallstones, tumour, or inflammation. Research Jaundice
The parathyroid glands are small glands, usually four in number, embedded within the back of the thyroid. These glands produce the hormone parathormone, which regulates the level of calcium and phosphorus in the blood and bones. Parathormone tends to increase the concentration of calcium in the blood by increasing bonebreakdown. This hormone has the opposite effect of calcitonin (thyrocalcitonin) which is secreted by the thyroidgland. Calcium plays an important role in many metabolic processes; too much calcium (hypercalcemia) or too little calcium (tetany) can disrupt the normal function of the muscles and nerves. Parathormone functions to help maintain homeostasis of bloodcalcium. The body's cells are extremely sensitive to changing amounts of bloodcalcium. Research Parathyroid Glands
Saliva is a secretion from the salivary glands in the mouth. When food is smelled or tasted, or often even thought of, the salivary glands begin their secretion to prepare the mouth for the food. Mumps, an inflammatory glandular infection, affects the salivary glands, resulting in difficulty chewing and swallowing. Saliva also performs a cleaning function, serving to keep exfoliated epithelial cells, most bacteria, and food particles away from the teeth. Saliva keeps the mouth lubricated for articulation and speech and also helps to moisten food to assist in swallowing. Enzymes in saliva begin digestive breakdown of the food even before it reaches the stomach. A number of toxins (including lead, mercury, and other heavy metals) are secreted in the saliva and the body's water balance regulation is also assisted by salivary secretion. Research Saliva
The Battle of the Argonne (often called the Meuse-Argonne offensive), was a major battle of the Great War, fought in Autumn 1918 between the American First Army, which included the XVII French Corps, and strong units of the German army. The battle was part of a general Allied offensive against the Hindenburg line. To weaken these positions in the Argonne region of France was the immediate objective of the First Army; the secondary objective was to capture the chief German supply line, extending through Sedan and Mezieres. On September the 22nd, after a victory at Saint- Mihiel, France, the First Army, under the command of General John Pershing, began to move into the Argonne sector. By September the 25th, the line of the First Army extended from Regneville-Sur- Meuse, opposite Samogneux, in a south-westerly direction 32.2 km to La Harazee in the ArgonneForest above the valley of the Biesme River. This line was assigned to three army corps, the I, the III, and the V. Nine divisions formed the front line, and three were in reserve.
French forces lay west of the Aisne River, and on the east the American position was flanked by French troops under American command. Opposed to the American forces were the German Fifth Army, with eight divisions, part of the German Third Army, and about eight divisions in reserve. American operations were conducted in three stages, the first of which lasted from September the 26th to October the 1st and drove a salient about 11 km deep into enemy positions before the Hindenburg line. During the second stage, which lasted from October the 4th to the 16th, the First Army crossed the Aire River and captured all major German defensive positions in the Argonne region. The third, or pursuit, stage lasted from November the 1st to the 10th. In the Argonne offensive, more than 1,200,000 U.S. troops were concentrated for the advance; of that number, 60,000 took an active part in the battle, which extended over an area of 1295 square kilometers. American casualties in the entire Battle of the Argonne were 117,000 killed or wounded. German losses were 94,000 killed or wounded, 26,000 captured by American forces, and 30,000 captured by the French. The battle caused the final breakdown of German resistance and helped bring about the German request for an armistice. Research Battle of the Argonne
The French and Indian War, fought between 1754 and 1763, was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French, with their respective Indian and colonial allies, for domination in the New World. Britain's eventual victory stripped France of its North American empire, thus concluding the series of conflicts which were known collectively as the French and Indian Wars.
Although the war began in America, it expanded during 1756 to 1763 into Europe as the Seven Years War, and into Asia as the Third Carnatic War. The war originated in the breakdown of a three-way balance of power, in which the Iroquois Confederacy had occupied the middle ground between French and British colonies and had successfully excluded both from the strategically critical OhioValley. The Iroquois had rendered all previous conflicts indecisive by playing off French against British interests and maintaining their own freedom of action. During the last years of King George's War, however, English traders had penetrated deeply into the Ohio country and established relations with tribes that had previously traded only with the French. Also in the late 1740s, the Ohio Company, a land-speculating syndicate based in Virginia, began making efforts to found a settlement at the forks of the Ohio. These developments convinced the governors- general of Canada that in order to protect their own strategic interests in the American interior they would have to dominate the OhioValley militarily.
Thus, in 1753 the French began building a chain of forts from LakeErie to the forks of the Ohio, where in 1754 they built FortDuquesne. This created a situation that Gov. Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia could not ignore. In 1753 he tried unsuccessfully to warn them of their intrusion into English territory; the next year he sent an armed force under the command of George Washington to expel them. The French defeated Washington's troops at the Battle of Fort Necessity on the 3rd and 4th of July 1754, and sent them back to Virginia. The French and Indian War had begun. In 1755 the British general Edward Braddock was sent to America to take Fort Duquesne. In July, however, near the fort, a French and Indian force badly defeated Braddock's British regulars and colonial troops. The British won a small victory in Nova Scotia and repulsed a French and Indian attack in New York at the Battle of Lake George in 1755, but these were their last victories until 1758.
Meanwhile, the British government sought to impose central control on the war effort in America and to compel the colonists to pay for the campaigns against Canada; these measures only alienated the Americans. For the Anglo-Americans the years 1755 to 1757, therefore, were distinguished by defeats and friction between British and colonial soldiers, while the French and their Indian allies won battle after battle. England's dismal performance ended when William Pitt rose to political power in 1757. Pitt, who made victory in America his top priority, initiated a series of well-coordinated campaigns and appointed able commanders to lead them. More importantly, he began treating the Americans as allies rather than subordinates. The result was a major reversal.
In 1758 Anglo-American forces seized the fortress of Louisburg, the key to the St. Lawrence River; destroyed FortFrontenac on LakeOntario, severing the supply lines of the Ohio forts; and captured FortDuquesne. A force under General James Wolfe defeated the French main army at Quebec in 1759, and the following year General Jeffrey Amherst completed the conquest by forcing the surrender of the last defenders of Canada at Montreal. The Treaty of Paris signed in 1763 ended the French control in Canada, which went to Great Britain. France also ceded all its territories east of the Mississippi River to the British. In compensation for the territories west of the Mississippi given by France to Spain a year earlier in a secret treaty, Spain had to give Florida to the British. The war determined that English rather than French ideas and institutions would dominate North America. Thus, in terms of importance, the French and Indian War rivals the American Revolution and the American Civil War. In winning the war, the British government had virtually doubled its national debt and acquired more territory than it could control. Attempts by British politicians to reform the administration of the empire and to raise revenue by taxing the colonies soon antagonised the colonists and eventually precipitated the American Revolution. France's desire to avenge its humiliating defeat launched a policy of support for the American rebels that the monarchy could ill afford; it helped bring on the fiscal crisis that climaxed, in 1789, with the French Revolution. Research French and Indian War
Antioxidants are substances that slow the breakdown of nutrients and counteract the destructive effect of free radicals (chemically reactive compounds) in the body. There are several types which include vitamins A, E, C complex, and B complex, the minerals selenium and zinc, and the synthetic compounds BHT and BHA. Vitamins A, C, and E as well as BHA, and BHT are used as preserving agents in cosmetics. Research Antioxidants
A Mansbridge capacitor is an electronic capacitor having metal foil plates and paper dielectric and so designed that, should the insulation break down to puncture of the dielectric, the discharge between the plates at the seat of the breakdown oxidises the metal and thus restores the insulation resistance. Research Mansbridge Capacitor
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Herbert Spencer
