I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. W. S. Dallas for this Glossary, which has been given because several readers have complained to me that some of the terms used were unintelligible to them. Mr. Dallas has endeavoured to give the explanations of the terms in as popular a form as possible.
Biology
Consciousness finds itself intimately connected with, and dependent on, the physical state of a limited region of matter, the body. (Consider the changes of mind during the development of the body, at puberty, ageing, dotage, etc., or consider the effects of fever intoxication, narcosis, lesion of the brain and so on.) Now there is a great plurality of similar bodies. Hence the pluralization of consciousnesses or minds seems a very suggestive hypothesis.
The idea that very lowly living organisms might have been concealed within the clefts and crevices of meteorites, and might thus have fallen upon our earth and so have formed the first germs of life, was first formulated by that chemical genius, Justus Liebig.
Biophoton emission is the spontaneous emission of ultraweak light emanating from all living systems, including man. The emission is linked to the endogenous production of excited states within the living system. The detection and characterisation of human biophoton emission has led to suggestions that it has potential future applications in medicine. For the first time systematic measurements of the “ultraweak” […]
A microbiome is a community of microorganisms that inhabit an ecological niche. Microbiomes exist in both environmental biotopes, for example, a water body or forest soil – and in living multicellular host organisms – such as humans, animals or plants. A microbiome may be comprised of bacteria, archaea, and unicellular eukaryotes –protists and fungi.
Histology is the study of the microanatomical structure of cells, tissues and organ systems. These are studied by examining thin, transparent slices cut from body structures and observed with the aid of light or electron microscopes. Cells in the body are organized into three-dimensional structures called tissues, and tissues are combined in a variety of ways to make up the overall structures of organs […]
Development Biology describes development as a sequence of processes and events, in which ‘simple’ structures such as fertilized eggs are progressively transformed into complex organisms. Objectives of the Study of Development Biology • Identify a few major researchers in the development of the field of Developmental Biology and outline how our understanding of embryonic development has changed over time. • Know the characteristics […]
What is it : • Define an animal, using the shared characteristics of animals. • Describe basic animal body plans, and relate different tissue types to their functions. • Define homeostasis and explain its maintenance through negative feedback mechanisms, using appropriate examples. • Describe early developmental processes in model animals (sea urchins, frogs). • Compare and contrast signaling in the nervous […]
Evolutionary biology is mainly based on paleontology, which uses the fossil record to answer questions about the mode and tempo of evolution, as well as the developments in areas such as population genetics and evolutionary theory.
Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing proteins, which in turn play a large role in influencing (though, in many instances, not completely determining) the final phenotype of the organism.
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