RADIUM n.
An intensely radioactive metallic element found (combined) in minute quantities in pitchblende, and various other uranium minerals. Symbol, Ra; atomic weight, 226.4. Radium was discovered by M. and Mme. Curie, of Paris, who in 1902 separated compounds of it by a tedious process from pitchblende. Its compounds color fla…
RAZOR n.
dian plant (Scleria scindens), the triangular stem and the leaves of which are edged with minute sharp teeth. -- Razor grinder (Zoöl.), the European goat-sucker. -- Razor shell (Zoöl.), any marine bivalve shell belonging to Solen and allied genera, especially Solen, or Ensatella, ensis, and Americana, which have a lo…
ROOT n.
surface of fresh roots. They are prolongations of the superficial cells of the root into minute tubes. Gray. -- Root leaf (Bot.), a radical leaf. See Radical, a., 3 (b). -- Root louse (Zoöl.), any plant louse, or aphid, which lives on the roots of plants, as the Phylloxera of the grapevine. See Phylloxera. -- Root…