Marigold :

Marigold, common name for several related plants of the daisy family that typically have orange to yellow flowers. True marigolds are also known as calendulas and include the pot marigolds. Another genus of marigolds is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Western hemisphere. The African marigold, native to Mexico, is one member of the genus. It is an annualherb growing up to about 1 m (3 ft) tall and producing large, globular, golden-yellow or orange flower heads. African marigolds have been bred in both single- and double-flowered varieties. French marigold is a smaller Mexican annual, growing about 45 cm (18 in) tall and producing small yellow and red flower heads. The marsh marigold belongs to the buttercup family.

Scientific classification: Marigolds belong to the family Asteraceae (or Compositae). True marigolds are classified in the genus Calendula. The African marigold is classified as Tagetes erecta and the French marigold as Tagetes patula. The marsh marigold belongs to the family Ranunculaceae and is classified as Caltha palustris.

History Of Religion

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Baalbek :

Baalbek, (ancient Heliopolis), town in eastern Lebanon between the Litani and Asi rivers. The name, which means “City of Baal”, is derived from the early association of the town with the worship of Baal, a local sun deity whom the ancient Greeks identified with their sun god, Helios; the Greeks and Romans called the town Heliopolis, “City of the Sun”. Once a rich and elegant city, it is famous now for the imposing ruins of ancient temples.
The great Temple of the Sun measured approximately 49 by 88 m (160 by 290 ft) and contained 58 Corinthian columns, each 22.9 m (75 ft) high and 2.2 m (7.25 ft) in diameter. The entablature was 4.3 m (14 ft) in height. The temple appears to have been built on an artificial mound of earth, with great stones, or megaliths, employed to sustain this mass. Of these megaliths, three are in position at the western end, one of them measuring 19.5 m (64 ft) long by 4.3 m (14 ft) square. The Temple of Jupiter, also of the Corinthian order, measured 69.2 m (227 ft) by 35.7 m (117 ft) and was surrounded by a peristyle of 42 plain columns, with 10 fluted columns in the vestibule. The entablature was very profusely ornamented. The Temple of Bacchus, in front of the Temple of Jupiter, is better preserved. A smaller temple, the Temple of Venus, supported by six granite columns, adjoined the Temple of Jupiter. Traces also remain of a later Christian basilica.

Although the early history of Baalbek is almost entirely unknown, abundant evidence indicates that it is very ancient, portions of the masonry being attributed to Phoenician origin. The Roman emperor Augustus made the city a Roman colony; the Roman emperor Trajan consulted a celebrated oracle there. The city was sacked by the Arabs in AD 748, and pillaged by the Mongol chieftain Tamerlane in 1400. A severe earthquake in 1759 devastated what monuments still remained in the city. Present-day Baalbek, connected by rail with Beirut and with Damascus and Aleppo in Syria, is the chief town in eastern Lebanon. Population (1981 estimate) 50,000.

INTRODUCTION

Penicillin :

Penicillin, antibiotic derived from the mould Penicillium notatum. The action of this antibiotic was first observed in 1928 by the British bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming, but it was another ten years before penicillin was concentrated and studied by the British biochemist Ernst Chain, the British pathologist Sir Howard Florey, and other scientists.
Penicillin acts both by killing bacteria and by inhibiting their growth. It does not kill organisms in the resting stage but only those that are growing and reproducing. It is effective against a wide range of disease-bearing micro-organisms, including pneumococci, streptococci, gonococci, meningococci, the clostridium of tetanus, and the syphilis spirochaete. The drug has been successfully employed to treat such deadly diseases as subacute bacterial endocarditis, septicaemia, gas gangrene, gonorrhoea, and scarlet fever. Toxic symptoms produced by penicillin are limited largely to allergic reactions which can be determined by scratch tests before administration of the drug.

SEMI-SYNTHETIC PENICILLIN Despite the effectiveness displayed by penicillin in curing a wide range of diseases, infections caused by certain strains of staphylococci could not be cured by the antibiotic as a result of the ability of the organism to produce an enzyme, penicillinase, capable of destroying the antibiotic. In addition, enterococci and many gram-negative bacilli known to cause respiratory and urinary-tract infections were found to be intrinsically resistant to the action of penicillin. Appropriate chemical treatment of a biological precursor to penicillin, isolated from bacterial cultures, resulted in the formation of a number of so-called semi-synthetic penicillins. The most important of these are Methicillin and Ampicillin. Methicillin is remarkably effective against penicillinase-producing staphylococci and Ampicillin is not only active against all organisms normally killed by penicillin, but also inhibits enterococci and most gram-negative bacilli.

DOSAGES The strength and dosage of penicillin are measured in terms of international units. Each of these units is equal to 0.0006 g of the crystalline fraction of penicillin called penicillin G. In the early days of penicillin therapy, the drug was administered every three hours in small doses. More recently a preparation called benzathine penicillin G has been produced that provides detectable levels of antibiotic for as long as four weeks after a single intramuscular injection. It is useful for treatment of syphilis and strep throat. Bacterial resistance to penicillin has increased over the years, causing a need for alternative drugs and increases in penicillin dosage.

Gila Monster :

Gila Monster, common name for a large and poisonous lizard, one of only two poisonous lizards in the world. It is found in desert areas of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, especially around the Gila River. The Gila monster is heavily built and moves slowly on four short legs, dragging a thick, short, blunt tail. Fat is stored in the tail, and the lizard can live for months on this reserve. The adult lizard is between 46 and 61 cm (18 and 24 in) in length, often with a strikingly coloured body—black with numerous beads, or tubercles, of pink, orange, yellow, or white; the black head is marbled with pink. The tongue is forked, broad, and flat.
Gila monsters eat small rodents, ants, and the eggs of other desert reptiles. In captivity they have shown a fondness for the eggs of snakes and other lizard species. Gila monster eggs are tough-shelled and about the size of hen eggs. Females lay about a dozen in a wide hole in moist sand, cover them, and then abandon them. The young hatch in a month from the eggs that survive.

Gila monsters bite and then hang on strongly, rolling over on their backs to allow the poison to flow down into the wound and chewing to inflict further punctures. The poison, used mainly as a defence, is secreted by glands in the lower jaw and flows out along grooves on the teeth. The venom attacks the nerve centres controlling the heart, and the bite can be a threat to human beings. The only other poisonous lizard is the beaded lizard, a closely related species found in Mexico and other parts of Central America.
Scientific classification: The Gila monster belongs to the family Helodermatidae. It is classified as Heloderma suspectum.