GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
\ɡˈʌlɪvəz tɹˈavə͡lz], \ɡˈʌlɪvəz tɹˈavəlz], \ɡ_ˈʌ_l_ɪ_v_ə_z t_ɹ_ˈa_v_əl_z]\
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The title of a romance by Dean Swift, relating the adventures of Gulliver in Lilliput, the land of pygmies ; Brobdingnag, the land of giants ; Laputa ; and the land of the Houyhnhnms, in which horses are the head of creation, while a degraded race of human beings, called Yahoos, are their servants. The last of these narratives seems to be a fierce outburst of scorn for mankind. The first is a satire referring to the court and politics of England, Sir Robert Walpole being represented by the premier Flimnap. The third is levelled at the abuses of philosophical science by pretenders or charlatans. The second is of a more general character, exhibiting human action and feeling as they might appear to beings of enormous size and of cold reflecting dispositions.
By Henry Percy Smith
Word of the day
Platidiam
- An inorganic water-soluble platinum complex. After undergoing hydrolysis, it reacts DNA produce both intra interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks appear to impair replication and transcription of DNA. The cytotoxicity cisplatin correlates with cellular arrest in G2 phase cell cycle.