Other D's in the Collegiate--durbar, dracunculiasis, duroc, etc.

Thirteen of the 20 words from last essay's list remain to be mentioned. They are: dichasium, dieldrin, diene, duroc, durbar, durian, dracunculiasis, drogue, doxycycline, douroucouli, domaine, dumortierite, dysprosium. Many of them are chemical/medical terms, so let's get to them.

Getting Started

Coming from the Greek word dichasis, meaing "division," a dichasium is a cymose inflorescence in which the main axis produces a pair of lateral axes, each of which produces a pair, and so on. By the way, cyme, taken from the Greek word for wave, is a branch or inflorescence which terminates in a single flower. So, in a dichasium you have one inflorescence (stem) from which lateral axes extend, each with their single flower, from which lateral axes extend, each with a single flower. The "division" is of the lateral axes. The language of studying plants/flowers is wonderfully complex; some day I may try to sort through it all. You can see a picture of it here.

Dieldrin, named after Otto Diels and Kurt Alder, is a white hydrocarbon used formerly as an insecticide. I say "formerly" because, though it was announced with fanfare in 1949, we have the following from 1969: "There are severe restrictions on the use of the persistent insecticide dieldrin." It was developed by Bayer AG as an alternative to DDT, and was highly effective for a few decades. Then, with the "save the earth" movement in the early 1970s it dawned on folk that it was a devastatingly persistent organic pollutant which can, with long-term exposure, be toxic to animals and humans. Most of the world bans it now.

Diene is a chemical compound containing two double bonds between carbon atoms. I have never taken organic chemistry, so I will keep my mouth shut on it until I know the terminology and theory.

Leaving Chemistry

We leave chemistry for the moment and enter into the exciting world of pigs with the word duroc. The OED informs us that Duroc derives from the French general, Geraud Duroc (1772-1813). Here is the story of how the name of the distinguished general became associated with a pig.

"The Duroc strain of hogs was started in Saratoga County, New York, by Isaac Frink who lived near Milton. He secured his first hogs in 1823 from Harry Kelsey, who had moved to Florida, Montgomery County, New York, in 1822. Mr. Kelsey was standing the famous Thoroughbred stallion Duroc, and Mr. Frink visited the Kelsey farm to see the horse. While at the Kelsey homestead he spied some red pigs that very much took his fancy, and he purchased some of them and took them home. Since the pigs had no breed name, he called them Durocs in honor of the stallion."

I couldn't find how the horse received its name, but presumably it was of the same breed as one ridden by the general. But now you might be tempted to take a detour into the world of swine. I, for one, will move on to durbar. It is defined as a court held by an Indian prince. To show that there always hasn't been an agreed-upon spelling of this term, we have this from the 1881 Encyclopedia Britannica: "On January 1, 1877, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India at a darbar of unequalled magnificence, held on the historic 'ridge' overlooking the Mughal capital of Delhi." Well, it will be durbar for me.

It seems, unfortunately, that this essay consists either of obscure words, chemical terms, or smelly creatures/objects. The next word, durian, is no exception. It is a Malay word to describe a large oval taste but foul-smelling fruit with a prickly rind. The East Indian tree which bears the fruit is also called a durian. I decided to research this fruit a little bit, and found the following:

"Durian is one of the most controversial fruits. This is due to its incredible smell which has been described using words like "sickening", "putrid" and "gross". Indeed it is true. The smell of the inside of the durian is so strong that some hotels bar guests from bringing it into their hotel room. I once kept a couple pieces closed in a plastic bag in a hotel mini-bar in Thailand and the smell remained for days. For the price of enduring this smell, the reward is what some consider to be the "King of the Fruits", a creamy textured almost custard-like flesh with an aftertaste that will remind you of it for the better part of an afternoon. It is certainly an acquired taste."

Pictures of the fruit are on the linked page. Just think--these things that are unfamiliar to me are so easy and familiar to people from other parts of the world, that every second grader would know them. Spelling is easy, as I say, especially if you already know everything.

Concluding with A Few More

Dracunculiasis sounds dreadful, and I suppose it is. Derived from the dimunitive of "dragon," it is a disease caused by infestation with the guinea worm. It is also known as the "Guinea Worm Disease," and it has been eradicated in most parts of the world except Africa. More specifically, the Wikipedia article tells us that in 1986 there were about 3.5 million cases of the disease; over 30,000 in 2003 and only about 16,000 cases in 2004. It appears that it only occurs now in 12 sub-Saharan countries, with the two most endemic being Ghana and The Sudan. It is fascinating to me that the first recommendation for treatment given in this article is through what is known as "stick wrapping." After entering the body and infecting the person, the worm comes to the surface of the skin and breaks it. By wrapping a narrow stick around the worm as it emerges, and then wrapping or winding the stick a few centimeters a day, one can (in a few weeks), extract the entire worm from the body. Well, my amazement about the ways of the world never ceases.

Adjunct to the "stick" cure is the administration of drugs, especially metronidazole and thiabendazole. Both of these words are in the Collegiate, so I am killing many birds with the same stone, or stick, as the case may be. I am sure that if I just knew enough about this disease and its history, I could write a moving human drama about it. But not today.

Conclusion

So, in this essay, we have durbar, dracunculiasis, durian, duroc, dichasium, dieldrin, diene. One is a disease, one a fruit, one a type of swine, one a plant stem type, one is an Indian court, and then two have to do with chemistry on some level. Which is which?

I still have six words to go. Definitely need one more essay.

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