cobra Any of several highly venomous elapid snakes that expand their neck ribs to form a hood. They are found in warm regions of Africa,
Australia, and Asia. Cobra bites are fatal in about 10% of human cases.
Cobras feed primarily on small verte¬ brates. The Indian cobra (Naja naja) kills several thousand people annu¬ ally, mostly because it enters houses to catch rats. The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s largest venomous snake, often more than 12 ft (3.5 m) long. Some African cobras can spit their venom more than 6 ft (1.8 m). Cobras are favourites of snake charmers, who, by their movements rather than their music, tease the deaf snakes into assuming the upreared defense posture.
Cobra Expressionist group of painters formed in Paris in 1948. The name derives from the first letters of the capitals of their native countries:
Ty Cobb.
PICTORIAL PARADE
Cobden, pencil sketch by V. Manzano; in the West Sussex Record Office (Cob¬ den Papers 762)
COURTESY OF THE GOVERNORS OF DUNFORD AND THE COUNTY ARCHIVIST OF WEST SUSSEX
Black-necked cobra (Naja nigricollis)
E.S. ROSS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Coburn ► cockfighting I 425
Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam. The group, which disbanded in 1951, included Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky (b. 1927), Jean-Michel Atlan (1913-60), Guillaume Corneille (b. 1922), and Asger Jom (1914-73). Their work, influenced by poetry, film, folk art, and “primitive” art, fea¬ tured brilliant colour and spontaneous brushwork akin to action painting; the human figure was a frequent motif.
Coburn, Alvin Langdon (b. June 11, 1882, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Nov. 23, 1966, Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire, Wales) U.S.-born British pho¬ tographer. He did not take up photography seriously until he met Edward Steichen in 1899. In 1902 he opened a studio in New York City and joined the Photo-Secession. In 1904 he went to London with a commission to photograph celebrities; his memorable portraits include those of Auguste Rodin, Henry James, and George Bernard Shaw posing as Rodin’s Thinker. In 1917, influenced by Cubism and Futurism, he produced the first photo¬ graphs depicting abstract compositions.
coca Tropical shrub ( Erythroxylum coca ) of the family Erythroxylaceae. It is native to the eastern Andes Mountains but cultivated in Africa, northern South America, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. Its leaves are the source of cocaine and several other alkaloids. Coca thrives best in hot, damp environments, such as forest clearings; but the leaves most pre¬ ferred are obtained in drier localities, on the sides of hills. The composition of different specimens of coca leaves is highly variable. Good samples have a strong tealike odor and a pleasant, pungent taste. When chewed, coca leaves produce a sense of warmth in the mouth; because of their potent stimulant and appetite-depressant effects, coca has been used for centuries by South American peasants to ease the effects of punishing physical labor.
Coca-Cola Co. U.S. corporation known for manufacturing the syrup and concentrate for the soft drink Coca-Cola, the most popular branded drink in the world. Coca-Cola was invented as a tonic by an Atlanta, Ga., pharmacist, John S. Pemberton (1831-88); it included cocaine (removed in 1905) and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut. Another Atlanta phar¬ macist, Asa Griggs Candler (1851-1929), acquired the formula and in 1892 founded the Coca-Cola Co., which he built into a commercial empire. Candler saw the product as syrup to be combined with carbon¬ ated water at a soda fountain; he did not anticipate the success of the bottled product, and as a result bottling operations were run by franchi¬ sees. After World War II the company began to manufacture other bev¬ erages, and in the early 21st century its product line included root beer, bottled water, juices, and sports drinks. Its corporate headquarters are in Atlanta.
cocaine Heterocyclic compound (C 17 H 2 iN 0 4 ), an alkaloid obtained from coca leaves. It has legal uses in medicine and dentistry as a local anes¬ thetic but far more is used illegally, usually as the hydrochloride. When sniffed in small amounts, cocaine produces feelings of well-being and euphoria, decreased appetite, relief from fatigue, and increased mental alertness. Larger amounts or prolonged use can damage the heart and nasal structures and cause seizures. In altered, more potent, cheaper forms (free- base, crack), cocaine is injected or smoked and is extremely addictive (see drug addiction) and detrimental to health. Prolonged or compulsive use of any form of purified cocaine can cause severe personality disturbances, inability to sleep, appetite loss, and paranoid psychosis.
coccus \'ka-kos\ Spherical bacterium. Many species have characteristic arrangements that are useful in identification. Pairs of cocci are called diplococci; rows or chains, streptococci (see streptococcus); grapelike clusters, staphylococci (see staphylococcus); packets of eight or more cells, sarcinae; and groups of four cells in a square arrangement, tetrads. These characteristic groupings occur as a result of variations in the repro¬ duction process.
Cochabamba \,ko-cha- , bam-ba\ City (pop., 2001: 516,683), central Bolivia. Founded as Villa de Oropeza in 1574, it received city status in 1786 and was renamed Cochabamba (Khocha Pampa), a name in the Que- chua language that means “plain full of small lakes.” A favourable climate and attractive setting have helped make it Bolivia’s third largest city. It is
the chief distribution point for eastern Bolivia. It is the site of the Major University of San Simon (1826), a cathedral, and a government palace.
Cochin Vko-.chinX China French Cochinchine \ko-she n -'shen\ Region, southern Vietnam. Covering 30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), the area was a vassal of the Chinese empire and later part of the Khmer kingdom of Cambodia. Its capital, Saigon (see Ho Chi Minh City), was occupied by the French in 1859. It was made a French colony in 1867 and combined with other French protectorates to form French Indochina in 1887. Incor¬ porated into Vietnam in 1949, it was part of South Vietnam (1954-76) until the country was reunited. It includes the Mekong River delta, one of the greatest rice-producing regions in Asia.
Cochise \ko-'ches\ (d. June 8, 1874, Chiricahua Apache Reservation, Ariz.Terr., U.S.) Chiricahua Apache chief who led the resistance to white incursions into the American Southwest. Nothing is known of his birth or early life. His people remained at peace with white settlers through the 1850s, but in 1861 skirmishes and eventually all-out war broke out between the Apache and the U.S. Army. Cochise and his followers eluded capture for 10 years. By 1872, however, most Apache, including Cochise, had agreed to move onto reservations.
Cochran, Jacqueline (b. 1910?, Pensacola, Fla., U.S.—d. Aug. 9, 1980, Indio, Calif.) U.S. aviator. Orphaned early and reared in poverty, she had learned to fly by 1932, partly to promote the products of the cos¬ metics company she had founded. In 1938 she set a speed record for women flying across North America. In World War II she trained women transport pilots in the British and later the U.S. Air Force auxiliaries. In 1953 she broke the world speed record (for both men and women) in a jet, and in 1961 she became the first woman to fly at twice the speed of sound.
cockatiel Vka-ko-.telX Crested, small, gray Australian parrot ( Nymphi - cus hollandicus). It has a yellow head, red ear patches, and a heavy beak used to crack nuts. The cockatiel is in the same family (Cacatuidae) as the larger cockatoo. About 13 in. (32 cm) long, the cockatiel lives in open areas and eats grass seeds. One of the most common pet parrots, it is bred in many colour variations.
cockatoo Any of 21 species of crested parrots (family Cacatuidae), found in Australia and from New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. Most species are white with touches of red or yellow; some are black. All have a massive beak used to crack nuts, dig up roots, or pry grubs from wood; feeding is aided by a worm¬ like tongue. Treetop, hole-nesting birds, cockatoos at times form large, noisy flocks that damage crops. The largest cockatoo (the palm, or great black, cockatoo) is about 25-30 in.