When does the atmosphere surrounding the ride begin to change in "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" ?

In Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," the atmosphere surrounding the ride begins to alter and grow colder when the carriage pauses before what the speaker recognizes as a grave.

The lighthearted tone of the poem, indicated by the speaker's mention that she has put away her "labor and leisure" for an unexpected ride, changes after the driver and the speaker pass the setting sun and the speaker grows cold and quivers with a chill. Then, as the driver approaches a "House" in the ground, the roof barely apparent, the speaker must wonder.  For, it is then that the speaker begins to realize that her ride has not been spontaneous, but is ironically, gravely serious.

We paused before a House that seemed
A swelling of the Ground--
The Roof was scarcely visible--
The Cornice--in the Ground--

In the last stanza, the tone is markedly somber as the speaker narrates from the "House" in the ground that it has been ages since she first guessed that the carriage was headed to the cemetery. The repetition of the words Ground and Eternity certainly connote the serious and final destination of the carriage ride--"toward Eternity."

Why do the family members try to avoid talking of the ghost in "The Canterville Ghost"?

From their arrival at Canterville Chase, the Otis family are reluctant to talk about the ghost. In short, they do not believe in the supernatural because they are advocates of science and reason, as Mr Otis explains to Lord Canterville in Chapter One:

But there is no such thing, sir, as a ghost, and I guess the laws of Nature are not going to be suspended for the British aristocracy.

Similarly, when the family spends the day driving around the neighbourhood, they deliberately stop themselves from speaking about the ghost. According to the narrator, the family does this to prevent the "primary conditions of receptive expectation." In other words, if the family does not accept the possibility of a ghost, they are far less likely to experience any supernatural phenomena and this is crucial in safeguarding their scientific principles and beliefs.

This reluctance to talk about the ghost (so as not to accept his existence) reflects the culture clash which exists between the Otis family and the British aristocracy, one of the story's wider themes. The rational and scientific background of the Otis family acts like a barrier between these two opposing worlds and provides the story's conflict. (Please see the second reference link for more information on this theme).

According to Guns, Germs, and Steel, what are the four ways domesticated animals help feed larger populations?

The answer to this question can be found on p. 88 of Guns, Germs, and Steel. There, Diamond explains why domesticated animals (in particular, certain species of large domestic animals) can help feed large populations.  These four reasons are 1) that they provide meat, 2) that they provide milk and other sources of protein, 3) that they provide manure, and 4) that they can pull plows.

What this means is that there are two general ways in which large domesticated animals can help people.  First, they can directly provide people with food.  If people have abundant sources of fat and protein, they are more likely to thrive. Large domesticated animals provided this, thereby making it easier to support large populations. Second, they can indirectly provide people with food by helping them grow plants.  Large animals can pull plows.  When people can plow land, they can get better yields from that land. Domesticated animals can also provide manure that people can use to fertilize their fields.  This, too, allows them to get better yields. For these four reasons, domesticated animals can help support larger human populations.

In Act III, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar, how does Mark Antony convince the crowd to adopt his point of view?

Antony gives a meticulously crafted speech that has the sole purpose of inflaming the crowd. Antony is in a difficult position since Brutus, an excellent orator himself, has just won the crowd over by providing sensible reasons for Caesar's assassination. The crowd, therefore, is not in the mood to hear anything negative about him.

In his opening, Antony gives the crowd a reason to listen to him. He stresses their shared companionship and allegiance: "Friends, Romans, countrymen" and then uses an equivocal statement that whatever evil one commits is remembered beyond death and that one's good deeds are forgotten. In this instance, Antony could be referring to both Caesar and the conspirators. Brutus made a point of Caesar's ambition, which he deemed an evil, but it could also be argued that the conspirators' evil deed will follow them, for there was nothing good in what they did. Antony is subtly introducing a cynical element into his speech.

He then says that he is not there to sing the dead general's praises, just to bury him. When Antony refers to Brutus as "noble," he obviously intends for the crowd to support him because they believe Brutus performed an honorable deed. It will soon become apparent, however, that Antony is using verbal irony. Antony then weaves a tapestry of contrasts with his words by comparing what Brutus said to what Caesar actually did.

Once he contrasts Brutus' statement with what Caesar actually did, Antony cleverly erodes the meaning of "honorable" when referring to Brutus and the conspirators. The tone becomes sarcastic and the crowd gradually catches on.

Antony repeats that he has come to speak at his friend's funeral, indicating he had a deep love of and trust for Caesar. When Antony contrasts this with the statement that Brutus was an "honorable man," he creates doubt as to Brutus' actual intent. Antony, being so close to the deceased, would have known more about Caesar's intentions than Brutus. How then could Brutus's actions have been honorable?

In addition to creating doubt about Brutus's character, Antony really rubs it in when he tells the crowd that Caesar generously inflated the public coffers by selling slaves he had captured for ransom. Antony also states that Caesar wept for the poor, implying Caesar cares for the common folk. If Caesar was as ambitious as Brutus claimed, why would he have even cared?

The rhetorical question Antony uses is deliberately fashioned to make the crowd doubt the veracity of what Brutus said. To disqualify Brutus' assertion that Caesar was ambitious, Antony refers to the occasion during Lupercal when Antony thrice presented the crown to Caesar and he refused it: 

You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honorable man.

Antony cleverly states that he did not come to citicize what Brutus had said but that he was there to speak of what he knew, indirectly implying that Brutus did not know what he was talking about. Antony states that, with good reason, all Rome once loved Caesar. Antony asks what cause prevents the crowd from mourning Caesar, and closes his initial address by crying out that the crowd's judgment was irrational and driven by savage thoughts. Antony says this to instill guilt. He then takes a dramatic pause when he asks the crowd to excuse him, saying he is overcome by the moment—he has lost his heart and needs time to gather himself.

By this time, the crowd has great sympathy for Antony and again believes Caesar was a good leader who cared for them.

Antony then continues his address and slyly suggests that, if he were to ask the crowd to turn against Brutus and Cassius, he would be doing them a great wrong, as they are honorable men. Antony claims he would rather wrong the dead, himself, and his audience, than do Brutus and Cassius any harm. The deliberate reverse psychology is clear: Antony is, in effect, calling the crowd to mutiny.

Antony then introduces Caesar's will. 

But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar;
I found it in his closet, 'tis his will:
Let but the commons hear this testament—
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read—

He now knows he has the crowd in the palms of his hands. Telling the crowd that he does not want to read the will makes everyone more insistent to hear its contents. Antony says its contents are so favorable to the crowd that, if he should read Caesar's bequests, they would kiss Caesar's wounds and dip their napkins in his blood out of gratitude. The crowd cries out to Antony to read the will, but he says it would drive them to madness if they knew Caesar's legacy for them.

Antony further mentions that he is afraid he would wrong the 'honorable men' if he reveals what Caesar said in his testament. Antony deliberately mentions that the ones who stabbed Caesar would be wronged. The crowd, however, has lost its patience and insists Antony read the will.

Antony then calls the crowd closer and asks all to surround Caesar's corpse while he reads the document. He then dramatically points out the dagger wounds on Caesar's corpse, reminding the crowd of how foul the assassination was. The citizens express their grief and then passionately cry out for revenge, but Antony stays them.

The crowd has become like a ravenous beast of prey, ready to strike. Antony reads the conditions of Caesar's will. At the end of it all, the multitude carries off Caesar's corpse and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking out the conspirators. Antony, who is satisfied with the devastating effect his speech had on the crowd, remarks:

Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt!

What is toxicology?

Science and Profession

Since its inception, toxicology has gone through many paradigmatic shifts and has developed several subdisciplines, each with their own approaches and techniques but united by the fundamental challenge of understanding and controlling the interaction between toxic agents and physiological processes. The scale of analysis in which toxicological questions are investigated ranges from molecules to ecosystems, and toxicologists study all kinds of organisms, from the smallest viruses to the largest terrestrial and aquatic organisms.

The popular expression “the dose makes the poison” is one of the key principles of toxicology. It refers to the fact that adverse physiological effects can be produced by practically any substance if given at a dose large enough to overwhelm the body’s natural capacity to process it. Extremely toxic chemicals impart their effects at very small doses. A key measure of toxicity is the lethal dose (LD), which is defined as the amount of a toxic substance that kills an organism. Because the individuals in a group of organisms do not exhibit identical responses, the actual quantitative measure is termed “LD-50,” which is the dose that kills 50 percent of the individuals in an exposed population.

There are three major branches of toxicology: descriptive, mechanistic, and regulatory toxicology. All three branches contribute to risk assessment, which is the main societal application of toxicological knowledge. Mechanistic toxicology is concerned with elucidating the biochemical mechanisms underpinning the expression of toxic effects of poisons at the cellular and/or molecular levels. Assessing the potential toxicity risks associated with new chemicals depends largely on the work of mechanistic toxicologists, who are able to determine whether toxic effects observed in laboratory species are relevant to human exposure levels and physiological attributes. Mechanistic toxicologists also study dose-response relationships that are important for establishing safety thresholds of exposure for industrial chemicals used in manufacturing products and for pharmaceuticals used to treat diseases.

Regulatory toxicology involves the study of how best to protect people from toxic chemicals through the formulation of regulatory policies that govern the manufacture of commercial products, the use and disposal of potentially toxic chemicals, and the protection of workers from toxic exposures at occupational settings. The final responsibility for rejecting or approving specific chemicals for use in commerce rests with regulatory toxicologists, who are trained to evaluate data generated by mechanistic and descriptive toxicologists in light of federal and regional policies designed to protect public and environmental health. Regulatory toxicologists must make judgments following an evaluation of risks associated with short-term exposures and immediate effects (acute toxicity) as well as longer-term exposures and small doses that may result in symptoms long after the initial exposure occurs (chronic toxicity).

Descriptive toxicology forms the bridge between mechanistic and regulatory toxicology. Descriptive toxicologists are responsible for using toxicity testing for comparative risk assessment. For example, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with protecting public health through rigorous evaluation of toxicity levels of drugs and food additives, and descriptive toxicologists employed by the FDA are experts in selecting the best toxicity tests for that purpose. Descriptive toxicologists in the service of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) collaborate in the comparative toxicity assessment of pesticides used on crops or to control disease vectors. Industrial toxicologists perform similar roles for chemicals used in manufacturing, to minimize adverse impacts on people and the environment.

Toxicologists are usually trained at graduate-level institutions that award master’s or doctorate degrees following specialization in one or more subdisciplines. Clinical toxicology is typically studied and practiced in the hospital setting to quickly recognize the symptoms of toxic exposure, usually in an uncommunicative patient, and to identify the responsible poison, followed by administration of an antidote or other forms of therapy.

Environmental toxicology is the study of the sources, transportation, transformation, and sinks of toxicants in the environment, and how humans come into contact with, and suffer from, exposure to these toxicants. Ecotoxicology is a subspecialty of environmental toxicology that deals strictly with the study of the effects of toxicants on wildlife and ecosystems.

Forensic toxicology is the study of how poisons kill people and how to measure residual levels of poisons in corpses in order to determine the cause and time of death. The practice of forensic toxicology is essential in cases of suicide or homicide involving poisons.

Molecular toxicology is the study of the effects and metabolism of toxic materials in the body at the level of molecules, typically involving molecular genetic analysis and biochemical enzymology. Molecular toxicologists also study how variability in individual genetic characteristics affects human sensitivity to toxic agents, just as age, gender, and body size can all influence human exposure and sensitivity to toxic substances.

Pharmacotoxicology is the study of the toxic effects of pharmaceutical products intended for human or animal consumption. This discipline is aimed at finding the appropriate dose of a chemical that has a healing effect without overwhelmingly toxic side effects.

Most practicing toxicologists belong to the professional Society of Toxicology, an organization that defines the responsibilities of toxicologists. The first is to develop new and improved ways of determining the potentially harmful effects of chemical and physical agents and the dose that will cause these effects. This responsibility requires a thorough understanding of the molecular, biochemical, and cellular processes responsible for diseases caused by exposure to toxic substances. The second responsibility is to study commercial chemicals and products using carefully designed and controlled empirical analyses and modeling to determine the conditions under which they can be used with minimum or no adverse effects on human health, wildlife, and ecosystems. The third is to conduct toxicological risk assessments, including estimating the probability that specific chemicals or processes pose significant risks to human health and/or the environment. The risk assessments form the basis for establishing rules and regulations that underpin government policies designed to protect public health and the environment.

Diagnostic and Treatment Techniques

The diagnostic and treatment techniques used by toxicologists depend largely on the branch of toxicology in which they practice. For example, clinical toxicologists in the hospital setting must be proficient at rapid diagnostic techniques for implementing emergency response to acute exposure to poisons. According to data published by the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), which operates the National Poison Data System, 10,830 calls are made to poison centers in the United States each day; these poison response centers deal with a new poisoning case approximately every thirteen seconds. The AAPCC reported that US poison response centers received more than 3.1 million calls in 2013.

More than half of all poisoning cases occur in children younger than six years of age, although these incidents are rarely fatal. A major challenge for toxicologists is to quickly diagnose poisoning events in children who typically may not have the vocabulary or level of consciousness to describe the exposure event to their caregivers or to the emergency response staff when they are brought to the hospital. Most poisonings occur in the home from domestic items such as cosmetics and personal care products, cleaning fluids, medications, and pest control chemicals. Therefore, the first step in diagnosis is to identify as precisely as possible the specific chemical(s) that caused the poisoning; this can most easily be achieved through perusing the list of ingredients on the suspected container but is not always possible. It is more difficult if the poison is gaseous with a remote source. Therefore, body fluid samples (saliva, urine, or blood) can be tested using rapid techniques to identify major categories of common poisons, their known physiological effects, or biomarkers of exposure.

Application of first aid techniques is the first line of treatment for poisonings after ensuring that the patient is removed completely from the source of exposure. Follow-up treatment of poisoned patients involves three major steps. The first is to facilitate the elimination of ingested or injected poison from the body. Stomach pumping is sometimes effective for ingested poisons if applied within a time frame that occurs before a fatal dose is absorbed in the stomach. Typically, in a gastric lavage process, a siphon tube is inserted into the stomach through the mouth to repeatedly flush and empty the contents.

The second step is the application of effective antidotes that aid the excretion or inactivation of the poison either through natural liver functions or through specific biochemical reactions. Activated charcoal may be given, preferably to conscious patients through the mouth, for the purpose of absorbing the poison, thereby reducing the biologically available dose. In serious situations in which poisons are injected into the bloodstream or when poisons have been absorbed extensively from the stomach or lungs, hemodialysis may be performed to filter the blood directly through the use of artificial kidneys. Where artificial kidneys are not available, charcoal may be used for blood filtration (hemoperfusion). For poisoned patients exhibiting respiratory distress, breathing support through ventilators is an essential treatment strategy.

The third step is the treating of symptoms and the aiding of recovery. Depending on the nature of the poison, treatment may involve controlling seizures, correction of irregular heartbeat, regulation of blood pressure, and repair or replacement of damaged organs, including the kidneys and liver.

Posttreatment counseling is recommended to prevent further poison exposures through educational programs, drug rehabilitation, or mental health referrals in cases of suicide attempts. Poisoning cases may also involve substantial legal proceedings for forensic toxicologists or in cases of potential homicide.

Perspective and Prospects

Poisons and their effects on human health have been known since antiquity, but the scientific study of poisons and systematic information on their synthesis and mode of action is a relatively recent development. The German scientist Auroleus Phillipus Theostratus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493–1541), popularly known as Paracelsus, is considered by many to be the world’s first authority on and founder of toxicology as a scientific discipline. Among his several notable accomplishments, Paracelsus is credited with introducing the use of mercury and arsenic into medical practice for curative purposes. Furthermore, he is the source of the famously paraphrased maxim “the dose makes the poison.” His exact statement in German translates as, “All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not be poison.”

Toxicology is a rapidly evolving specialty, driven by innovations in chemical manufacturing and the growing number of toxic substances accessible to the general population. Progress in toxicology is also driven by discoveries in human genomics and proteomics. The more that is learned about the variability in the nucleotide sequences of individuals in a population, the better understood are the differences in human response to toxic chemicals. Additional work in mechanistic toxicology and descriptive toxicology remains to be done to understand adequately the interactions among genetics, age, gender, body size, and behavioral traits that mediate human exposure and response to poisons. Furthermore, the human body is exposed to a large number of chemicals on a daily basis. Very little is known about how these chemicals interact to make people more or less vulnerable to the toxic effects of poisons.

It is important to create a seamless strategy for translating laboratory data, including those based on animal or microbial model systems, into regulatory policies designed to protect the most vulnerable members of society. It is also important to create a seamless strategy for understanding the interactions of toxic chemicals in ecosystems and how these interactions influence human vulnerability and sensitivity to toxic exposures at the workplace, on the streets, and at home. Finally, toxicology has been neglected for too long by the engineering professions that create the products upon which society relies. Toxicology must be engaged as much as possible in the product design stage, before large-scale manufacturing of consumer products that end up endangering the public and ecosystems through the expression of toxicity at various stages of the product life cycle.

Bibliography

Amer. Assn. of Poison Control Centers. AAPCC Prevention. AAPCC, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 Aug. 2013.

"Common Toxicology Terms." Society of Toxicology, 2013.

Hodgson, Ernest, and Robert C. Smart, eds. Introduction to Biochemical Toxicology. 3d ed. New York: Wiley Interscience, 2001.

Hoffman, David J., et al. Handbook of Ecotoxicology. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 1995.

Klaassen, Curtis D., ed. Casarett and Doull’s Toxicology. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013.

Landis, Wayne G., Ruth M. Sofield, and Ming-ho Yu. Introduction to Environmental Toxicology. 4th ed. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2011.

Malachowski, M. J., and Arleen F. Goldberg. Health Effects of Toxic Substances. 2d ed. Rockville, Md.: Government Institutes, 1999.

Smart, Robert C., and Ernest Hodgson, eds. Molecular and Biochemical Toxicology. 4th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2008.

How did the lawyer feel when he finds out that he has successfully learned six languages in "The Bet"?

If I successfully learned six languages, I would feel ecstatic, thrilled, and probably quite proud.  A reader would assume that the lawyer would feel the same way.  Perhaps he does, but the text doesn't seem to indicate that he felt those feelings.  

The lawyer made a bet to prove that capital punishment is less humane than life in prison.  In order to defend his opinion, he agreed to spend fifteen years in solitary confinement.  He is not allowed contact with anybody, but he is allowed to read and study as much as he wants.  During his sixth year in prison, the lawyer begins ravenously studying languages.  

In the second half of the sixth year the prisoner began zealously studying languages, philosophy, and history. He threw himself eagerly into these studies -- so much so that the banker had enough to do to get him the books he ordered.

After four years of studying, the lawyer feels that he has mastered six languages.  He writes the banker a letter in six languages and asks to have the letter proofread by experts.  If the letters are error free, the banker is to fire a pistol shot in verification.  The lawyer wrote in is letter that if his letter is error free, he will feel that his efforts have not been wasted.  

That shot will show me that my efforts have not been thrown away. 

Based on that, when the banker has the shot fired, I believe that the lawyer mostly felt affirmed.  He set out a goal for himself, and he achieved that goal.  There might be some pride there, but I don't believe that there is much pride.  I also believe that there might be some relief.  The lawyer was obviously curious to know information about how well he was learning.  When he learned that he was successful, I'm sure there was relief.  I'm always relieved when my teacher evaluation comes back and says good things about what I do in the classroom.  I believe the lawyer feels the same way.  

"After Twenty Years" is about an appointment between two friends. What is special about this appointment?

In O. Henry's story "After Twenty Years," two men are meeting because twenty years previously they set a date to meet up with each other, no matter where they were living or what they were doing. Bob and Jimmy went their separate ways as young men, with Bob heading out West to seek his fortune and Jimmy remaining in New York City. Although the two corresponded a few times in the beginning, they have not heard from each other for at least eighteen years. Neither knows what the other has been doing, what his profession is, or whether he is even still alive. Yet each man feels a very strong commitment to keep the appointment, even though Bob comes from "a thousand miles" away to do so and is putting himself at great risk. For Jimmy, keeping the appointment is quite easy since he has stayed in the area where they intend to meet; in fact, as a policeman he walks a beat in that very precinct.

Bob is convinced that his friend will arrive for the appointment because he knows Jimmy is "the truest, staunchest old chap in the world." Ironically, Bob's knowledge of Jimmy's character should have warned him that Jimmy may have ended up in police work and/or would end up turning him over as a wanted criminal; instead, he believes his trip will have been worth it if his "old partner turns up." Whether he retains that opinion after Jimmy has him arrested is left to the reader to determine. Nevertheless, the fact that Bob keeps his word to his friend about the appointment and speaks so highly of him makes the reader consider that "Silky Bob" may have some redeeming qualities.