Head

{hed) [ME., hed, the head]. I. The uppermost part of the body; that part of the body containing the brain, the organ of sight of smell, taste, and hearing, and part of the organs of speech. 2. The top, beginning, or most prominent part of anything, as the head of the femur, the head of a muscle etc. H.-drop, a peculiar disease seen in Japan during the spring and early summer, supposed to be miasmatic in origin. It is attended with inability to hold the head erect, paralytic symptoms in the limbs, and optic disorders. One attack predisposes to others. H.-gut. See Fore-gut. H. -kidney, pronephros. Head-louse, the pediculus capitis. 305