adroitly
skillfully
agate
a variety of quartz
Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), the French poet who coined the word "surrealism" and is considered one of the first surrealist writers
Bergson, Henri
French philosopher (1859-1941)
caisson
a watertight apparatus used to perform underwater construction work (in this case on the Brooklyn Bridge)
calcimined
washed or covered with calcimine (a liquid containing water, zinc oxide, glue and coloring and used to clean walls)
catalepsy
a nervous condition with symptoms including rigidity of the muscles
celestial
referring to the sky or the heavens
Cendrars
Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961), a French poet considered one of the fathers of modern poetry
Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company of North America
the company at which Henry Miller works early in the book; likely refers to the Western Union Telegraph Company, at which the real-life Henry Miller worked
Czerny
Carl Czerny (1791-1857), an Austrian composer known for his piano etudes
Czolgosz
Leon Frank Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley
Dadaists
members of a cultural movement (roughly, from 1916 to 1920) that began in Switzerland and rejected many of the current standards in arts and criticism
Ernst, Max
German artist and poet (1891-1976); major Dadaist and Surrealist figure
glissando
a musical term indicating a glide across pitches
Helen
a character in the Iliad who is famed for her great beauty; steals away with Paris, prince of Troy, thereby igniting the Trojan War
hypogastric
relating to the lower region of the abdomen
idolatry
inappropriate or excessive devotion to something
interstitial
existing in the narrow areas between tissues or organ parts
Juno
Roman goddess of marriage
maharanee
a Hindu princess
Methuselah
a character from Genesis who is renowned for having lived to an incredibly old age
naphtha
any number of flammable hydrocarbon mixtures
octogenarian
someone in his/her eighties
peristaltic
relating to peristalsis, involuntary muscle contractions that involuntary force the contents of the esophagus or intestine forward
postpineal lobe
a region of the brain
self-abnegation
setting aside one's own interests in the name of others or a belief
Whitman, Walt
American poet (1819-1892) famed for his celebrations of defiance and non-conformism; often considered the pioneer of free verse
