AN T 



ANT 



of description: to derive the true ano- 

 maly from this, is to find the mean angu- 

 lar motion which would have been per- 

 formed had the motion in angle been 

 uniform instead of the motion in area, 

 and involves a problem of the transcen- 

 dental kind. 



ANOMOU'RA (avo/iof, unlawful, 

 ovpct, a tail). A family of Decapods, 

 distinguished by the very unusual con- 

 formation of the tail :— instead of being 

 encased in a hard coat of mail, as in the 

 macroura, the hinder part of the body is 

 8oft and coriaceous, possessing only a 

 few detached calcareous pieces, ana- 

 logous, it is true, to those found in the 

 lobster, but strangely altered in struc- 

 ture. They are known by the name of 

 soldier-crabs or hermit-crabs. 



ANONA'CE^. An order of Dicotyle- 

 donous plants, named from the typical 

 genus Anona, and characterized by a 

 powerful aromatic taste and smell in all 

 their parts. Trees or shrubs, with leaves 

 alternate ; petals 6, hypogynous ; ovaries 

 numerous ; fruit consisting of many car- 

 pels, distinct or concrete into a fleshy 

 mass. 



A'NOPLOTHE'RIUM {HvonXot, un- 

 armed, Onplov, a wild beast). An extinct 

 fossil quadruped, belonging to the order 

 Pachydermata, resembling a pig. The 

 name is derived from the animal having 

 been remarkably deficient in the means 

 of defence, from the form of its teeth, 

 and the absence of claws, hoofs, and 

 horns. 



ANO'RMAL (anormis, without rule). 

 Irregular; contrary to the usual rule; 

 or, more precisely, destitute of rule. See 

 Abnormal. 



ANO'RTHITE {dv-, the negative pre- 

 fix, of which a, priv., is a shortened form ; 

 op96v, upright). A mineral consisting of 

 silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, and 

 oxide of iron. Its name, which signifies 

 without right angles, distinguishes it 

 from felspar, two of whose cleavages are 

 at right angles to each other. 



ANOU'RA (a priv., ovpa, a tail). An 

 order of Amphibious animals, comprising 

 the Frogs and Toads, in which the gills 

 and the tail disappear on their reaching 

 the perfect state. 



A'NSiE {ansa, a handle). In Astro- 

 nomy, those parts of Saturn's ring which 

 project beyond the disk of the planet, and 

 appear like handles to the body of the 

 planet 



ANTA'GONIST POWERS (ai/ri, op- 

 posite, dywvi^ofxai, to struggle). Two 

 20 



powers in nature, of which the action of 

 one antagonizes, or counteracts, that of 

 the other; hence a kind of balance or 

 equilibrium is maintained, and the de- 

 structive effects, which would ensue from 

 the unchecked operation of either, pre- 

 vented. Of this kind are the centrifugal 

 and centripetal forces in Astronomy, the 

 attractive and repulsive agencies in Che- 

 mistry, &c. 



ANTA'RCTIC {avrl, apKriKov, from 

 clpKToc, the bear). That which is oppo- 

 site to the Arctic. 



1. The Antarctic Pole is the South 

 Pole, and is opposite to the Arctic or 

 North Pole, which points to the constel- 

 lations of the Great and the Little Bears. 



2. The Antarctic Circle is an imaginary 

 circle distant 23° 27'. 5 from the Antarctic 

 or South Pole, and 66°. 5 from the equator, 

 and parallel to it. 



3. The Antarctic Ocean is, properly 

 speaking, the ocean between the Ant- 

 arctic circle and the South Pole. 



ANTA'RES. The Scorpion's heart; a 

 star of the first magnitude, marked a, in 

 the constellation Scorpio. 



ANTECE'DENT {antecedo, to go be- 

 fore). In Logic, that part of a conditional 

 proposition from which the other part, or 

 the consequent, results ; the connexion 

 between the two, expressed by the word 

 ** if," is called the consequence. In the 

 proposition, " If logic is useless, it de- 

 serves to be neglected," both antecedent, 

 and consequent are false ; yet the whole 

 proposition is true — the consequent fol- 

 lows from the antecedent. 



The term Antecedent, in Mathematics, 

 denotes the former of the two terms of a 

 ratio, as distinguished from the latter 

 term, or consequent. Thus, in the con- 

 tinued proportion, 



2 : 4 : : 3 : 6 : : 4 : 8 : : 5 : 10, &c. 



2, 3, 4, 5, &c., are antecedents, and 4, 6, 

 8, 10, &c., are consequents. Antecedents 

 and consequents may be inverted, with- 

 out destroying the proportion. Thus, if 



2 : 4 : : 5 : 10, 



it is equally true that 



4 : 2 : : 10 : 5. 



ANTECEDE'NTIA. An astronomical 

 term, denoting that a celestial body moves 

 contrary to the order of the signs of the 

 Zodiac ; it is then said to move in ante- 

 cedentia. When it moves in the order of 

 the signs, it is said to move in conse- 

 quentid. 



ANTELO'PID^. The Antelope tribe ; 

 a family of the Ruminantia, remarkable 



