SCIENCE, EDUCATION, RELIGION 



685 



whole passage traversed by the substances taken 

 in as food, from their entrance into the mouth 

 to the excretion of the indigestible residue from 

 the rectum. In the mammalia it is made up of 

 the following parts, viz: (1) the mouth; (2) the 

 pharynx, a funnel-shaped cavity at the back of 

 the mouth, which communicates with the nos- 

 trils; (3) the oesophagus or gullet, a straight and 

 narrow tube which pierces through the dia- 

 phrairm or midriff; (4) the stomach, a bag-pipe 

 iped cavity, the wide expanded part of which 

 termed the cardiac pouch, and the narrow, 

 tapering part the pylorus; (5) the small intestine. 

 remarkable for its length and for the manner in 

 which it is necessarily coiled, and divided, for 

 the sake of convenience, into three parts, the 

 duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum; (6) the 

 large intestine, which is thick, and presents ex- 

 ternallv a peculiar, gathered-up appearance, also 

 i into three parts, the ascending, trans- 

 and descending colon; (7) the rectum, a 

 >rt. wide, smooth tube, the terminal aperture 

 which is called the anus. A portion of the 

 intestine which projects beyond the point 

 its union with the small intestine is called the 

 . and a little worm-like appendage to this 

 ca-cum. the function of which has not exactly 

 been determined, is called the vermiform appen- 

 The commencement as well as the end of 

 the small intestine, is guarded by valves the 

 r. in the form of a sphincter muscle, 

 parating the pylorus from the duodenum, and 

 ileo-ccecal valve, separating the ileum from 

 irge intestine. 



Alkaloids. The name given to a series of 

 derived from the vegetable kinplom. 

 lich closely resemble in their chemical action 

 ic volatile alkali ammonia. They all contain 

 n. and exert a powerful influence on the 

 of polarized light. Like ammonia, they 

 ibine directly with acids to form salts. The 

 loids act most powerfully on the animal 

 >my; some, sucn as strychnine and nico- 

 form the most violent poisons with which 

 are acquainted, while others, such as quinine 

 id morphine, are valuable medicines. 

 Aluminium (al-u-mln'e-um). A metal of 

 .hich the earth alumina, the chief constituent 

 " clay, is an oxide. It is only of late years that 

 - have succeeded in inventing a process 

 tini: it in sufficient quantities and suffi- 

 itly cheap to enable it to DC used for manu- 

 rinn purposes. It has a white color some- 

 resembling tin ; its specific gravity is only 

 (about that of common glass), and hem. it 

 frequently used in the construction of art ides 

 hen- lightne* is an object The melt mi: point 



much helnw that of .silver. When heated in 



n it burns with brilliancy and pro.; 

 imma. It is not affected by sulphur 



n like silver. 1 mm its sonorousness it 

 l>ably be employed in the constn; 

 musical instn;- A ith from 92$ to 95 



it. <>f copj,er it forms an alloy named 

 tilnmininm hmn:< . which is scarcely distinguish- 

 al.li- iiy the eye from cold, win; arly as 



hard as iron. This alloy ia coming into use in 

 the m.uiutar ture of ornamental articles. 



kmphlbia. A .1. cH vertebrate ani- 

 vhich in their early life breathe by gills 



' or branchiae, and afterwards partly or entirely 

 ly lungs. The frog, breathing in its tadpole 

 state by gills and afterwards throwing off these 



, organs and breathing entirely by lungs in its 

 adult state, is an example of the latter phase of 

 amphibian existence. The Proteus of the under- 



! ground caves of Central Europe exemplifies 

 forms in which the gills of early life are retained 

 throughout life, and in which lungs are developed 

 in addition to the gills. A second character of 

 this group consists in the presence of two occipital 

 "condyles," or processes by means of which 

 the skull articulates with the spine or vertebral 

 column; Reptiles possessing one condyle only. 

 The class is aivided into four orders : the Ophio- 

 mprpha (or serpentiform), represented by the 

 blindworms, in which limbs are wanting and 

 the body is snake-like ; the Urodela or " Tailed " 

 Amphibians, including the newts, proteus, siren, 

 etc. ; the Anoura, or Tailless Amphibia, repre- 

 sented by the frogs and toads; and the Lahy- 

 rinthodontia. which includes the extinct 1 



I known as Labyrinthodons. 



Aorta. In anatomy, the great artery or 

 trunk of the arterial system, proceeding from 

 the left ventricle of the heart, and giving origin 

 to all the arteries except the pulmonary. It 

 first rises towards the top of the breast-bone, 

 when it is called the ascending aorta ; then makes 

 a great curve, called the transverse or great arch 

 n/ the aorta, whence it g^ves off branches to the 

 head and upper extremities; thence proceeding 

 towards the lower extremities, under the name 

 of the descending aorta, it gives off branch 

 the trunk; and finally divkies into the two il 

 which supply the pelvis and lower extremities. 

 Apocrypha (from the Greek apokruptd, I 

 conceal). The name given especially to those 

 additional Jewish writings which are not con- 

 tained in the Hebrew Bible, or the OKI T< 

 ment. but which were introduced into the E 

 tuaiiint. from whence they were transferred into 

 the Vulgate, and into many subsequent trans- 

 lations. By the Jews they are not held to be 

 canonical. They are received by the Roman 

 Catholic Church; but by the Church 0< 

 land, and by other Protestant Churches, though 

 they are held to be of value for historical pur- 

 poses -and for "instruction of manners," they 

 are not used for "establishment of doctrine. ' 

 ides the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, 

 which belong to the literature of the later 

 there are certain apocryphal Christian writings, 

 which are usually described as the Apocrypha 



I of the New Testament. 



Apostle, one who is sent off or away 



; from ; one sent on some important mission ; a 

 messenger; a missionary. The name c 

 in the Christian Church', to the twelve men 



whom Jesus .-elected from His disciples a 



Lest in-tructed in Hi 



instrument- tor the propagation of 11 



Their names were as follows: Simon Peter. 



Andrew, hi- Li-other: James the greater, and 



John, his brother, who were sons of Zebedee; 



Philip of Bethsaida, Bartholomew, Thomas, 



Matthew ; James, the son of Alpheus. commonly 



called JAIXMM the less; Lebbeus, his b. 



who was surnamed Thaddeus, and was called 



Judas, or Jude; Simon the Canaanite, and 



