USED IN NATURAL HISTORY. 



diminutive of avis, a bird. Re- 

 lating or belonging to birds. 



AWL-FORM. Having a sharp point, 

 curved to one side. 



AWN. The beard or arista of corn. 

 A stiff bristle. 



AWNED. Terminating in a long 

 hard bristle. 



A'XIL. fr. lat. axilla, arm-pit. The 

 angle or point at which a leaf or 

 branch unites with the stem. 



AXILLARY. fr. lat. axilla, the arm- 

 pit. Belonging to the arm-pit. 



A'xis OF ELEVA'TIOX. Line of ele- 

 vation. 



AXOLO'TL. Mexican. Name of a 

 kind of batrachian. 



AX'OLOTUS. Lat. Generic name 

 of the axolotis. 



A'ZOTE. fr. gr. a, priv. ; zoe, life. 

 A name given to nitrogen because 

 it will not support animal life. 

 It is one of the component parts 

 of the atmosphere. 



BAC'CA. Lat. A berry. 



BACCATE. Berried ; having a suc- 

 culent texture. 



BAC'CILAH. fr. lat. bacca, a berry. 

 Berry-like. 



BACCI'FEROUS. Bearing berries. 



BACILLA'KIA. fr. lat. bacillum, a di- 

 minutive stick. A family of ani- 

 malcules. They inhabit every 

 pond, lake and sea. Fossil spe- 

 cies exist. A simple siliceous 

 shell, of a prismatic shape, which 

 often appears in a zig-zag, in con- 

 sequence of incomplete self-divi- 

 sion : each link is an individual 

 animalcule. 



BACTRIA'NUB. Lat. Bactrian. Re- 

 lating or belonging to Bactria. 



BA'CULITES. fr. lat. bacculum, a 

 stick. A genus of tetrabranchiat 

 cephalopods, the chambered shells 

 of which are quite straight, but 

 differ from those of the orthoce- 

 ratites in having sinuous or undu 

 lated partitions with lobated mar- 

 gins: in this structure they are 



allied to the ammonites, (p. 72, 

 Book viii.) 



BAG-SHOT SAND. A siliceous bed 

 which overlies the London clay 

 formation, corresponding in age 

 with the Paris basin. 



BAL^E'NA. Lat. A whale. 



BALA'NI. Plur. of balanus. 



BALA'NUS. Lat. A barnacle. 



BALEN. fr. lat. balana, which is fr. 

 gr. phalaina, a whale. Wnale- 

 bone. The substance put into 

 ladies' corsets, and used to form 

 part of the frame of an umbrella. 



BALIS'TES. Systematic nameoi cer- 

 tain fishes of the family of Sclero- 

 dermi, given to them by Artedi, 

 from their Italian appellation, 

 Pesce balestra, (Cross-bow-fish ,) 

 which is derived from a supposed 

 similitude between the motion of 

 their great dorsal spine, and that 

 of a cross-bow. 



BAL'LONS. Fr. ballon, a ball. Round- 

 ed mountains are so called. A 

 system of upheaval, (p. 191, 

 Book viii.) 



BAMBU'SA. Bamboo. 



BANNER. Vexillum. The upper, and 

 commonly the largest petal of a 

 papiliona'ceous flower. 



BARB. fr. lat. barba, a beard. The 

 filaments which are attached to 

 two sides of the stalk of a fea- 

 ther, are called barbs or beards. 

 In botany, a straight process arm- 

 ed with teeth pointing backwards. 

 In conchology, anything that grows 

 in place of a beard. 



BAR'BULE. The diminutive of barb, 

 and is applied to designate the 

 filaments which are found on the 

 edges of the barbs, composing a 

 feather. 



BAR'BARUS. Lat. Foreign; barba- 

 rous; cruel. 



BARBA'TUS. Lat. Bearded; having 

 a beard. 



BARB' us. The generic name of the 

 barbels. 



BARK. The covering of vegetables. 



