A GLOSSARY OF TERMS 



DEMI-ELY'TRA. fr. fr. de'mi, half; 

 e'lytrum, wing-case. Half-wing 

 cases. 



DENDRI'TIC. fr. gr. dendritis. like 

 the growth of a tree. Arbores- 

 cent; tree-like. Applied to the 

 delineations seen on the surfaces 

 of certain minerals, &c. 



DEN'SITY. The compactness of bo- 

 dies, denoting the comparative 

 quantity of matter in different 

 bodies, which is contained under 

 a certain bulk. 



DEN'TAL. fr. lat. dens, a tooth. Re- 

 lating to the teeth. 



DENTA'IIUM. fr. lat. dens, a tooth. 

 A genus of cirrhopods. 



DEN'TARY. Relating to teeth. 



DEN'TATE. fr. lat. dens, a tooth. 

 Toothed or notched. 



DENTA'TO-ciLiATE.-Having the mar- 

 gin dentate, and tipped with ciliae. 



DENTA'TO-SINUATE. Scolloped and 

 toothed. 



DENTA'TUM. Lat. Dentate. 



DENTI'CULATE. Having the edge or 

 border like teeth. Armed with 

 teeth. 



DENTICTTLA'TION. A tooth-like pro- 

 jection. 



DEX'TIFORM. fr. lat. dens, dentis, 

 a tooth ; forma, form. Tooth- 

 shaped. 



DEN'TILE. A small tooth, such as 

 the tooth of a saw. 



DENTIRO'STRES. fr. lat. dens, dentis, 

 a tooth ; rostrum, beak. Systema- 

 tic name of a family of passerine 

 birds. 



DE'NTURES. Teeth. The sharp 

 parts which separate the notches. 



DENU'DATE. Appearing naked, as 

 plants whose flowers appear be- 

 fore the leaves. 



DENUDA'TION. fr. lat. denudo, I 

 strip. A removal of a part of 

 the land, by the action of running 

 water, so as to Wy bare the infe- 

 rior strata. 



DEN U'DE. fr. lat. denudo, I strip. To 

 lay bare. 



DEPAU'PERATED. Few-flowered. 



DEPENDENT. Hanging down. 



DEPOSITION. fr. lat. depono, I let 

 fall. The falling to the bottom 

 of matters suspended or dissolved 

 in water or other liquid. 



DEPRESSED (beak). Flattened ho- 

 rizontally. When the spire of a 

 shell is very flat, low or shallow ; 

 pressed down horizontally. 



DEPRESSOR. Muscles whose func- 

 tion is to depress certain parts are 

 so called. 



DEPRE'SSUS. Lat. Pressed, sunk. 



DER'MA. Gr. The skin. 



DERMES'TES. fr. gr. derma, skin ; 

 esthio, I eat. Skin-eaters. A ge- 

 nus of insects. 



DE'RMOSKE'LETON. fr. gr. derma, 

 skin ; skeleton, a skeleton. The 

 hard integument which covers 

 most invertebrate, and some ver- 

 tebrate animals. 



DES'PTJMATE. To throw off in froth 

 or scum. 



DE'TINENS. Lat. Detaining; that 

 which has the power to detain. 



DE'TRITUS. A geological term ap- 

 plied to deposits composed of va- 

 rious substances which have been 

 comminuted by attrition. The 

 larger fragments are usually term- 

 ed debris; those which are pul- 

 verized, as it were, constitute de- 

 tritus. Sand is the detritus of 

 silicious rocks. 



DEUS. Lat. God. 



DEVO'NIAN SYSTEM. So called be- 

 cause it is largely developed in 

 Devonshire, England. It is syno- 

 nymous with the old red sandstone 

 formation. It is composed at first 

 of pudding-stone, and then passes 

 into sandstone, with which it al- 

 ternates at different places, (p. 

 32, Book viii). 



DEW-POINT. The temperature of 

 the atmosphere at which its mois- 

 ture begins to be precipitated. 



DEX'TRAL. fr. lat. dexter, the right 

 hand. When the aperture of a 

 spiral shell opens on the right 

 hand, it is said to be dextml ; 



