GLOSSARY. 511 



Ephemerous Insects. — Insects allied to the May-fly. 



Fauna. — The totality of the animals naturally inhabiting a certain 

 country or region, or which have lived during a given geological 

 period. 



FeliDxE. — The Cat-family. 



Feral. — Having become wild from a state of cultivation or domesti- 

 cation. 



Flora. — The totality of the plants growing naturally in a country, 

 or during a given geological period. 



Florets. — Flowers imperfectly developed in some respects, and col- 

 lected into a dense spike or head, as in the Grasses, the Dande- 

 lion, etc. 



Fcetal. — Of or belonging to the foetus, or embryo in course of 

 development. 



Foraminifera. — A class of animals of very low organization and 

 generally of small size, having a jelly-like body, from the sur- 

 face of which delicate filaments can be given off and retracted for 

 the prehension of external objects, and having a calcareous or 

 sandy shell, usually divided into chambers and perforated with 

 small apertures. 



Fossiliferous. — Containing fossils. 



Fossorial. — Having a faculty of digging. The Fossorial Hymen- 

 optera are a group of Wasp-like Insects, which burrow in sandy 

 soil to make nests for their young. 



Frenum (pi. Frena). — A small band or fold of skin. 



Fungi (sing. Fungus). — A class of cellular plants, of which Mush- 

 rooms, Toadstools and Moulds, are familiar examples. 



FuRCULA. — The forked bone formed by the union of the collar-bones 

 in many birds, such as the common Fowl. 



Gallinaceous Birds. — An order of Birds of which the common 

 Fowl, Turkey and Pheasant, are well-known examples. 



Gallus. — The genus of birds which includes the common Fowl. 



Ganglion. — A swelling or knot from which nerves are given off as 

 from a center. 



Ganoid Fishes. — Fishes covered with peculiar enameled bony 

 scales. Most of them are extinct. 



Germinal Vesicle. — A minute vesicle in the eggs of animals, from 

 which the development of the embryo proceeds. 



Glacial Period. — A period of great cold and of enormous extension 

 of ice upon the surface of the earth. It is believed that glacial 

 periods have occurred repeatedly during the geological history of 

 the earth, but the term is generally applied to the close of the 

 Tertiary epoch, when nearly the whole of Europe was subjected 

 to an arctic climate. 



Gland. — An organ which secretes or separates some peculiar product 

 from the blood or sap of animals or plants. 



Glottis. — The opening of the windpipe into the oesophagus or 

 gullet. 



Gneiss. — A rock approaching granite in composition, but more or less 



