408 . GLOSSARY. 



EDENTATA. A peculiar order of Quadrupeds, characterised by the absence of 



at least the middle incisor (front) teeth in both jaws. (Examples, the Sloths 



and Armadillos.) 

 ELYTRA. The hardened fore-wings of Beetles, serving as sheaths for the 



membranous hind- wings, which constitute the true organs of flight. 

 EMBRYO. The young animal undergoing development within the egg or 



womb. 



EMBRYOLOGY. The study of the development of the embryo. 

 ENDEMIC. Peculiar to a given locality. 

 EXTOMOSTRACA. A division of the class Crustacea, having all the segments of 



the body usually distinct, gills attached to the feet or organs of the mouth, 



and the feet fringed with fine hairs. They are generally of small size. 

 EOCENE. The earliest of the three divisions of the Tertiary epoch of geologists. 



Rocks of this age contain a small proportion of shells identical with species 



now living. 

 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. 



FELIDJE. The Cat-family. 



FERAL. Having become wild from a state of cultivation or domestication. 



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 collected into 

 a dense spike or head, as in the Grasses, the Dandelion, &c. 



POSTAL. Of or belonging to the foetus, or embryo in course of development. 



FORAMINIFERA. A class of animals of very low organisation, and generally of 

 small size, having a jelly-like body, from the surface of which delicate fila- 

 ments can be given off and retracted for the prehension of external objects, 

 and having a calcareous or sandy shell, usually divided into chambers, ana 

 perforated with small apertures. 



FOSSILIFEROUS. Containing fossils. 



FOSSORIAL. Having a faculty of digging. The Fossorial Hymenoptera 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 Mushrooms, 

 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 



centre. 

 GANOID FISHES. Fishes covered with peculiar enamelled 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 subiected to an arctic climate. 





