A U G 



A X I 



ture is conchoidal and uneven. It gene- 

 rally crystallizes in six or eight-sided 

 prisms, terminated by dihedral summits. 

 It is commonly attracted by the magnet. 

 Scarcely fusible by the blow-pipe. With 

 borax it melts into a yellowish glass, which 

 while hot appears red. There are many 

 varieties of augite, as the Diopside, Mu- 

 site, Alalite, Sahlite, Pyrogome, Fassaite, 

 Malacolite, Common Augite, Conchoidal 

 Augite, Granular Augite, Coccolite and 

 Amianthus. Augite consists of silica 52, 

 lime 13, protoxide of iron and manga- 

 nese 16, magnesia 10, alumina 9. 



AUGI'TIC. Resembling augite ; containing 

 augite. 



AUGI'TIC PORPHY'RY. A rock with a dark 

 grey, or greenish, base, containing cry- 

 stals of augite and Labrador felspar. 



AU'RATED. 



1. Resembling gold. 



2. Eared ; having ears, as in the scallop- 

 shell. 



AURE'LIA. The first change of the eruca, 

 or maggot, of any kind of insect ; a chry- 

 salis, having a golden hue, previous to its 

 becoming the perfect insect. 



AU'RICLE. (auricula, Lat.) 



1. That part of the ear which is prominent 

 from the head. 



2. A cavity of the heart. The heart is 

 divided into four cavities, or chambers, 

 namely, two auricles and two ventricles. 



AU'RICLEU. Having ears ; having appen- 

 dages resembling ears : applied to leaves 

 when they are furnished with a pair of 

 leaflets, generally distinct, but sometimes 

 joined with them. 



AURI'CULA. An ovate or oblong pyra- 

 midal univalve, with the spire extruded : 

 the opening entire, oblong, and narrowed 

 upwards ; the columella plicated, with 

 different plicae in the opposite lip. La- 

 marck has placed those shells whose open- 

 ings are entire, but whose columellse are 

 plicated, under this genus, Auricula. 

 Parkinson. 



AURI'CULATE. Ear-shaped. 

 ATJRI'FEROUS. That which yields gold ; 



containing gold. 



AU'RIFORM. (from auris and forma, Lat.) 

 Having the form of an ear ; in the shape 

 of an ear ; the haliotis is an example. 

 AUSTE'RE. (austerus, Lat.) Sour or harsh 



to the taste ; acrid. 

 AUSTE'RENESS. Roughness or harshness 



in taste. 



AU'STRAL. ) (australis, Lat. austral, Fr. 

 AU'STRINE. J australe, It.) Southern; 



southward. 



AUTO'MALITE. Octahedral corundum. Spi- 

 nelle zincifere of Haiiy. A variety of co- 

 rundum containing oxide of zinc. It oc- 

 curs imbedded in talc and associated with 

 lead-glance. It is crystallized in regular 



octahedrons, or in tetrahedrons with trun- 

 cated angles. Its constituent parts are 

 alumina, the oxides of zinc and iron, and 

 silica. It has been found in America and 

 in Sweden. 



AUTO'MOLITE. See Automalite. 



AVALANCHE, (avalange, ou avalanche, Fr.) 

 A mass of snow which, detached from any 

 mountainous height, by rolling onwards 

 accumulates frequently prodigious bulk 

 and acquires great momentum. Ava- 

 lanches are in mountainous countries pro- 

 ductive of the direst misfortunes, sweep- 

 ing before them in their irresistible and 

 destructive progress every impeding ob- 

 ject ; breaking off large masses of rocks, 

 uprooting, or tearing away, the noblest 

 trees, damming up river courses, and 

 burying beneath their volumes villages, 

 with their whole population. 



AVI'CULA. (from avis, Lat.) A free shell, 

 a little gaping near the beaks, fixing itself 

 by a byssus, and having its valves of un- 

 equal size; the hinge without a tooth, and 

 rather callous. The cartilaginal pit ob- 

 long, marginal, and parallel to the edge 

 by which it is sustained. Parkinson. 



AXE-STONE. A mineral found in New Zea- 

 land and the islands of the Pacific, and by 

 the inhabitants made into axes and other 

 cutting instruments, from which circum- 

 stance it has obtained its name. It is a 

 sub-species of jade, and in many respects 

 resembles nephrite, or nephritic stone. 

 See Jade. 



AXI'JLLA. (axilla, Lat.) 



1. In anatomy, the arm-pit. 



2. In botany, the angle formed by the 

 stalk of a leaf with the stem. 



AXI'LLARY. (axillaris, Lat. axillaire, Fr.) 



1. In botany, applied to peduncles when 

 proceeding from the angle made by the 

 leaf and stem, or branch and stem ; also 

 to flowers, and to spikes of flowers, pro- 

 ceeding from either of the above situa- 

 tions. 



2. In anatomy, pertaining to the axilla, or 

 arm -pit. 



3. In entomology, applied to parts which 

 spring from the point of union of two 

 other parts. 



AXI'NITE. The thumerstein or thumerstone 

 of Werner. It has obtained the name of 

 axinite in consequence of the axe-like 

 shape of its crystals. Its colours are 

 brown, grey, black, and blue. The name 

 of thumerstein was given to it by Werner, 

 from its having been found near Thum, 

 in Saxony. Texture foliated. Fracture 

 conchoidal. Before the blow-pipe it froths 

 like zeolite, and melts into a hard black 

 enamel. It has been found sparingly in 

 Cornwall, but in no other part of Great 

 Britain. A specimen analysed by Vau- 

 quelin was found to consist of silica 44, 



