PLANTAIN 



268 



PLESIOSATTRIA 



Plantain, (plan'tan). [The French 



1. Musasapientum: an 

 endogenous tree, resem- 

 bling the banana, be- 

 longing to Musaceaj. 



2. Plantago, an exogen- 

 ous plant, belonging to 

 Plautaginaceae. Water 

 plantain = Alisma. P. 

 etUe> Musophaga, q.v. 



Plantigrade, ( plan ' ti- 

 grad). [L. planta, sole 

 of the foot; gradior, 

 I walk.] A general 

 term, applied to all ani- 

 mals, such as the bear, 

 badger, and also man, Plantain, 



which place the whole sole of the foot on the 

 ground when walking. 



Plant - lice = Aphides : insects belonging to 

 Homoptera. 



Plants, (plants). [L. planta, a young tree.] 

 Living beings, usually without sensation, 

 rooted, with no mouth or stomach; com- 

 posed of binary or ternary compounds, re- 

 tain carbon, and exhale oxygen ; form organic 

 compounds which serve as food for animals; 

 form the vegetable kingdom ; few only in 

 sea below 50 fathoms, none below 200 

 fathoms. 



Plants, classification of. v. Botanical systems. 



Plasma, (plaz'ma). [Gk. plasso, I mould.] 

 The colourless fluid of the blood, in which 

 the red and white corpuscles are suspended; 

 a general term for any fluid by which animals 

 or plants are immediately nourished. 



Plasmogony, (plaz-mog'o-ni). [Plasma, q.v.] 

 The generation of an organ ism'from a plasma, 

 or organic formative fluid. 



Plaster of Paris. Calcined and powdered 

 gypsum; used in taking plaster casts, and as 

 a cement; named from being found in large 

 quantities near Paris. 



Plastic clay=Woolwich and Reading series, 

 q.v. A sub-division of Lower Eocene rocks; 

 the clay is used for pottery. 



Plastron, (plas'tron). [Gk. emplagtron, plaster.] 

 The ventral shell or shield of turtles -and 

 tortoises. 



Platalea, (plat-al'e-a). [The Latin name.] 

 Spoonbill: a heron-like bird, belonging to 

 Ardeidse; named from the form of its beak. 



Platanacese, (plat-a-na'se-6). [Platanus, q.v.] 

 Planes: trees, chiefly found in N. America, 

 belonging to Amentales. 



Platanus, (plat'a-nus). [The Latin name.] 

 Plane-tree: a tree, the type of Platanaceae. 



Plate, (plat). (Plat, the French word.]. P. 

 electrical machine: a plate usually of vul- 

 canite or glass, fixed in a frame, so as to be 

 electrified by friction when made to revolve. 

 P. girder: one composed of a number of 

 plates of iron. P. glass: a fusible variety 

 of glass, consisting chiefly of silicates of 

 sodium and calcium; named from being cast 

 for use in large plates 



Platessa, (plat-es'sa). [The Latin name.] 

 Plaice: a flat fish, belonging toPleurpnectidae. 



Platinamine, (plat'in-a-mln). [Platinum and 



name.] | Amine.] PtH 6 N 2 O 2 : a platinum base, also 

 called Gerhardt's base. 



Platinic, (pla-tin'ik). [Platinum, q.v.] Re- 

 lated to platinum. 



Platinicum, (pla-tin'i-kum). Term used to 

 express the platinum in Platinamine, and 

 other compounds, in which it occurs as 

 Ptiv. 



Platinum, (plat'in-um). [Sp. platina, little 

 silver.] Pt.: one of the noble metals: a white, 

 hard, lustrous, tenacious metal, almost in- 

 fusible; abundant in California. P., Natire: 

 almost pure, with cubical crystallisation. 

 Black P.=P. black: finely divided platinum. 

 P. bases: basic compounds of platinum and 

 ammonia: platinamine, platosamine, <fec. 

 P. lamp; a coil of platinum wire, heated, so 

 as to be luminous, by a galvanic current being 

 passed through it. Spongy P., v. Spongy. 



Plato, (pla'to). [Classical.] A crater in the 

 Moon, 70 miles in diameter. 



Platosamine, (plat'6-sa-mm). [Platinum and 

 Amine.]=PtH 6 NoO=Reiset's second base: a 

 basic compound of platinum and ammonia. 



Platten, (plat'ten). A plate of wood or iron, 

 used in the printing press, to press the paper 

 on the type. 



Platy, (plat'i). [Gk. platys, broad.] A prefix, 

 implying breadth. 



Platy elminthes, ( plat-i-el-min'thez ). [Gk. 

 platys, broad; helming, worm.] A sub-divi- 

 sion of Annuloida by Rolleston. Tape- 

 worms, Ac. 



Platymeter, ( plat-im'e-ter ). [Gk. platys, 

 broad ; metron, measure.] An apparatus to 

 measure the inductive capacity of dielectrics. 



Platypus, (plat'i-pus). [Gk. platys, broad; 

 pott*, foot.] Duck-bill: a burrowing quad- 

 ruped, having wide flattened snout and 

 large flattened claws, found in N. S. Wales 

 =Ornithorhynchus, q.v. 



Platyrrhine family, (plat'i-rin). [Gk. platys, 

 broad ; rhines, nostrils.] Quadrumanous 

 animals, such as the marmoset, &c., found 

 only in S. America; named from the nostrils 

 being far apart. 



Plectognathi, (plek-tog'na-thi). [Gk. plcktot, 

 connected; gnathos, jaw.] A sub-division of 

 fishes, in which the cheek-bones are firmly 

 united with the jaws; e.g., trunk-fishes, 

 file-fishes, &c. 



Pleiades, (pli'a-dez). [Classical.] A group of 

 seven stars, in the shoulder of Taurus; also 

 called the Seven Virgins. 



Pleiocene=Pliocene, q.v. 



Pleiosaurus, ( pli-6-saw'rus ). [Gk. pleion, 

 more; sauros, lizard.] A marine reptile 

 with large head, short neck, and paddles, 

 resembling those of the plesiosaurus. 



Plcochroism, ( ple-ok'ro-izm ). [Gk. pleion, 

 more; chroma, colour.] The variation of 

 colour in some crystals when seen by trans- 

 mitted light, or in different directions. 



Pleonaste, (ple'o-nast). [Gk. pleonastos, 

 abundant.] A dark variety of spinel. 



Plesiosauria, (ple-zi-6-saw'ri-a). [Gk. plesios, 

 near; saura, lizard. ]=Extinct marine rep- 

 tiles, found in secondary strata, v. Plesio- 

 saurus. 



