ANT 



[28] 



A K T 



when bursting; this is generally 

 turned inwards towards the axis of 

 the flower ; but in some plants, as 

 the cucumber, iris, ranunculus, 

 &c., it is turned outwards. The 

 anther is generally fixed immove- 

 ably to the filament in various 

 ways ; but in most of the grasses, 

 and many other plants, it is at- 

 tached by its middle, and the 

 filament being very thin, it is 

 moved by the slightest air. 



AN'THOLITE. | (from uvOos, a flower, 



AN'THOLITHE. j and \iOos, a stone.) 

 The name applied to a fossillized 

 flower. It has been doubted 

 whether fossillized flowers are ever 

 met with, on the ground that the 

 succulent substance of the stamens 

 and pistils must be too delicate to 

 undergo the lapidifying or carbon- 

 izing process ; but there exist im- 

 pressions on shale and sandstone in 

 the British Museum, on viewing 

 which it is difficult to resist the 

 conviction that they exhibit some 

 kind of stellate blossoms. History 

 of Fossil fuel. 



ANTHOPHY'LLITE. (from avOos, a 

 flower, and 0vXXo*/, a leaf, Gr. Or, 

 according to others, from tbe re- 

 semblance of its colour to that of 

 the flower Anthophyllum. Its 

 name was assigned to it by Schu- 

 macher, who first described it.) A 

 mineral occurring both crystallized 

 and massive, of a yellowish grey, 

 or brownish colour. Its constituent 

 parts are, silica 54'0; alumina 3'0; 

 magnesia 23'0; lime 2*0; oxide of 

 iron 13-0; oxide of manganese 

 4-0. Gmelin. Specific gravity 3 -2. 

 Alone, infusible before the blow- 

 pipe ; but with borax it yields a 

 grass-green transparent head. It 

 is the prismatic schiller-spar of 

 Mohs. It is found in Inverness- 

 shire and in Norway. 



A'NTHBACTTE. (from avOpag, Gr., 

 anthrax, Lat.) A shining substance 

 like black-lead ; a species of mineral 

 charcoal ; a mineral approaching to 



the state of plumbago ; it consists 

 nearly of pure carbon, is hard to 

 ignite, and has frequently a semi- 

 metallic lustre. The coal in the 

 extensive coal-formation in Penn- 

 sylvania is called anthracite, be- 

 cause it emits but little smoke in 

 burning ; but it is only a variety 

 of common coal, containing but 

 little bitumen, and is not the true 

 anthracite of mineralogists. From 

 the same circumstance, also, it has 

 become a common thing to call the 

 "Welsh coal anthracite. In the 

 vicinity of some trap dikes, coal is 

 found converted into anthracite. 

 Some anthracite contains 97 per 

 cent of carbon. Hardness from 2'0 

 to 2'5. Specific gravity from 1'3 

 to 1-6. 



AN'THBACTTIC. Partaking of the nature 

 of anthracite. 



ANTHBA'COLITE, The same as anthra- 

 cite. 



ANTHEA'CONITE. A variety of calca- 

 reous spar, of a black colour, with 

 a compact fracture, of a glimmering 

 lustre, and which, on rubbing, 

 yields a sulphureo - bituminous 

 odour. 



ANTHKACOTHE'EIUH. (from avOpaKio<s, 

 and Orjplov, wild beast, Gr.) A 

 name given to an extinct mammifer, 

 thus named by Cuvier, supposed to 

 belong to the Pachydermata, the 

 bones of which, changed into a kind 

 of coal, have been found in the 

 lignite and coal of the tertiary 

 strata. This genus was first dis- 

 covered in the lignite of Cadibona, 

 in Liguria : seven species are 

 known, some approximating to the 

 size and appearance of the hog; 

 others approaching that of the 

 hippopotamus. The jaw teeth of 

 this extinct genus exhibited con- 

 siderable analogies with those of 

 the chaeropotamus and the dicho- 

 bunes. But besides that these molars 

 presented of themselves specific 

 distinctions, the large and project- 

 ing canines with which they were 



