ADA 



D E 



A'DAPIS. One of the extinct pachyder- 

 mata, found in the gypsum quarries 

 of Montmartre. The form of this 

 creature most nearly resembled that 

 of a hedge-hog, but it was three 

 times the size of that animal : it 

 seems to have formed a link con- 

 necting the pachydermata with the 

 insectivorous carnivora. Buck- 

 land. 



ADDU'CENT. (from adduco, Lat.) A 

 name given to those muscles which 

 bring forward, close, or draw to- 

 gether, the parts of the body to 

 which they are attached ; their 

 antagonists are termed abducent. 



ADE'NOID. (from ai)i>, a gland, and 

 eidos, form, Gr.) Glandiform ; 

 having the shape of a kernel, al- 

 mond, or gland ; glandulous. 



ADIPOCERA TION. The process of being 

 converted into adipocire. 



A'DIPOCERE. | (adeps, fat, and cera, 



A'DIPOCTBE. j wax, Lat.) A sub- 

 stance resembling spermaceti, pro- 

 duced by the conversion of animal 

 matter exposed to running water ; 

 in this way animal matter may be 

 converted into a soft, unctuous, or 

 waxy substance in the space of a 

 little more than a month ; but 

 adipocire has also been produced, 

 though not so rapidly, by the heap- 

 ing together large masses of putre- 

 fying animal matter, as was dis- 

 covered on the removal of a very 

 great number of bodies from the 

 burial ground of the Church des 

 Innocens at Paris, 1787. Adipocire 

 possesses many of the properties of 

 fat combined with a portion of am- 

 monia. It was first discovered by 

 Fourcroy. 



ADIPOCE'RE MINERAL. A fatty matter 

 found in the argillaceous iron ore 

 of Merthyr : it is fusible at about 

 60, and is inodorous when cold, but 

 when heated it emits a slightly 

 bituminous odour. 



A'DIT. (aditus, Lat.) The shaft or 

 entrance into a mine, usually made 

 in the side of a hill, for the convey- 



ance of ore, and the carrying off of 

 the water. It is the first object of a 

 miner, in the working of a mine, 

 to drive a passage or adit from the 

 nearest low ground or valley to 

 meet the shaft, for the purpose of 

 conveying off the water, which is 

 raised to the adit level by the 

 means of the steam engine. It will 

 therefore be obvious that the depth 

 of the adit from the surface of the 

 mine, must depend on the height 

 of the ground in which the mine 

 is, and the depth of the neighbour- 

 ing valley. The depths of different 

 parts of mines are usually dated 

 from the adit level. 



ADMI'XTION. (admisceo, Lat.) The 

 union of various bodies, or sub- 

 stances, by mingling them together. 

 In admixtion each body retains its 

 own character, and does not under- 

 go any chemical change, as in com- 

 position. 



ADNA'TA. (adnatm, Lat.) 



1. Those parts of animal, or vege- 

 table bodies which are natural, as 

 the nails, hair, &c. 



2. Accidental parts, as fungi, misle- 

 toe, &c. 



3. The external coat of the eye. 

 A'DISTATE. Growing to ; adhering. In 



botany, it is used when a leaf ad- 

 heres to the branch or stem by the 

 surface or disk itself; applied to 

 stipules when they are fixed to the 

 petioles. 



ADTJLA'RIA. (from adula, the summit 

 of a Swiss mountain.) Moonstone ; 

 a tran spar ent white- coloure d variety 

 of feldspar, with a silvery, or pearly 

 opalescence. 



JE'DELiTE. A stone found in Sweden, 

 and thus named by Mr. Kirwan. 

 Its form is tuberose and knotty. 

 Texture striated ; sometimes resem- 

 bles quartz. Lustre from to 1. 

 Specific gravity 2.515 after it had 

 absorbed water. Colour light grey. 

 Before the blow-pipe it intumesces, 

 and forms a frothy mass. Acids 

 convert into a jelly. A specimen, 



