CHE 



[85] 



CHE 



as in moonstone and chrysoberyl, 

 the opal, labradorite, &c., &c. 



CHEIRAC'ANTHTJS. (from x e ^> the 

 hand, and atcavOa, a thorn or spine, 

 Gr.) The name assigned to a 

 genus of ichthyolites found in the 

 lower old red sandstone. The 

 cheiraeanthus, says Hugh Miller, 

 must have been an eminently 

 handsome little fish, slim, tapering, 

 and described in all its outlines, 

 whether of the body or the fins, 

 by gracefully-waved lines. The 

 body was covered with small angular 

 scales, brightly enamelled, and 

 delicately fretted into parallel ridges 

 that run longitudinally along the 

 upper half of the scale, and leave 

 the posterior portion of it a glitter- 

 ing smooth surface. The tail had 

 the unequal-sided character common 

 to the formation. There is a single 

 dorsal fin placed about two thirds 

 down the back. But it is rather in 

 the construction of the fins than 

 from their position, that the pecu- 

 liarities of the cheiraeanthus are 

 most marked. The anterior edge 

 of each, as in the pectorals of the 

 existing genera Cestracion and 

 Chimera, is formed of a strong 

 large spine. In the Cheiraeanthus, 

 each fin seems to consist of but a 

 single spine, with an angular 

 membrane fixed to it by one of its 

 sides, and attached to the creature's 

 body on the other. Its fins are 

 masts and sails, the spine repre- 

 senting the mast, and the membrane 

 the sail ; and it is a curious char- 

 acteristic of the order, that the 

 membrane, like the body of the 

 ichthyolite, is thickly covered with 

 minute scales. 



CHEIROLE'PIS. (from %/>, a hand or 

 fin, and XeWs, a scale, Gr.) A 

 genus of ichthyolites of the old red 

 sandstone. In this genus we find 

 a union of the cartilaginous with 

 the osseous skeleton. The external 

 skull, the great shoulder-bone, and 

 the rays of the fins, are all un- 



equivocally osseous, while the 

 internal skeleton is cartilaginous. 

 The cheirolepis is found from four 

 to fourteen inches in length. Five 

 species have been enumerated. 

 Hugh Miller. 



CHEIRO'PTER. (from x e 'P> a band, and 

 Trrepbv, a wing, Gr.) An animal 

 having the fingers elongated, for the 

 expansion of membranes which act a 

 wings, as in the Yespertilio or bat. 

 The Cheiroptera form the tenth 

 order of mammalia, which is sub- 

 divided into Ch. Frugivora, and 

 Ch. Insectivora. 



CHEIRO'PTEROITS. Furnished with 

 elongated fingers, or toes, for the 

 expansion of membranes which 

 serve as wings; belonging to the 

 family Cheiroptera. 



CHELI'FEROTJS. (from x 1 ?^ ^ r - a 

 claw, and fero, Lat.) Furnished 

 with claws ; armed with claws . 



CHELO'NIA. (from '^eKiavrj, testudo.) 

 The tortoise tribe. Chelonia, the 

 first order of Reptilia, is divided 

 into four families, namely, land 

 tortoises, testudo; pond tortoises, 

 emys ; river tortoises, trionyx ; and 

 sea tortoises, or turtles, chelonia. 



CHE'LONICTHYS. The name assigned 

 by Agassiz, in the first instance, to 

 an ichthyolite of old red sandstone ; 

 this name has subsequently given 

 place to Asterolepis. 



CHE'LONITE. A name given to some 

 fossil echinites, from their resem- 

 blance, in their sutures, to the shells 

 of the tortoise. The chelonite 

 belongs to the family Cidaris, class 

 Anocysti. 



CHELY'OPHORTJS. A genus of icthyo- 

 lites of the old red sandstone, 

 described by Agassiz in his Poissons 

 Fossiles. 



CHOSROPO'TAMTTS. } An extinct genus 



CHEROPO'TAMTJS. j in the order Pac- 

 hydermata, or animals having thick 

 skins. The cheropotamus was an 

 animal most nearly allied to the 

 hog ; forming a link between the 



