LAG 



[246 ] 



LAM 



winter store. About the middle of 

 August these little animals collect 

 with admirable precaution their 

 winter's provender, which is formed 

 of the choicest grasses and the 

 sweetest herbs, which they bring 

 near their habitations and spread 

 out to dry like hay. In September, 

 they form heaps or stacks of the 

 fodder they have collected, under 

 the rocks, or in other places shel- 

 tered from the rain or snow. Where 

 many of them have laboured to- 

 gether, their stacks are sometimes 

 as high as a man, and more than 

 eight feet in diameter. A sub- 

 terranean gallery leads from the 

 burrow, below the mass of hay, so 

 that neither frost nor snow can 

 intercept their communication with 

 it. Bridgewater Treatise. 



LAGOO'N. | (laguna, It.) A salt-water 



LAGU'NE. j lake. This term is more 

 particularly applied to those pools 

 of water which are found in the 

 centre of coral reefs. 



LAMA'NTIN. | ThemanatusofCuvier. 



LAMA'NTINE. j A species of herbiv- 

 orous cetacea, living upon the 

 plants which grow at the bottom 

 of the sea. The lamantin appears to 

 have existed during the miocene 

 and pliocene periods. Fossil re- 

 mains have been discovered in 

 France. The fossil remains of the 

 lamantin s differ sufficiently from 

 the analogous parts of existing 

 species to justify the inference of 

 specific distinction. It would also 

 appear that they belonged to a lost 

 species. The existing species of 

 the lamantine are found near the 

 mouths of rivers in the hottest parts 

 of the Atlantic ocean and in the 

 torrid zone, and the discovery of 

 their fossil remains in Europe adds 

 another link to the long chain of 

 evidence of a diminished tempera- 

 ture of the climate of Europe. 



LAMBDOI'DAL. (from the Greek letter 

 \a/ida, and etdos, form.) The name 

 given to one of the sutures of the 



cranium, from its supposed resem- 

 blance in form to the Greek 

 letter A. 



LA'MELLATED. j Composed of thin 



LAMF/LLAR. j plates, layers, or 

 scales. In conchology, when a 

 shell is divided into thin and dis- 

 tinct plates or layers, overlying 

 each other with the edges produced. 



LAME'LLI BRANCHIA'TA. In De Blain- 

 ville's conchological arrangement, 

 the third order of Acephalopora, 

 containing ten families of bivalves. 

 Lamelli branchiata or Acephala 

 comprises the cockle, mussel, 

 oyster, Venus, and all ordinary 

 bivalve shells. 



LAMELLICO'RNES. In Cuvier's ar- 

 rangement, the sixth family of 

 pentamerous coleoptera ; they have 

 foliated horns, from which circum- 

 stance they obtain their name. 



LAMELLI'FEROUS. (from lamella, a 

 small plate, and fero, to bear, Lat.) 

 Having a structure composed of 

 thin layers ; having a foliated 

 structure. 



LAMELLI'FORM. Consisting of lamellae 

 or regular and parallel plates. 



LAMELLIRO'STRES. In Cuvier's ar- 

 rangement, the fourth family of 

 the order of Palmipedes. The 

 lamellirostres have a thick bill, the 

 edges of which are furnished with 

 laminae, from which circumstance 

 they have obtained their name. 



LA'MINA. (lamina, Lat.) A thin 

 plate or scale ; a thin layer of a 

 stratum. 



LA'MINATED. (lamine, Fr.) Disposed 

 in layers, placed one over another. 



LAMINA' TION. Arrangement in layers. 

 Lamination prevails amongst all 

 the varieties of gneiss, mica schist, 

 chlorite schist, hornblende schist, 

 &c. It is often observable in 

 primary limestone, and sometimes 

 in quartz rock. All the members 

 of the carboniferous series display 

 lamination, though in unequal 

 degrees. By laminae and lami- 



