LIT 



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LOB 



LI'THOPHYTE. (from \i0os, a stone, 

 and 0vTov, a plant, Gr. Uthophyte, Fr) 



1. A stony plant ; a coral. 



2. The animal which secretes coral. 

 LITHO'BNIS. (from \iOos, a stone, 



and opvi9 f a bird, Gr.) The name 

 assigned by Prof. Owen to a sub- 

 genus of fossil birds of the vulture 

 kind, one species of which, Lithor- 

 nis Yulturinus, he has described. 



LITHO'XYLE. (from \i'0os f stone, and 

 gv\ov, wood, Gr.) Silicified wood. 



LITTO'BNIA. A genus of turbinated 

 univalve shells, they are thick, 

 have few whorls with a short spire, 

 the aperture is large, entire, 

 rounded anteriorly, the outer lip 

 thickened and the columella rather 

 excavated, the operculum is horny 

 and spiral ; this latter character 

 separates it from the Turbo. The 

 species are numerous, both recent 

 and fossil. Lycett. 



LI'TTJITE. A fossil shell found in the 

 transition limestone together with 

 the Orthoceratite. The lituite is a 

 chambered shell, partially coiled up 

 into a spiral form at its smaller 

 extremity, its larger end being 

 continued into a straight tube of 

 considerable length, separated by 

 transverse plates, outwardly con- 

 cave, and separated by a siphuncle. 



LITTJ'OLA. A multilocular univalve ; 

 a genus of microscopic foraminifera, 

 partly spiral, the last turn being 

 straight at the end: found both 

 recent and fossil. 



LI'ZARD. (lezard, Fr. lacertm. Lat.) 

 In Cuvier's arrangement the lizards 

 form the second genus of Lacerti- 

 nida. They are distinguished by 

 the tongue, which is thin, extensi- 

 ble, and terminating in two threads. 

 The extremity of the palate is 

 armed with two rows of teeth, 

 which are generally either recur- 

 vated or conical. Lizards have 

 usually a single perforated eye-lid, 

 which, when closed by its orbicular 

 muscle, exhibits merely a horizon- 

 tal slit. The body is naked, with 



four feet and a tail ; and they 

 possess the property of reproducing 

 the tail should it be lost. 

 LLANDEI'LO FLAGS. The name given 

 to the lower member of the lower 

 Silurian rocks, forming the base of 

 the Silurian system. "They 

 have been named," says Sir R. 

 Murchison, "after the town of 

 Llandeilo, in Caermarthen shire, 

 where they are largely developed. 

 They consist of hard, dark-coloured 

 flags, sometimes slightly micaceous, 

 frequently calcareous, with veins 

 of white crystallised carbonate of 

 lime, and are especially distinguish- 

 ed by containing the large trilobites, 

 Asaphus Buchii and Asaphus ty- 

 rannus ; Agnostus M'Coyii, Tri- 

 nucleus fimbriatus, &c." 

 LOAM. (leTim, Germ.) An earthy 

 mixture, in which sand and clay 

 form large proportions : when the 

 compound contains much calca- 

 reous matter it is usually called 

 marl. Any soil which does not 

 cohere so strongly as clay, but 

 more strongly than chalk, is desig- 

 nated loam. Loam may be denned, 

 a soft and friable mixture of clay 

 and sand, enough of the latter 

 being present for the mass to be 

 permeable by water, and to have 

 no plasticity. 



LO'BATE. \ 1. In entomology, when 



LO'BATED. > the margin is divided 



LO'BED. ) by deep undulating, 



and successive incisions. 



2. In botany, applied to leaves, 



when the margins of the segments 



are rounded; according to the 



number of lobes, the leaf is termed 



bilobate, trilobate, &c. 



LOBE, (lolus, Lat. lole, Fr. lolo, It.) 



1. A rounded portion of certain 

 bodies, as the lobes of the brain, 

 the lobe of the ear, the lobes of the 

 lungs, liver, &c. 



2. In botany, the cotyledon of the 

 seed is also called the lobe. 



LO'BULE. The diminutive of lobe; 

 a little lobe. 



