B E 



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EOT 



the rat, the mouse, the hare, the 

 rabbit, &c., &c. From the charac- 

 ters of their teeth, which are 

 adapted neither for seizing nor 

 tearing their food, but merely to 

 nibble and gnaw it, they have 

 received their name of Rodents, or 

 gnawers. 



HOE STONE. A name given to the 

 oolite, a variety of limestone, from 

 its being]composed of small rounded 

 particles, resembling the roe or 

 eggs of a fish. 



BOMA'NZOVITE. A mineral of a brown, 

 brownish yellow, and blackish- 

 brown colour, named after Count 

 Bomanzoff. According to the anal- 

 ysis of M. Julin, it consists of 

 silica 41-22, lime 24- 78, alumine 

 24-08, oxide of iron 7'02, magnesia 

 and oxide of manganese - 92. 



The name given by Nordenskiold 

 to a variety of cinnamon-stone, 

 occurring at Kimito in Finland. 

 See Cinnamon- stone. 

 ROSA'CEJE. An order of plants, inclu- 

 ding the genera potent ilia, fragaria, 

 rosa, rubus, spiraea, brayera, dryas, 

 &c., &c. The whole order is inno- 

 cent. 



BOSA'CEOUS. Belonging to the order 

 BosaceaB. Applied to polypetalous 

 corollas, consisting of four or more 

 petals, spreading like a rose. 

 ROSE QUARTZ. (The Quartz hyalin 

 rose of Haiiy.) A subspecies of 

 quartz of a rose-red colour, as its 

 name implies. This mineral occurs 

 massive only ; it differs from quartz 

 only in its colour, which colour is 

 attributed to the presence of man- 

 ganese. See Milk quartz. 

 ROSTELLA'EIA. A genus of marine 

 univalves, recent and fossil. A 

 slightly turretted or fusiform uni- 

 valve, terminating at its base in a 

 lengthened canal, similar to a sharp 

 beak- The lip whole or dentated, 

 and dilated with age; with a 

 groove contiguous to the canal. Re- 

 cent RostellariaB are found in the 

 Indian seas. 



RO'STEATED. (restrains, Lat. beaked.) 



1. In botany, a term applied to 

 plants when the fruit has a beak- 

 like proccess. 



2. In conchology, applied to shells 

 having a beak-like extension of the 

 shell, in which the canal is situated. 



BO'STKUM. (Lat.) A beak or bill ; 

 the beak or bill of a bird. 



ROTA'LIA. A genus of microscopic 

 shells found in flint and in chalk. 



BOTALI'TES. A genus of shells exist- 

 ing only in a fossil state, and found 

 at Grignon. The shells of this 

 genus are convex, conical, spiral, 

 multilocular univalves, slightly 

 radiated beneath ; aperture mar- 

 ginal, trigonal, and inclined down- 

 wards. 



BOTHE TODTE LiEGE^DE. The name 

 given by the Germans to the lowar 

 beds of the new red sandstone 

 group. 



BOT^FEEA. The first order of the 

 class Infusoria. "Minute, trans- 

 parent, soft, aquatic animals with 

 distinct muscular and nervous sys- 

 tems, provided with eyes, lateral 

 maxillae, an intestine with distinct 

 buccal and anal openings." Prof. 

 Grant. The researches of Ehren- 

 berg show that a group, formerly 

 believed to belong to the class of 

 the most minute animalcules, pos- 

 sess an organization extremely 

 complex. Ehrenberg has called 

 them "rotatoria," but the term 

 rotifera is more generally used. 

 They are distinguished by their 

 circles of cilia, sometimes single, 

 sametimes double, which, through 

 the microscope, appear like re- 

 volving wheels. 



The object of the rapid gyration 

 of this wheel or wheels is to create 

 a vortex in the water, whose 

 centre is the mouth of the ani- 

 mal; a little charybdis, bearing with 

 it all tho animalcules or molecules 

 that come within its sphere of 

 action. 



