APO j 



AP:C'CT,ATJ, froia apex, a. sharp point. 

 Leaves, &c. terminating suddenly in a 

 point are so called. 



APIOC'RINITT:, th* pear-encrinite \apio- 

 crinites rotundas) , the pear-like remains 

 of which are plentifully found near Bath. 

 "When living, the roots of the apio- 

 crinites rottindus were confluent, and 

 formed a thin pavement at this place 

 over the bottom of the sea, from which 

 their stems and branches rose into a 

 thick submarine forest, composed of 

 these beautiful zoophytes. 

 A'piox, a genus of tetramerous coleop- 

 tera, of the attclabide tribe. Name, from 

 T/flji. a pear, which the insects some- 

 what resemble in form. 



A'ns. 1. The honey-bee ; a genus of 

 aculeate hymenoptera, of the family an- 

 thophiia. This extensive genus is divided 

 into two tribes, the andreneta and npia- 



riat ; the honey-bee, par excellence, or apis 

 of Latreille, belongs to the latter. Name, 

 from at, without, and iron;, a foot, " quod 

 sine pedibus nascantur" plural, apida. 



2. In mythology, a bull, worshipped 



by the Egyptians, especially at Memphis. 

 He was required to be black, and was 

 changed every twenty-five years. 



APIS TES, Gr. from a.^ia-ro; , treacherous. 

 A genus of spiny-finned fishes, remarkable 

 for a strong suborbital spine, with which 

 they are apt to inflict severe wounds 

 when incautiously handled. 



A'pirM, the herb celery: a genus, pen- 

 tatuiria : digynia. Name. Celtic, apcn. 

 water, in reference to the places where it 

 naturally grows. The A. grareolens, or 

 smallage, is the origin of our garden ce- 

 iery. Among the older botanists, apium 

 was the generic name of the herb parsley. 

 See PETROBELisrx. 



APLAN'TIC, from at, not, and rrAavaa;, 

 to wander, free from error. Applied to 

 those optical instruments in which the 

 spherical aberration is completely cor- 

 rected : distinct from achromatic. 



APLO'ME, a mineral of a deep orange 

 colour, found in Siberia and Xew Holland. 

 It is usually regarded as a variety of gar- 

 net ; but the primitive form of the crystal 

 is a cube, and not a dodecahedron. Name, 

 from ?TAOOJ, simple, in allusion to its 

 crystalline structure. 



APLYS'IA, the sea-hare: a genus of mol- 

 lusca, of the order Tectibranchiata. Name, 

 from a,, not, and rlwu, to make clean, in 

 allusion to the power possessed by some 

 of the species of throwing out an acrid 

 and deep purple humour when in danger. 

 The English name is taken from the form 

 of the tentacula, which are four in number, 

 being folded so as to resemble the ears 

 of a 'hare. 



APOCA.LTPSE, from arexacXva-rw, I revea 



APO 



Revelation : the name of one of the books 

 of the New Testament, written according 

 :o Irenneus, A.D 96, in the island of Patmos, 

 whither St. John had been banished by 

 the emperor Domitian. Anciently there 

 were numerous books published under 

 the same name. 



APOCAR'POUS, Gr. from KTO, from, and 

 X&TG;, fruit. The term is employed 

 when the carpels of a flower either do 

 not adhere at all, or when they adhere 

 only by the ovaries. 



APOCRISARY, from aToxeiiri;, answer. 

 Anciently a resident in an imperial city, 

 in the name of a foreign church, or 

 bishop answering to the modern nuncio. 



APOC'RYPHA, from a.'ro and x^vrraa, 

 I hide. The apocrypha, or apocryphal 

 books, are those writings not admitted 

 into the canon of Scripture, being either 

 not acknowledged as divine, or regarded 

 as spurious. "When the Jews published 

 their sacred books, they gave the appella- 

 tions of canonical and divine only to those 

 which were then made public ; while such 

 as still remained in their archives -were 

 denominated apocryphal, for no other 

 reason than that they were not pub- 

 lished. 



APOCYN'ACE.E, a family of plants of 

 which the genus apocynnm is the type. 



ApocYxrM,the plant dosr's-bane: a genus 

 pentandria; digynia. Name, O.TO and 

 KVUV, a dog ; it was anciently believed to 

 be poisonous to dogs. 



AP'ODA, the second ordnv of the Echino- 

 dermata, comprising but a small number 

 of animals, closely related to the Holo- 

 thurke ; but which want the vesicular 

 feet of that order. The body is invested 

 with a coriaceous unarmed skin. From 

 a, without, and jrayj, a foot. 



AP'ODE, an animal without feet (d and 

 xcv;}. The apodes of older travellers wen 

 birds without feet, which supported them- 

 selves on trees by means of their hocked 

 bills. 



APODYTE'RICM, Gr. from eHvotiurSxi, to 

 strip one's self. That part in the pala?s- 

 tra, or bath, in ancient architecture, for 

 undressing before bathing, or engaging 

 in gymnastic exercises. 



AP'OGEE, from Vo and yff, the earth. 

 That point of the moon's orbit in which 

 she is at the greatest distance from the 

 earth : opposed to perigee. 



"When the earth was regarded as the 

 centre of the system, the terms aposee 

 and perigee were applicable to the 

 places of all the planets, and also of 

 the sun, with respect to their variable 

 distances from the earth ; but now these 

 terms are referrible to the moon only. 

 "What was formerly the sun's apogee is 

 therefore, in strictness, the earth's apht 



