370 GLOSSARY 



Al-i-men'ta-ry (Lat. alimentum, food) : pertaining to food or concerned 

 with nutrition. 



Alimentary canal: the passage for the food, in which digestion takes 

 place. 



Al'ka-li (Arabic al-kali, al-qaliy, ashes of the plant saltwort) : one of 

 a group of caustic bases (such as soda and potash) which are solu- 

 ble in water, have the power of neutralizing acids and forming- 

 salts with them, of uniting with fats to form soaps, and of chan- 

 ging the tint of many vegetable colorings as of litmus reddened 

 by acid to blue. 



Al-ve'o-lus (Lat., a small cavity) : a small sac or vesicle; one of the 

 air cells of the lungs. 



A-mce'ba (Gr. amoibe, change, exchange) : one of the lowest forms of 

 animal life, consisting of a single cell which is capable of many 

 changes of form. 



Am-pul'la (Lat., a narrow-necked vessel having two handles and 

 swelling out below) : one of the dilations of the semicircular canals 

 of the ear. 



A-nab'o-lism (Gr. anabole, something heaped up) : the constructive 

 processes of the body ; opposed to katabolism. 



A-nat'o-my (Gr. anatome, dissection, from anatemnein, to cut up) : 

 the science which treats of the structure of organic bodies. 



An-te'ri-or : toward the head, or toward the front of the body. 



An'ti-dote (Gr. anti, against, and didonai, to give) : a substance that 

 prevents a poison from injuring the tissues, when taken into the 

 body. 



An-ti-sep'tic (Gr. anti, against, and septikos, septic, making putrid) : 

 having the power to prevent putrefaction. 



An-ti-tox'in (Gr. anli, against, and toxikon, poison) : a substance which 

 neutralizes the action of a toxin, or animal poison. 



A'nus (Lat.) : the opening at the lower end of the alimentary canal, 

 through which the excrements are discharged. 



A-or'ta (Gr. aorte, from aeirein, to raise, to lift) : the great artery ris- 

 ing from the left ventricle of the heart. 



Ap-pen-dic'u-lar skeleton : the pectoral girdle, the pelvic girdle, and the 

 bones of the limbs. 



Ap-pen'dix; plural Ap-pen'di-ces (Lat., from appendere, to hang) : an 

 appendage. The vermiform appendix is a small portion of the 

 intestine, appended to the csecum. The term appendices is given 

 to the earlike projections from the auricles of the heart. 



