DIL 



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DIO 



Dilleniacese, n. plu., dil-ttn'i-d' \ 

 s$-e (after Professor DUlenius, of 

 Oxford), the Dillenia family, an 

 Order of trees and shrubs of con- 

 siderable beauty, some yielding 

 fruit, others producing fine timber: 

 Dillenia, n., dil-ten'-i-a, a genus 

 of very elegant shrubs when in 

 flower. 



diluents, n., dil'u-Znts (L. dilutus, 

 washed away, weakened from 

 dis, asunder ; lutus, washed), in 

 med., remedies made use of to 

 quench thirst, or to make the 

 blood thinner and cooler, such as 

 toast-and- water, barley-water, etc. 



Dimerosomata, n. plu., dim'er'd- 

 sdm'-at-a (Gr. dis, twice ; m$ros, 

 a part ; soma, a body, somdtos, 

 of a body), an Order of Arachnida, 

 comprising spiders, so called from 

 the marked division of the body 

 into two parts, viz. the cephalo- 

 thorax and abdomen. 



dimerous, a., dim-er^us (Gr. dis, 

 twice ; m&ros, a part), in bot., 

 composed of two pieces ; having 

 parts arranged in twos. 



dimidiate, a., dim-id'-i-at (L. dim- 

 ididtus, divided into halves 

 from dimidium, the half), applied 

 to an organ when the one half is 

 smaller than the other half; split 

 into two on one side, as the calyp- 

 tra of some mosses ; applied to 

 the gills of Argarics when they 

 proceed only half-way to the stem. 



dimorphic, a., di'mdrf'tktfld. dis, 

 twice ; morphe, shape), having 

 two forms of flowers, differing in 

 the size and development of the 

 stamens and pistils, as in Primula 

 and Linum : dimorphous, a. , dl- 

 mdrf'us, assuming different forms 

 in similar parts of a plant : di- 

 morphism, n., di*morf''fam, the 

 occurrence of the same species of 

 plant in two or three different 

 states. 



dimyary, a., di-ml'dr-i (Gr. dis, 

 twice; mudn, a muscle of the 

 body), closed by two muscles ; 

 applied to those bivalve molluscs 



which have their shells closed by 

 two adductor muscles. 



dioecious, a., di-e'-shus (Gr. dis, 

 twice ; oiTcos, a house), in zool., 

 having the sexes distinct, applied 

 to species which consist of male 

 and female individuals ; in bot., 

 having staminiferous flowers on 

 one plant, and pistiliferous flowers 

 on another plant : dioecia, n. plu. , 

 di-e'-shi-a, a class of plants having 

 male flowers on one plant, and 

 female on another : diceciously- 

 hermaphrodite, a., having herm- 

 aphrodite flowers, but only one of 

 the essential organs perfect in a 

 flower. 



Dion, n. , di'-dn (Gr. dis, twice ; 

 oon, an egg from each scale 

 bearing two ovules), a remarkable 

 genus of Mexican plants, Ord. 

 Cycadacese: Dion edule, ed-ul'8 

 (L. edulis, eatable), a species 

 which yields a kind of arrowroot 

 in Mexico. 



Dionsea, n. plu., dl'-on-ef-a (Di- 

 onoea, Venus, being a patronymic 

 from Dione, the mother of Venus ; 

 Dione, a name of Venus herself), 

 a genus of curious plants, Ord. 

 Droseraceae: Dionsea muscipula, 

 muS'Sip f -ul'd (L. muscipula, a 

 mouse-trap from mus, a mouse ; 

 capio, I take), Venus's fly-trap, a 

 North American plant, having 

 the laminae of the leaves in two 

 lobes, the irritable hairs on which 

 being touched cause the folding 

 of the lobes and thus entrap flies. 



DioscoreacesB, n. plu., di^ds-Jcdr^^ 

 d'-sft-e (after Dioscorides, a famous 

 Greek physician), the Yam tribe, 

 an Order of twining shrubs, 

 natives of tropical countries : 

 Diascorea, n., dl'-ds-Jcdr^e-d, a 

 genus of climbing plants cultiv- 

 ated in tropical climates for the 

 sake of its roots, which are called 

 yams, and are used in the same 

 way as potatoes : Dioscorea alata, 

 al'dtf-d (L. dldtus, furnished with 

 wings) ; D. sativa, sat-iv'a (L. 

 satlvusfit to be sown or planted); 



