72 GLOSSARY. 



tribe, which inhabits the mouths of rivers on the coasts of Africa 

 and South America ; the sea-cow. 



LAMELLIFEROUS. A stone composed of thin plates or leaves like 

 paper. Etym., lamella, the diminutive of lamina, plate, and 

 fero, to bear. 



LANDSLIP. A portion of land that has slid down in consequence of 

 disturbance by an earthquake, or from being undermined, by 

 water washing away the lower beds which supported it. 



LAPIDIFICATION Lapidifying process. Conversion into stone. 

 Etym., lapis, stone, and^o, to make. 



LAPILLI. Small volcanic cinders. Lapillus, a little stone. 



LAVA. The stone which flows in a melted state from a volcano. 



LEUCITE. A simple mineral found in volcanic rocks, crystallized, 

 and of a white colour. Etym., XZVKOQ, leucos, white. 



LIAS. A provincial name, adopted in scientific language, for a par- 

 ticular kind of limestone, which being characterized, together 

 with its associated beds, by peculiar fossils, is formed in this 

 work into a particular group of the secondary strata. See 

 Table II. I, p. 392. 



LIQNIPERDOUS. A term applied to insects which destroy wood. 

 Etym. lignum, wood, and per do, to destroy. 



LIGNITE. Wood converted into a kind of coal. Etym., lignum, 

 wood. 



LITHODOMI. Molluscous animals which bore into solid rocks, and 

 lodge themselves in the holes they have formed. Etym,, \i0oe, 

 lithos, stone, and domus, house. 



LITHOLOGICAL. A term expressing the stony structure or character 

 of a mineral mass. We speak of the lithological character of a 

 stratum as distinguished from its zoological character. Etym., 

 \tdog, lithos, stone, and Xoyoc, logos, discourse. 



LITHOPHAGI. Molluscous animals which bore into solid stones. 

 Etym., \idoQ, lithos, stone, and tyayeiv, phagein, to eat. 



LITTORAL. Belonging to the sea-shore. Etym., litlus, the shore. 



LOAM. A mixture of sand and clay. 



LYCOPODIACEJE. Plants of an inferior degree of organization to 

 Coniferae, some of which they very much resemble in foliage, 

 but all recent species are infinitely smaller. Many of the fossil 

 species are as gigantic as recent conifenje. Their mode of re- 

 production is analogous to that of ferns. In English they are 

 called club-mosses, generally found in mountainous heaths in 

 the north of England. 



MADREPORE. A genus of corals, but generally] applied to all the 



