concentrated 
tratnl sulphuric acid. 3. Inpatliol., applied 
to the pulse when there is a contracted condi- 
tion of the artery. 4. In rod'/., brought toge- 
ther in one region of the body, and more or less 
combined: said of organs and parts. Tims, the 
limbs amt iitrv< m* ganglia in the myrhipods are distributed 
over all the segments, but in the insects they are princi- 
pally concentrated in the head and thorax. This concen- 
tration is characteristic of the higher grades of develop- 
ment. Concentrated alum. Wee alum. 
concentration (kon-sen-tra'shon), . [= F. 
concentration = Sp. concentration = Pg. concen- 
tracSo = It. concentrazione, < L. as if *concentra- 
tio(n-), < "concentrare, concentrate : see concen- 
trate.] The act of concentrating, (a) The act 
of collecting or combining into or about a central point ; 
the act of directing or applying to one object ; the state of 
being brought from several or all directions to a common 
point or center, or into one mass or group : as, the con- 
centration of troops in one place ; the concentration of 
one's energies. 
It is customary to talk of a Platonic philosophy as a co- 
herent whole, that may be gathered by concentration from 
his disjointed dialogues. De Quinccy, Plato. 
Abroad it [the recovered strength of the monarchic sys- 
tem] resulted from the concentration of great territorial 
possessions in the hands of a few great kings. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 299. 
(b) Specifically, the voluntary continuous direction of 
thought upon an object ; close attention. 
The evidence of superior genius is the power of intel- 
lectual concentration. B. n. Ilaydon. 
The word "Attention" in its commoner meaning, as a 
voluntary prompting to concentration of mind, expresses 
a great deal, but not everything. There is concentration 
from mere excitement, painful and pleasurable, as distin- 
guished from the attention under the will, although the 
two shade into one another. A. Bain, Mind, XII. 173. 
(c) In them., the act of increasing the strength of fluids 
by volatilizing part of their water. The matter to be con- 
centrated must, therefore, be less readily evaporated than 
water, as sulphuric and phosphoric acids, solutions of 
alkalis, etc. (</) In metal., the separation of the metallif- 
erous and valuable portions of the contents of a vein, or 
mineral deposit of any kind, from the gangne. Bringing 
the ore into the proper condition of purity for the smelter 
is generally called dreim'ng, but sometimes the word con- 
centration. is used in this sense, (e) In dynamics, the ex- 
cess of the value of any quantity at any point in space over 
its mean value within an infinitesimal sphere described 
about that point as a center, this excess being divided by 
one tenth of the square of the radius of the sphere. This 
is the same as the negative of the result of operating 
with Laplace's operator upon the quantity. The concen- 
tration of the potential of gravity is proportional to the 
density of the gravitating matter at the point considered. 
(/) In biol., specifically, the tendency in descendants to- 
ward the inheritance of characters at earlier stages of 
growth than those in which such characters first made their 
appearance in the ancestors of any given series. Hyatt. 
concentrative (kon-sen'tra-tiv), a. [< concen- 
trate + -ive.] Tending to' concentrate ; char- 
acterized by concentration. 
A concentrative act, or act of attention. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph., xiv. 
People of exquisitely nervous constitution, of variable 
moods and abnormally concentratiee habit. 
Mind in Nature, I. 139. 
COncentrativeness (kon-sen'tra-tiv-nes), n. 
The quality or faculty of concentrating ; spe- 
cifically ; in phren., one of the propensities 
seated in the brain, which gives the power of 
fixing the whole mind or attention upon a par- 
ticular subject. See cut under phrenology. 
I possessed, even as a child, a large share of what phre- 
nologists call concentrativenem). The power of absorption, 
of self-forgetfulness, was at the same time a source of de- 
light and a torment. 
B. Tat/lor, Home and Abroad, 2d ser., p. 435. 
concentrator (kon'sen-tra-tor), . [< concen- 
trate + -or.] 1. One who or that which con- 
centrates. 2. In firearms: (a) A wire frame 
or other device in which the shot are placed in 
the cartridge to hold them together when dis- 
charged from the gun, and which thus serves 
to effect close shooting. (6) A device which can 
be attached to the mouth of the bore of a shot- 
gun, slightly narrowing it, to concentrate the 
shot when they are discharged. 3. In mining, 
the name frequently given, especially in the 
United States, to any complicated form of 
machine used in ore-dressing, or in separating 
the particles of ore or metal from the gangue 
or rock with which they are associated. 
concentre, >. See concenter. 
concentric (kqn-sen'trik), a. and n. [< ME. 
concentrik = F. concert trique = Sp. conceit trico 
= Pg. It. concentrico (cf. Gr. concentrisch = Dan. 
concentrisk), < ML. concentricm, < L. con-, to- 
rther, + centrum, center: see cow- and centric.] 
a. Having a common center: as, concentric 
circles, spheres, etc. 
I often compare not you and me, but the sphere in 
which your revolutions are, and my wheel ; both I hope 
concentric to God. Donne, Letters, iv. 
Concentric circles upon the surface of the water. 
Newton, Opticks. 
1162 
Concentric area, bundle, engine, etc. See the nouns. 
Concentric structure, in mineral., an arrangement 
of parallel layers around a common center, as in agate. 
Concentric Structure, in polished agate. 
II. >i. One of a number of circles or spheres 
having a common center. [Hare.] 
We know our places here, we mingle not 
One in another's sphere, but all move orderly 
In our own orbs; yet we are all concentricg. 
B. Jonson, .Staple of News, ii. 1. 
con centrical (kon-sen'tri-kal), a. Same as 
concentric. Boyle; Arbuthnoi. 
concentrically (kon-sen'tri-kal-i), adv. In a 
concentric manner ; around a common center ; 
so as to be concentric. 
Eight series of holes, placed concentrically to the same 
circle at equal distances from each other. 
Klastrna, Sound, p. 125. 
COncentricatet (kon-sen'tri-kat), r. t. [< con- 
centric + -te 2 .] To concentrate. Quoted by 
Latham. 
concentricity (kon-sen-tris'i-ti), . [< concen- 
tric + -ity.] The state of being concentric. 
concentualt (kon-sen'tu-al), a. [< L. concentus 
(concentu-) (see concent) -r- -n/.] Harmonious; 
accordant. 
This consummate or concentual song of the ninth sphere. 
T. H'arton, Milton's Smaller Poems. 
concentus (kon-sen'tus), n. [L., harmony, 
symphony: see concent.'} 1. In old church 
music, all that part of the service sung by the 
whole choir, as hymns, psalms, halleluiahs, 
etc., in contradistinction to accentus, the part 
sung or recited by the priest and his assistants 
at the altar. 2. Harmony ; consonance in part- 
music for different instruments. 
concept (kon'sept), n. [= F. concept = Sp. con- 
eepto = Pg. concetto = It. concetto = D. Gr. con- 
cept = Dan. Sw. koncept, < L. conceptus, a 
thought, purpose, also a conceiving, etc., < con- 
cipere, pp. conceptus, take in, conceive: see 
conceive. Hence also, through OF. and ME., 
mod. E. conceit, q. v.] A general notion ; the 
predicate of a (possible) judgment; a complex 
of characters ; the immediate object of thought 
in simple apprehension. Conception is applied 
to both the act and the object in conceiving ; 
concept is restricted to the object. 
The term concept was in common use among the older 
philosophical writers in English, though, like many other 
valuable expressions of these authors, it has been over- 
looked by our English lexicographers. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, iii. 
For the object of conception, or that which is conceived, 
the term concept should be used. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, iii. 
The understanding is the faculty of thinking, and think- 
ing is knowledge by means of concept*, while concepts, as 
predicated of possible judgments, refer to some repre- 
sentation of an object yet undetermined. 
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, tr. by Miiller (Mac- 
[millan, 1881), II. 61. 
Apprehensive concept. See apprehensive. Higher 
concept, in logic, a more abstract concept, 
conceptacle (kon-sep'ta-kl), n. [= F. concep- 
tacle (in sense 2), < L. conceptaculum, < eonci- 
pere, pp. conceptus, contain, conceive : see con- 
ceive. Cf. receptacle.~\ 1. That in which any- 
thing is contained; a vessel; a receiver or re- 
ceptacle. Woodward. 2. In bot. : (a) Origi- 
nally, as used by Linnseus, a follicle that is, a 
fruit formed of a single carpel dehiscing by the 
ventral suture. (b) In lower cryptogams, an 
I. Male Conceptacle, containing numerous anthericlia attached to 
branching threads or tissues of the frond. 2. Female Conceptacle, 
containing globose bodies (oogonia) whose contents are divided into 
oospores. a, paraphyses lining the cavity of the conceptacle ; b, tis- 
sue of the frond ; c, tissue of the surface of the frond ; d, mouth of the 
conceptacle. (Highly magnified. ) 
conceptional 
organ or a cavity which incloses reproductive 
bodies, usually spores, with or without special 
spore-cases : applied without reference to the 
origin of the spores, whether sexual or asexual. 
In Siiliierioiilete (of Funiii i'mi>n-frcti) the conidial s]>ores 
are borne on short threads within conceptacles ; in pyreno- 
mycetous fungi the conceptacle (peritheclnm) contains 
spores in asci (thecai); ilk Floridra? (red algre) either cysto- 
carpic spores or tetraspores may be contained in concep- 
tacles ; in Fmacece (rock-weeds, etc.) anthericlia contain- 
ing antherozoides, and oogonia containing oospores, are 
formed in conceptacles. The sporangium, as nf ferns, was 
formerly included under this term, but it is now rarely 
used in that sense. Also ciinceptaculnm. 
conceptacula, . Plural of conceptaculum. 
conceptacular (kon-sep-tak'u-lar), a. [< con- 
ecptaculuai + -rt)' 3 .] Consisting of or relating 
to conceptacles. 
conceptaculum (kon-sep-tak'u-lum), n. ; pi. 
conceptacula (-la). [NL.] Same as concepta- 
cle, 2. 
conceptibilityt (kon-sep-ti-bil'i-ti), )/. [< con- 
ceptible (see -bility); = F. conceptibilite, etc.] 
The quality of being conceivable. Ciidieorth. 
conceptiblet (kon-sep'ti-bl), a. [= F. Sp. con- 
ceptible = Pg. 'conceptirel (cf. It. concepibile), < 
L. conceptus, pp. of eoncipere, conceive : see con- 
ceive and -jfcfc.J Capable of being conceived; 
conceivable ; intelligible. 
Attributes . . . easily conceptible by us. 
fiir M. Hale, Grig, of Mankind. 
conception (kon-sep'shon), n. [< ME. concep- 
tioitn, -cioitn, -don, < OF. conception, F. concep- 
tion = Sp. conception = Pg. concepcSo = It. 
coneezione (also concepigione, concepizioue), < L. 
conceptio(n-), a comprehending, a collection, 
composition, an expression (LL. also syllable), 
also a becoming pregnant, < eoncipere, pp. con- 
ceptus, conceive : see conceive.'] 1. The act or 
power of conceiving in the mind, or of forming 
a concept ; that which is conceived in the mind. 
(rt) A product of the imaginative or inventive faculty. 
The conceptions of its poets, the creations of its sculptors. 
J. Caird. 
There can be little doubt that the perfection of art In 
Greece is to be largely traced to those conceptions of the 
dignified and )>cautiful in man with which the Greek mind 
was filled. Faitiis of the World, p. 74. 
(b) In philog. : (1) The act of conceiving or of forming a 
concept, or the concept itself ; a notion. [Latin conceptio 
was used in this sense by Boethius.] 
The most uncivilised parts of mankind have some way 
or other climbed up into the conception of a god. 
Swift, Tale of a Tub, viii. 
All thought is a comparison, a recognition of similarity or 
difference ; a conjunction or disjunction ... of its ob- 
jects. In Conception, that is, in the forming of concepts 
(or general notions), it compares, disjoins, or conjoins at- 
tributes. Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, i. 
Conception means both the act of conceiving and the ob- 
ject conceived. . . . Now this is a source of great vague- 
ness In our philosophical discussions. . . . For the act of 
conceiving, the term Conception should be employed, and 
that exclusively. Sir W. Hamilton, Logic, iii. 
Conception we regard equally as an occurrence in con- 
sciousness ; and, though we suppose it to take place in the 
absence of any object at the time affecting the senses, we 
practically separate in our thoughts the conceived content 
or object from the conception, and imagine it vaguely as 
residing elsewhere than in consciousness. 
T. 11. Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, 58. 
(2) Improperly, the faculty of reproductive imagination. 
D. Stuart, (c) Thought, notion, or idea, in a loose sense : 
as, you have no conception how clever he is. 
But a religion whose object was the truth was at this 
time so unknown a thing that a pagan magistrate could 
have no conception of it but as a new sect of philosophy. 
Warburton, Works, IX. i. 
2t. A fanciful thought ; a conceit. 
Full of conceptions, points of epigram, and witticisms. 
Dryden, Ded. of Tr. of Juvenal. 
3. The act of becoming pregnant ; the begin- 
ning of pregnancy ; the inception of the life of 
an embryo; hence, figuratively, beginning; 
origination. 
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. 
Gen. iii. 16. 
Joy had the like conception in our eyes. 
Shak., T. of A., i. 2. 
High living generates a fullness of habit unfavorable to 
conception. N. A. Rev., CXXXIX. 421. 
False conception, in pathol., conception in which, in- 
stead of a well-organized embryo, a misshapen fleshy mass 
is formed; a mole. Immaculate conception. See H- 
wacidate. Negative conception, a notion formed only 
indirectly by means of a negation. Order of the Con- 
ception, an order founded in the seventeenth century by 
some of the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, and com- 
mon to Germany and Italy. = SyH. Image, apprehension, 
sentiment, view. 
conceptional (kon-sep'shon-al), a. [= It. con- 
cezionale, < LL. conceptionalis, < L. conceptio(n-), 
conception: see conception.'] Pertaining to or 
having the nature of a conception or notion. 
