delphin 
phin, or to the Delphinida;. 2. Pertaining or 
relating to the Dauphin of France. 
Also dclpltine, dclpJiiiiian. 
Delphin editions of the classics, a set of Latin classics 
prepared by thlrty-niiieschiilarsunderthe superintendence 
of Montausier, Bossuet, and Huet, for the use of the dau- 
phin (ad usurn DelphinF), son of Louis XIV. They are not 
now valued except for their indexes of words. 
delphin 2 (del'fln), n. [For delphinine (which is 
in use in another chem. sense), < Delphinus + 
-lite 2 .} A neutral fat found in the oil of several 
members of the genus Delphinus. 
Delphinapterinae (del-fi-nap-te-ri'ne), n. pi. 
[NL., < Delphinapterus + -MA] A subfamily 
of Delphinida; containing the beluga or white 
whale (Delphinapterus) and the narwhal (Mono- 
don), as together contrasted with other delphi- 
noids collectively. They have the cervical 
vertebree all distinct, and not more than 6 pha- 
langes in any digit. 
Delphinapterus (del-fi-nap'te-rus), n. [NL., 
< Gr. <!eA0tf, detylv, dolphin, + dirrf/wf , wingless 
(taken as ' unless,' with ref. to the absence of 
a dorsal fin), < a- priv. + nnpov, a wing, a fin : 
see apterous.] 1. A genus of delphinoid odon- 
tocete cetaceans, typical of the subfamily Del- 
1520 
Flower of Larkspur (Delphi- 
ttinm Consolida}, cut longitudi- 
nally. 
Beluga, or White Whale (Delfhinaf tents leucas). 
phi>iapterina>, containing the beluga or white 
whale (D. leucas). It is related to tlonndon, and re- 
sembles the narwhal except in dentition. It lias 32 to 40 
teeth ; 50 vertebne, the cervical vertebras being free ; 11 
ribs ; short, broad, and rounded fins ; a low ridge in place 
of a dorsal fin ; the head rounded ; and the snout very 
slightly projecting, if at all. The species attains a length 
of 12 feet, is white, and chiefly inhabits arctic seas. Eelwja 
is a synonym. 
2. A genus of dolphins (Delphininai) which have 
no dorsal fin, as D. peroni : now called Leuco- 
rhamphus. See Delphinus, 1. 
delphinate (del'fi-nat), n. [< delphin-ie + -ate 1 .] 
A salt formed by the union of delphinic acid 
with a base. 
delphine, . See delphin^. 
Delphinia (del-fin'i-a), n.pl. [NL., neut. pi., < 
Gr. Ae/I0!wof (an epithet of Apollo), taken as 
'of Delphi' (< AF^O/, Delphi), but in form < 
6e/.<t>if, fefafiv, a dolphin: see dolphin, Delphic.} 
A festival of Apollo Delphinius (the Dolphin or 
protector of navigation, the god of Delphi), of 
expiatory character, celebrated at Athens and 
.33gina, and generally among Ionian colonies 
along the Mediterranean coasts. At Athens it was 
held on the 6th of Mounychiou (end of March), toward the 
close of the period of winter storms at sea, and included 
a procession in which seven boys and seven maidens bore 
olive-branches, bound with fillets of white wool, to the 
Delphiilian temple near the temple of the Olympian Zeus. 
delphinia (del-fin'i-a), . Same as delphinine^. 
Delphinian (del-fin'i-an), a. 1. Same as Del- 
phian. Compare Pythian. 2. [I. c.} Same as 
delphinl. Delphinian Apollo. See Apollo. 
delphinic (del-fin'ik), a. [< L. delphimis, dol- 
phin: see delphin^, n.} Noting an acid dis- 
covered by Cheyreul first in dolphin-oil and af- 
terward in the ripe berries of the Guelder-rose. 
It is now known to be identical with valeric acid. 
Delphinida (del-fin'i-de), n.pl. [NL., < Del- 
phinus + -idee.} A large family of odontocete 
cetaceans. By recent authors it has been limited to 
those having normally numerous teeth in both jaws ; a 
short symphysis of the mandible, uot exceeding one third 
the length of the jaw; no distinct lacrymal bones; the 
pterygoids short, scroll-like, and involuted ; the capitular 
articulations of the ribs disappearing backward ; the cos- 
tal cartilages ossified ; and the blow-hole median, trans- 
versely crescentic, and concave forward. In size and shape 
the Delptiinid<z vary greatly. With few exceptions they 
are marine. As above described, the family includes all 
the marine cetaceans known as dolphins, porpoises, gram- 
puses, etc., as well as the caaing- or pilot-whales, belugas 
or white whales, and the narwhal. It has been divided 
into Pontoporiitue, Delphinapterimx, Delphininai, and 
GlobicephalinfK. 
Delphininae (del-fi-ni'ne), . pi. [NL., < Del- 
phimis + -ina;.} The typical subfamily of Del- 
lihinidte, containing the dolphins and porpoises 
proper, together with the killers, as distin- 
guished from the belugas, narwhals, black- 
fish, etc. They have no cervical constriction, the post- 
axial cervical vertebra; are more or less consolidated, and 
the second and third digits have from 5 to 9 phalanges. 
See cuts under dolphin and porpoise. 
delphinine 1 (del'fi-nm), a. and n. I. a. Pertain- 
ing to or having the characters of the Delphi- 
H. n. A species of Delphinince. 
delphinine 2 (del'n-nin), . [< delphin-ium + 
- 2 A highly poisonous vegetable alkaloid 
discovered in the plant Delphinium Staphisagria. 
Its taste is bitter and acrid. When heated it melts, but on 
cooling it becomes hard and brittle like resin. Applied 
externally, its effects are analogous to those of veratrine, 
and it has been used as a substitute for it in the treatment 
of neuralgia. Also delphinia, delphia, delphimn, delphin. 
Delphinium (del-fin'i-um), n. [NL., < Gr. <5e/U 
fiviav, larkspur (so called from the form of the 
nectary, which resembles the ordinary repre- 
sentations of the dolphin), < <5eA^i'f, oetyiv, a 
dolphin : see dolphin.} An extensive genus of 
the natural order Banunculacece, consisting of 
annual or perennial herbaceous plants, with 
usually blue, purple, or white flowers. The flow- 
ers are in loose racemes, and 
are very irregular, consisting 
of five colored sepals and 
only two conspicuous petals, 
the spurs of which are in- 
closed in the long spur of the 
upper sepal. There are 50 
species or more, scattered 
over the northern temperate 
zone, 20 of which are found 
in the United States. Two 
species peculiar to California 
have red or yellowish flowers. 
Many are cultivated in gar- 
dens under the name of lark- 
spur, chiefly Z*. Ajacis and 
D. Consolida of Europe, and 
D. elatum from Siberia, with 
numerous hybrids. One spe- 
cies, the D. Slaphiea/rria, commonly called stavesacrc, 
yields the vegetable alkaloid delphinine. 
delphinoid (del'fi-noid), a. and TO. [< Gr. fc%- 
0<vo&7f, like a dolphin, < 6e%6if, ietjfriv, a dol- 
phin, + cWof, form.] 1. a. Pertaining to or 
having the characters of the Delphinidce or Del- 
phinoidea ; like or likened to a dolphin. 
II. n. One of the Delphinidce or Delphinoidea ; 
a dolphin, porpoise, or any other living toothed 
cetacean not a cachalot. 
Delphinoidea (del-fi-noi'de-a), n. pi. [NL., < 
Delphinus + -oidea. See delphinoid.} A super- 
family group of odontoeete cetaceans, contain- 
ing all the living toothed whales, porpoises, 
dolphins, etc., excepting the sperm-whales or 
cachalots. The families are the Iniidce, Platanistida, 
DelpMnidce, and Ziphiidcu. The association is made en- 
tirely on cranial characters. 
delphinoidine (del-fi-noi'din), . [< Delphini- 
um + -aid + -i'xe 2 .] An amorphous alkaloid 
obtained from the seeds of Delphinium Staphis- 
agria. 
Delphinula (del-fm'u-la), . [NL., dim. of L. 
delphinus, a dolphin; so called on account of 
an imagined likeness to 
the conventional dol- 
phin.] A genus of gas- 
tropods, typical of the 
family DelpliinulidtE. 
Delphinulidae (del-fi- 
nuli-de), TO. pi. [NL., 
< Delphinula + -ida;.} 
A family of rhipidoglos- 
sate gastropods, typi- 
fied by the genus Del- 
phinula. They are destitute of cephalic lobes, but have 
cirriform appendages to the foot, and otherwise theanimals 
resemble those of the families Turbitiidte and Trochida. 
The shell is turbinate or discoidal and has a circular aper- 
ture. The operculum is multispiral and corneous, but 
sometimes provided with a thin calcareous layer. The 
living species are inhabitants of tropical seas. Numerous 
extinct forms have been referred to the family, 
delphinuloid (del-fin'u-loid), a. [< Delphinula 
+ -oid.} Pertaining to or having the charac- 
ters of the Delphinulidae ; like a member of the 
genus Delphinula. 
Delphinus (del-fi'nus), TO. [L., a dolphin: see 
delphin^ and dolphin.} 1. The typical genus of 
the family Delphinidce, to which very different 
limits have been assigned, (a) By the authors of 
the Linuean school it was used for all the cetaceans with 
teeth in both jaws, and consequently for the Delphinid<e 
(except ifonodon), 1'latanistidce, and Iniidce. (6) By later 
authors it was restricted to Delphinidce, but included at 
first all except those of the genera Phoccena and Delphi- 
napterus ; gradually others were excluded, (c) By recent 
authors it is restricted to species of Delphininae whose 
chief peculiarity is in the deep longitudinal grooves on the 
sides of the palate, separating the alveolar border from 
the median ridge. They have numerous (more than 80) 
small pointed teeth, close set along each jaw ; from 50 to 
90 vertebra? ; the rostral part of the skull longer than the 
cranial portion, whence the head has a pointed snout 
marked off from the forehead by a groove ; the dorsal fin 
large, triangular or falcate, sometimes wanting ; and the 
flippers of moderate size, narrow, pointed, and falcate, 
with the lateral digits small or rudimentary. As thus de- 
nned, the genus contains the animals to which the word 
dolphin should be restricted, as the original dolphin of 
the ancients, Delphinus delphis, but which are commonly 
called porpoises by confounding them with the species of 
Phocafna, sometimes called bottle-nosed or bay iiorpoises. 
The tursio, D. tursio, is a larger and bulkier species. Sun- 
dry dolphins marked with white, and having from 80 to 90 
vertebra, constitute a group to which the name Laaeno- 
rhynchus is applied. A Chinese species, with only about 
Delfhimtla laciniata 
deltoid 
50 Vertebra, is called Steno sinenttix. A species from the 
south seas, D. peroni, without a dorsal fin, has been called 
Leucorhamphitii and Delphinapterus. See cut under dol- 
phin. 
2. One of the ancient constellations, represent- 
ing a dolphin. It is situated east of Aquila. 
delphisine (del'fi-sin), . An alkaloid obtained 
from the seeds of Delphinium Staphisagria. It 
appears in crystalline tufts. 
delta (del'ta), n. [= D. G. Dan. Sw. F. Sp. Pg. 
It., etc., delta, < L. delta, < Gr. dfr.ra, the name 
of the 4th letter, also anything so shaped, esp. 
a triangular island formed by the mouths of 
large rivers, as of the Nile, Indus, etc. ; < Heb. 
daleth, the 4th letter of the alphabet, lit. a door: 
see D.} 1. The name of the Greek letter A, d, 
answering to the Latin and English D. See D. 
2. A triangular island or alluvial tract included 
between the diverging branches of the mouth of 
a great river: as, the delta of the Nile, of the 
Ganges, of the Mississippi, etc. 3. In anat., 
a triangular space or surface Delta fornicis, 
in anat., the delta of the fornix; the triangular entocuj- 
lian area of the inferopoaterior surface of the fornix, con- 
stituting the roof of the aula. In the cat its base coin- 
cides with a line between the purtce, and its two other sides 
are ripse, or the lines of reflection of the endyma upon the 
intruded auliplexus. Wilder and Gage, Anat. Tech., p. 
477. Delta mesoscapulfe, in anat., the delta of the 
mesoscapula ; the triangular area at the root of the spine 
of the scapula r at the vertebral end of the mesoscapula. 
Wilder and Gage, Anat. Tech., p. 156. 
deltafication (deFta-fi-ka'shon), n. [< delta + 
-flcation, ult. < L. facere, mate: see //.] The 
process of forming a delta at the mouth of a 
river. 
deltaic (del-ta'ik), a. [< delta + -ic.} 1. Per- 
taining to or like a delta. 
As in other deltaic districts, the highest land lies nearest 
the rivers, and the lowest levels are found midway be- 
tween the two streams. Encyc. Brit., XII. 147. 
The Hugli is formed by the three most westerly of the 
deltaic spill-streams of the Ganges. 
Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 43. 
2. Having or forming a delta. 
It [Bhagirathi] now discloses the last stage in the decay 
of a deltaic river. nineteenth Century, XXIII. 43. 
delta-metal (del'ta-met'al), n. [< delta, a 
triangular figure (in allusion to the three con- 
stituent metals), + metal.} An alloy of copper 
and zinc with a small percentage of iron, re- 
cently introduced and put to use in England and 
Germany. It resembles Aich metal and sterro-metal 
(see these words), the principal difference being that in 
the manufacture of delta-metal improvements have been 
made by means of which a fixed percentage of iron can be 
introduced, which was not the case with the other alloys 
mentioned, whence these never came into general use. 
Delta-metal is said to be as strong as luild steel, and to 
have the great advantage of not rusting. A small steamer 
has been constructed of this alloy for navigating the rivers 
of Central Africa. It is said, also, that it has been intro- 
duced as a material for rolls in powder-mills because not 
liable to give rise to sparks as steel rollers do, and that it 
is coming into use for many other purposes where strength 
is desired, and where the facility with which steel rusts 
makes its employment undesirable. 
deltidhim (del-tid'i-um), TO. : pi. deltidia (-a). 
[NL., dim. of Gr. dttra, _ 
the letter A: see delta.} 
In zool., the triangular 
space between the beak 
and the hinge of bracbio- 
pod shells. It is usually 
covered in by a shelly 
plate. 
deltohedron (del-to-he'- 
drqn), n. ; pi. deltohedra 
(-dra). [< Gr. oeAra, del- 
ta, Hr- Mpa, a seat, base.] 
In crystal., a hemihedral 
ISOmetriC SOIld DOUnded (ll'alM^mia flaftscens), 
by twelve faces, each a 8howil * * d =" idh ""- 
quadrilateral. The corresponding holohedral 
form is a trigonal trisoctahedron. 
deltoid (del'toid), a. and . [= F. deltoide = Sp. 
deltoide = Pg. It. deltoide, < NL. deltoides, < Gr. 
oetdfa, delta-shaped, < 6&.ra, delta (A), + 
, form.] I. a. Resembling the Greek let- 
ter A ; triangular. 
A visit to the shore showed its mouth to be deltoid in 
character, three mouths being noticed, and probably more 
existing. Science, III. 70fi. 
Specifically (a) In anal. : (1) Forming a triangular place 
or part ; being triangular : as, the deltoid muscle. (2) Re- 
lating to the deltoid muscle : as, the 
dt'ltuid crest of the humerus. (6) In en- 
torn., pertaining to or resembling the 
pyralid moths, or Delloidejs. (c) In bot., 
triangular or trowel-shaped : as, a deltoid 
leaf : also applied to the cross-section of 
a leaf, etc. Deltoid moth, a popular 
name given to various species of the 
lepidopterous family Pyralidce, which 
in repose spread their wings over the 
back in the form of a triangle. 
