density 
to be, and within the limits of the probable error of the 
best observations actually is, the mass of one cubic centi- 
meter of water under these conditions, it follows that the 
density as ordinarily expressed is, as closely as possible, 
the number of grams in one cubic centimeter of the par- 
ticular kind of matter in question. The following table 
shows the density of several important substances : irid- 
ium, 22.4; platinum, 21.4; gold, 19.3; liquid mercury, 
13 6 lead, 11.3 ; silver, 10.5 ; copper, 8.9 ; nickel, 8.7 ; iron, 
78- tin 7.3; zinc, 7.2; the earth, 5.6; solution of iodides 
of mercury and potassium, 3.2 ; diamond, 3.5 ; rock, about 
2.7; aluminium, 2.6; sulphur, 2.0; magnesium, 1.7; the 
human body, 1.1; india-rubber, 1.0; alcohol, 0.8; ether, 
07' lithium, 0.6; vapor of iodide of arsenic, 1.02; air, 
0.0013; aqueous vapor, 0.0008; hydrogen, 0.00009. See 
specific gravity, under gravity. 
The quantity of matter per unit of space is defined as 
the density of the mass filling that space. 
A. Daniell, Prin. of Physics, p. 194. 
The density of a body is measured by the number of 
units of mass in a unit of volume of the substance. 
Clerk Maxwell, Heat, p. 82. 
3. In elect., the quantity of electricity per unit 
of volume at a point in space, or the quantity 
of electricity per unit of area at a point on a 
surface. 
The electric volume-density at a given point in space is 
the limiting ratio of the quantity of electricity within a 
sphere whose centre is the given point to the volume of 
the sphere, when its radius is diminished without limit. 
. . . The electric density at a given point on a surface is 
the limiting ratio of the quantity of electricity within a 
1536 
Dentyn or yndentyn, [L.] indento. 
Prompt. Pan., p. 118. 
The sylour deir of the deise daytely was dent. 
Oawan and Goloyras, i. 6. 
dentagra (den-tag'ra), . [< L. e-ii-jB, = i^. 
tooth, + Gr. Hypa, a n'unting, catching, taken in 
the senses it has in noiaypa, a trap for the feet, 
also gout in the feet (> E. podagra), x^paypa, 
goutmthehands(>E.cWrajrra).] 1. Thetooth- 
ache. 2. An instrument for drawing teeth ; a 
tooth-forceps. 
dental (den'tal), a. and n. [= F. dental = Sp. 
Pg. dental = It. dentale, < NL. dentalis, pertain- 
ing to the teeth (L. only in neut., dentale, n., 
the share-beam of a plow), < L. den(t-)s = E. 
tooth: see dent* and tooth.'] I. a. 1. Of or 
pertaining to the teeth. 2. In gram., formed 
or pronounced at or near the front upper teeth, 
with the tip or front of the tongue : as, d, t, and 
TO are dental letters. The name dental is very imper- 
fectly descriptive, as the teeth bear no important part in 
producing the sounds in question, and even, in the utter- 
ance of many communities, no part at all. Hence some 
phonetists avoid the term, using instead lingual, tongue- 
point, or the like. 
The Hebrews have assigned which letters are labial, 
which dental, and which guttural. Bacon. 
Clerk Maxwell, Elect and Mag., 64. 
Gravimetric density of gunpowder, the weight of a 
measured quantity of gunpowder. It is expressed by the 
weight, in ounces, of a cubic foot of the powder. 
dent 1 (dent), . and a. [< ME. dent, a var. of 
dint: see dint, dunt. In the sense of 'notch' 
the word belongs rather to dent 2 , the two words 
being partly confused.] I. n. If. A stroke; 
a blow. 
Whenne he com the cheyne too, 
With hys ax he smot it in two ; . . . 
It was a noble dent. 
Richard Coer de Lion, 1. 2619. 
All his mayle yriv'd, and plates yrent, 
Shew'd all his bodie bare unto the cruell dent. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. vi. 15. 
2f. Force; weight; dint. 
Sle no man with yuel wille, 
Ensaumple, or tunge, or strokis dent. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 104. 
3. A hollow mark made by a blow or by pres- 
sure ; a small hollow or depression on the sur- 
face of a solid or a plastic body ; an indented 
impression ; a dint. 
The bullet, shot at the distance of 20 yards, made a very 
considerable dent in a door. Hist. Royal Society, I. 367. 
II. a. Marked by a dent or impression ; 
dented: only in the phrase dent corn, Indian 
corn which has a depression in each kernel. 
[U.S.] 
The few trials made with dent (or soft) corns lead me to 
think their albuminoids have a higher digestion coefficient 
than the flints. E. F. Ladd, Amer. Chem. Jour., VIII. 434. 
dent 1 (dent), v. [< ME. *denten, var. of dinten, 
dunten, knock, strike, dint : see dint, v., and 
dent 1 , n. Cf. indent 1 .] I. trans. To make a 
dent or small hollow in; mark with dents or 
impressions. 
Now Crummie's cloots 
Dent a' the lone. 
English, Scotch, and Latin Poems, p. 91. 
I dente, Jenfondre. It was an horryble stroke; se 
howe it hath dented in his harnesse. Palsgrave. 
The street of the tombs, with its deeply dented chariot- 
ruts. J. A. Symonds, Italy and Greece, p. 177. 
Il.t intrans. To aim a denting or effective 
blow. 
My heart, although dented at with ye arrowes of thy 
burning affections, . . . shall alwayeskeepe his hardnesse. 
Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 373. 
dent 2 (dent), n. [< F. dent, OF. dent = Sp. 
diente = Pg. It. dente, < L. den(t-)s = Goth. 
tunthus = AS. toth, E. tooth: see tooth, and cf. 
dental, dentist, etc. This word in E. is in part 
confused with dent 1 , n.] If. A notch; an in- 
dentation. 
High was his comb, and coral-red withal, 
In dents embattled like a castle-wall. 
Dryden, Cock and Fox. 
2. A tooth of a comb, metallic brush, or card. 
3. A salient tooth or knob in the works of a 
lock. E. H. Knight. 4. A tooth of a gear- 
wheel. E. H. Knight. 5. A cane or wire of 
the reed frame in a weavers' loom. 
dent 2 t (dent), v. t. [< ME. denten, by apheresis 
for indenten, < OF. endenter, < ML. indenture, 
tooth, notch, indent: see indent" 2 and dent 2 , n. 
This word is in part confused with dent 1 , v.] 
To notch ; indent. 
somewhat parabolic curve of this arch in man, and its 
continuity, are among the diagnostic zoological characters 
of the genus Homo. Dental canal. See canali. Den- 
tal cartilage. See cartilage. Dental cavity, the nat- 
ural hollow of a tooth ; the pulp-cavity (which see). Den- 
tal chisel, cut, drill, file, foramen, etc. See the nouns. 
Dental formula, a formal or tabular statement of the 
number and kinds of teeth a mammal may have ; a for- 
mula of the dentition, in which the letters i.,c., pm., and m. 
respectively denote incisor, canine, prenwlar, and molar, 
merator of a fraction) referring to the upper jaw, those 
below the line to the lower jaw. When the letter d is pre- 
fixed to i., c., pm., and m., it signifies deciduous, and con- 
sequently the formula is that of the milk-dentition. The 
dental formula is usually written in full, as in the sub- 
joined extract ; but since there are always the same num- 
ber of teeth on each side of either jaw, sometimes only 
each half jaw is indicated : thus, the formula for adult 
man would be : i. |, c. J, pm. j, m. j x 2 = 32. See the 
extract. 
The dental formula of a child over two years of age is 
thus 
22 . 11 , 
^ ;,. dc - . ; dm - 
which meaiis that the child should have two incisors, one 
canine, and two molars, on each side of each jaw. . . . 
The formula of the permanent dentition in man is written : 
22 
1 1 
, pm. 
22 
2 2' 
3 3 
' 33 
= 32; 
there being two incisors, one canine, two premolars, and 
three molars on each side above and below. 
Huxley, Anat. Vert, p. 80. 
Dental hammer. See hammer. Dental letter. See 
II., i. Dental mallet. See mallet. Dental pulp, (a) 
The soft, sensitive, nervous and vascular substance which 
fills the cavity of a mature tooth, (b) The tissue or struc- 
ture out of which a tooth is formed, and from which, as in 
the case of rodents, it may continue to grow for an indefi- 
nite period, in which case the teeth are said to have per- 
sistent pulps. Dental sac, a closed dental follicle. See 
the extract. 
The teeth are moulded upon papillie of the mucous 
membrane, which may be exposed, but are more usually 
sunk in a fold or pit, the roof of which may close in so as 
to form a dental sac. Huxley, Anat. Vert, p. 80. 
II. . 1. A sound formed by placing the end 
of the tongue against or near the upper teeth, 
as d, i,and n (see J., 2). 2. In conch., a tooth- 
shell ; a shell of the family Dentaliidce. 
Two small black and shining pieces seem, by the shape, 
to have been formed in the shell of a dental. Woodward. 
dentaliid (den-tal'i-id), . A solenoconch of 
the family Dentaliidce. 
Dentaliidae (den-ta-U'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Den- 
talium + -idee.] A family of mollusks, consti- 
tuting the class Scaphopoda (or order Cirribran- 
chiata of Gastropoda) ; the tooth-shells. They 
are dioecious, headless, eyeless, with a trilobate foot, rudi- 
mentary lateral jaws, the mouth surrounded with filiform 
tentacles ; the shell slender, conical, curved, open at both 
ends, with circular aperture and posterior attachment of 
the animal ; the mantle saccular, open at both ends, the 
foot being protruded through the larger opening. The 
larva) are free-swimming and eiliate, with a somewhat bi- 
valvular shell, which subsequently becomes tubular. There 
are about 60 living and upward of 100 extinct species, the 
latter mostly Devonian. The animals live buried in the 
mud, where they crawl slowly about (See Scaphopoda, 
tooth-shell.) The family has been divided by recent sys- 
tematists into various genera, for which the names Denta- 
lium, Antale, and Entalis have been used. Also Dentali- 
dtx, Dentaliadce. 
Dentalina (den-ta-li'na), n. [< NL. dentalis, of 
the teeth (see dental), + -ina.] A genus of per- 
forate foramiuifers. 
dentation 
dentalite (den'tal-it), TO. [< dental + -ite*.] A 
fossil tooth-shell. 
dentality (den-tal'i-ti), n. [< dental + -ity.] 
The state or quality of being dental, as a con- 
sonant. 
Dentalium (den-ta'li-um), n. [< NL. dentalis, 
< L. den(t-)s = E. tooth: see dental.] The typi- 
cal and leading genus of the family Dentaliidce. 
Different limits have been assigned to it. By the older 
conchologists it was used for all the Dentaliidce, or forms 
with tusk-like shells ; but more recently it has been re- 
stricted to Dentaliidee with the posterior end of the tusk- 
like shell furnished with an internal slightly projecting 
tube provided with a dorsoventrally elongated opening. 
dentalization ( den-tal-i-za' shon), n. [< dental 
+ -tee + -ation.] Conversion to a dental, as to 
d or t: said of articulate sounds. 
The latter [Sanskrit k or c], usually designated by k2 (or 
q), is frequently liable to labialization (or dentalization) in 
Greek. Encyc. Brit., XXI. 270. 
Dentaria (den-ta'ri-a), TO. [NL., fern, of LL. 
dentarius, pertaining to the teeth: see den- 
tary.'] A genus of cruciferous plants, natives 
of the cooler portion of the north temperate 
zone. It is nearly allied to Cardamine, with which it is 
united by some authorities, differing mainly in its few 
opposite or subverticillate cauline leaves, and in its scaly 
creeping or tuberous rootstocks. From its toothed pun- 
gent roots it derives the names of coral-root, toothwort, 
pepper-root, etc. The flowers are large, white or light- 
dentary (den'ta-ri), a. and n. [( LL. dentarius, 
pertaining to tne teeth, < L. den(t-)s = E. tooth : 
see denfi, dental] I. a. 1. Pertaining to the 
teeth; dental. 2. Bearing teeth: as, the den- 
tary bone. See II. 
Each ramns of the lower jaw is composed of an articular 
and a dentary piece. Owen, Anat, iv. 
Dentary apparatus, in echinoderms, the oral skeleton. 
See lantern of Aristotle, under lantern. 
II. n.; pi. dentaries (-riz). The distal or 
symphyseal piece or element of the compound 
lower jaw of vertebrates below mammals : so 
called because it bears or may bear teeth, it 
commonly forms most of the lower jaw as visible from the 
outside. In birds without teeth it forms about that part 
of the under mandible which is sheathed in horn. The 
dentary, as a rule, effects symphysis or unites with its 
fellow of the opposite side at its distal end ; at its prox- 
imal end it is articulated or ankylosed with other bones, 
forming the proximal part of each half of the lower 
jaw. See cuts under Cydodus, Oallince, and temporo- 
mastoid. 
dentata (den-ta'ta), TO. [NL., fern. (so. verte- 
bra) of dentatvs, toothed: see dentate."] The 
odontoid vertebra or axis ; the second cervical 
vertebra: so called from the odontoid or tooth- 
like process which forms a pivot about which 
the atlas turns. See cut under axis. 
dentate (den'tat), a. [= F. dentS = Pr. dentat 
= Sp. Pg. dentado = It. dentato, toothed (= 
E. toothed), < L. dentatus, < den(t-)s = E. tooth.] 
Toothed ; notched. Specifically (a) 
In bot., in a general sense, having a tooth- 
ed margin ; more especially, having acute 
teeth which project outward : as, a dentate 
leaf ; or having tooth-like projections : as, 
a dentate root, (b) In zool. and a net., hav- 
ing tooth-like processes or arrangements 
of parts, especially in series along an edge, 
margin, or border, like the teeth of a saw ; 
serrate ; denticulate. Also dentated. 
Dentate antennas, those antenna? in 
which each joint has an angular projec- 
tion on one side, near the apex. Dentate 
body, the corpus dentatum (which see, 
under corpus). Dentate mandible, a 
mandible provided with blunt or sharp 
projections on the inner side. Dentate 
margin, properly, a margin having a se- 
ries of sharp projections, the sides of which 
are equal, with the apex opposite the mid- 
dle of the base ; but the term is often ap- 
plied to any toothed margin, whether the 
projections are sharp or blunt Dentate 
maxillae, maxilla; which are armed at the apex with sharp 
teeth. Dentate wings, wings with dentate margins. 
dentate-CJliate (den'tat-sil'i-at), a. [< dentate 
+ eiliate.] In bot., having the margin dentate 
and fringed or tipped with cilia or hairs. 
dentated (den'ta-ted), a. Same as den tate. 
dentately (den'tat-li), adv. In a dentate man- 
ner. 
dentate-serrate (den'tat-ser'at), a. In entom., 
both serrated and toothed : applied to a serrate 
margin when each projection or denticulation 
is toothed along its edge. 
dentate-sinuate (den'tat-sin'u-at), a. In en- 
tom., having angular teeth with incurved 
spaces between them. 
dentation (den-ta'shon), n. [< dentate + -ion.] 
1. Dentate character or condition. [Rare.] 
How in particular, did it get its barb its dentation > 
Paley, Nat Theol., xiii. 
2. In entom., an angular projection of a mar- 
gin : used especially in describing the wings of 
Lepidoptera. 
Dentate Leaf. 
(FromLeMaout 
and Decaisne's 
"Traite general 
de Botanique.") 
