. 
The Constellation Lyrj 
Lyperanthus 
rior sepal being broad and concave and the lat- 
eral ones narrow, the claw of tho lip broad, 
and the blade ovate orlaneeohite. reenrved, and 
papillose, while Hie column is quite long and is 
not winged. Knur or six sneries are known, terrestrial 
herbs, usually with :l short rhizome. The Stm In the 
auim usa HUIIIO-T "I" leaves, ami the lloweis 
me lew ami meiiimii-si/eil, ^inwin^ in a brocted raceme. 
The name *>w-o/-sodnw Is given to plants of this genus, 
especially to the species L. uiyricatu, which Is common 
In cultivation. 
Lyperia (li-po'ri-il), ". L^ T ''- (Benthara, 1835), 
so called in allusion to the dull color of the 
flowers, and tho fact, that they are closed and 
scentless during the day, and expanded and 
fragrant at night; < Gr. 'f.mripAc., painful, < Miry, 
j >a i n . ] A genus of scrophulariaccous plants of 
the tribe Mminlrir, characterized by a five- 
parted calyx, a corolla-tube which is usually 
slender at tho apex and gibbous or incurved 
at the base, and four included stamens. They 
are shrubs or woody herbs, with the lower leaves oppo- 
site and the upper alternate, often clustered in the axils. 
The flowers are axillary or in terminal spikes or racemes ; 
when fresh, they are usually yellow or purple, but turn 
black in drying. There are about 30 species, indigenous 
to Africa and the Canary Islands. The flowers of L. crocea, 
from the Cape of Good Hope, afford a fine orange dye and 
have a medicinal use. They are known by the name of 
African sa/ron. 
Lyra (H'rji), H. [NL., < L. lyra, < Gr. Mpa, a 
lyre, also a constellation so called: see tyre 1 .] 
1. An ancient northern 
. | ' "V'-Sj constellation, represent- 
ing the lyre of Hermes 
or of Orpheus. Also call- 
ed the Harp. The brightest 
starof this constellation is Vega 
(a Lyrfe). It is the seventh in 
order of brightness In the hea- 
vens and the third brightest in 
the northern hemisphere.being 
half a magnitude brighter than 
a standard star of the first mag- 
nitude. It forms, with twosmall 
stars near it, an equilateral 
triangle, one of the most strik- 
ing configurations of the sum- 
mer sky. Vega, Arcturus, and 
Polaris form a large triangle, 
nearly right-angled at Vega. 
2. [1. c.; pi. tyra (-re).] 
In anat., a tract of the 
brain beneath the corpus 
callosum, on the under surface and between 
the divergent posterior pillars of the fornix. 
There the libers are so arranged as to present certain 
longitudinal and transverse lines, fancifully likened to 
the strings of a lyre. The lyra is merely the appearance 
or formation of a surface, not a distinct part of the fornix. 
It is also known as the pxaltcrium or corpus pgalloidet. 
3. In ;<ii>l. : (a) A genus of fishes. WillugUy, 
1686. (b) A genus of brachiopods. Cumber- 
land, 1816. 4. [I. c.~\ See lira*. 
lyraid (H'ra-id), H. [< Lyra + -i(P.] One of 
the meteors sometimes observed about April 
20th : so named because they appear to radiate 
from the constellation Lyra, 
lyrate (li'rat), a. [< NL. lyratus, < L. tyro, a 
lyre: see tyre 1 .] Resembling a lyre ; having the 
form or curves of a lyre ; lyre-shaped. In ormth., 
applied to the tail of the 'lyre-bird, M emir a mperba, and of 
the blackcock, Tetran or LyntrttJt tetrix; 
In entom.,to insects or parts which ap- 
proach the form of a lyre or lyratts leaf. 
- Lyrate leaf, a leaf of a plant divided 
transversely into several lolKJs, which in- 
crease in size toward a large terminal 
one. 
lyrated (H'ra-ted), a. Same as 
lymtt . 
lyrately (li'rat-li), adr. In the 
form of a lyre ; in a lyrate man- 
ner. (;. lien Ilium, Notes on Com- 
posita'. 
lyra-way (li'ra-wa), n. The kind 
of tablature in which lute-music, 
was customarily written . See luli- 
lature. 
lyrawise (H'rU-wi/), adr. In the manner cus- 
tomary for lute-music : applied to certain kinds 
of tablature. 
lyre 1 (lir), . [< F. tyre = Sp. It. lira = Pg. 
li/ra, < L. lyra, < Gr. '/.vpa, a lyre, lute, also lyric 
poetry and music, 
the constellationLy- 
ra, a sea-fish.] 1. 
In iHiitiic: (tt) A 
stringed instrument 
of Egyptian origin, 
which became the 
national instrument 
of ancient Greece. It 
belonged essentially to 
the harp family. It re- 
Various Fonns of Lyres. Sembleu closely the eith- 
8058 
am, whieh was deri veil from Asia, and, like It. consisted of a 
hollow boily, some! lines Iliaili -ola tortoi-e shell, from which 
two branehini: horns pn'jerteil upward, carrying a cross- 
j.ieee or yoke ; the strings, whose 
number \;ni"l tnnn three to ten 
ormorc,hntwas most characteris- 
tically seven, were stretched be- 
tween the yoke and the body, a 
bridge being provided on the lat- 
ter for their attachment. The 
instrument, held by the left arm, 
sometimes resting on the knee, 
was played with a plectrum in 
the right hand, and also by the 
fingers of the left hand. The 
tuning of the strings was prob- 
ably various, though doubtless 
tetrachordal from very early 
times. The strings of an eight- 
stringed lyre were named hypatc, 
the 'highest' string (probably 
as the lyre was usually held), 
which was the longest and gave 
the lowest sound; parhypate, the F f " 
next string to hypate ; fichanos, puns. (Berhn Museum.) 
the forefinger-string ; mege, the 
middle string ; paramese, the next string to mese ; trite, the 
third string (from the bottom); paranete, the next string 
to nete ; and nete, the ' last ' or ' lowest ' string, which 
was the shortest and gave the highest sound, i'rom 
these terms came most of the names of tones in the vari- 
ous Greek tonal systems. (SeekrtraeAorrf.) The lyre was 
the instrument most used by the Greeks for accompanying 
singing and recitation ; hence the terms lyric and lyrical. 
It is doubtful whether It was used unaccompanied by the 
voice. 
To me in vain the bold Mseonlan lyre 
Awakes the numbers fraught with living fire. 
Falconer, Shipwreck, 1U. 
(6) An element in the name of some instru- 
ments of the viol. class, as the arm-tyre or lira 
da braccio, and the knee-tyre or lira da gambit. 
See lira 2 , (c) A kind of metallic harmonica, 
mounted on a lyre-shaped frame, occasionally 
used in military music, (rf) A kind of rebec 
used by the modern Greeks. See rebec. 2. 
[cap.] A constellation. See Lyra, 1. 3. A 
verse of the kind commonly used in lyric 
poetry. 4. The Manx shearwater, Puffmun 
anglorum. [Orkney and Shetland.] 5. A 
grade of isinglass: a trade-name. jEollan lyre. 
See JSottcml. Greek lyre. See def. 1 (a). 
Iyre 2 t, An obsolete form of leer 1 . 
Iyre 3 t, . See lire*. 
lyre-bat (llr'bat), . A kind of \>a,t,Mcgailerma 
lyra. 
lyre-bird (lir'b^rd), n. An Australian passerine 
bird of the family ilenwidw and genus Menura. 
There are two species, M. mperba and a. alberti. In both 
of which the male has the beautiful and extraordinary ly- 
rate tall shown in the figure. The tall Is raised and dis- 
rate Leaf o! 
iTl'a lyrata. 
I.yre-bird (Mfttura superba). 
played when the bird is courting, after the manner of the 
peacock and the turkey. The plumage is somber, and the 
bird would not be particularly noticeable were it not for 
the unique structure of the tall. The body Is about as large 
as that of the domestic hen, and the air of the bird is gal- 
linaceous, though it is a member of the order Pasxereg. It 
lives in the scrub, is shy and solitary, has its lurking-places 
like grouse, nests on the ground, and is said to lay but one 
egg. Also called lyretail and lyre-pheasant. 
lyreman (lir'man), .; pi. li/rt'men (-men). A 
cicada or harvest-fly; a homopterous insect of 
the family t'icudidn; such as t'icailn tiliin ,i. 
lyre-pheasant (Hi-'t'e/.'ann. . The lyre-bird. 
lyretail (Hr'tall, . The lyre-bird. 
lysigenetic 
lyre-tailed (lir'taM;, c. Having a lyrate tail: 
as, the lii,r-iniled nightjar, Jli/di-n/i.-nlix for- 
I'ljKllll . 
lyre-turtle (lir'ter'tl), n. The ieatl,. -rlK.ek or 
trunk-turtle, liii-iinichelys coriaceus. See cut 
under Icatherbaek. 
lyric (lir'ik), a. and n. [= F. lyriquc = Sp. 
= Pg. lyricn = It. lirirn, < L. lyricim, O Jr. >.i'put6f, 
lyric, of or for a lyre, as a noun a lyric poet 
(L. neut. lyricitm, a lyric poem), < /ipa, a lyre: 
see tyre 1 .] I. a. 1. Pertaining or adapted to 
the lyre or harp; fit to be sung to an accom- 
paniment; hence, pertaining to or character- 
istic of song ; suggestive of music or song. 
Exilian charms and Dorian li/riclc odea. 
Hilton, P. R., iv. 267. 
2. Writing for or as if for the lyre, or with mu- 
sical effect; composing songs, or poems of a 
song-like character: as, a tyric poet. Lyric po- 
etry, among the ancients, poetry sung to the lyre ; in mod- 
ern usage, poetry composed for musical recitation, or dis- 
tinctively that class of poetry which has reference to and 
delineates the poet's own thoughts and feelings, as opposed 
to epic or dramatic poetry, which details external circum- 
stances and events. Lyric stage, the opera ; operatic 
snUtions collectively. 
. If. A composer of lyric poems. 
The greatest conqueror in this nation, after the manner 
of the old Grecian lyricla, did not only compose the words 
of his divine odes, but set them to muslck himself. 
Adilwon. 
2. A lyric composition or poem. 3. Averse 
of the kind commonly used in lyric poetry. 
lyrict (lir'ik), v. t. [< lyric, n.] To sing in a 
lyrical way. Dories. 
Parson Punch makes a very good shift still, and lyrics 
over his part in an anthem very handsomely. 
Tom Brown, Works, II. 249. (Daniel.) 
lyrical (lir'i-kal), <t. [< lyric + -al.] Same as 
lyric. 
Lyrical emotion of every kind . . . requires the Saxon 
element of our language. l> Qttittcey. 
lyrlchord (Iir'i-k6rd), w. [< L. tyra, a lyre, + 
chorda, a string: see chord, cord 1 .] An upright 
form of harpsichord. 
lyricism (lir'i-sizm), n. [< lyric -t- -i#m.~\ If. 
A lyrical composition. 
They must have our lyricinns at their fingers' ends. 
Gray. 
2. A lyrical utterance or mode of expression. 
[Bare.] 
lyricist (lir'i-sist), . [< lyric + -ist.~\ A lyric 
poet; one versed in lyrical composition. [Rare.] 
lyrle (li'ri), . The armed bullhead or pogge, 
Agnnus cataphractus. 
lyrifer (lir'i-fer), n. [< NL. lyrifer: see lyrifer- 
0M.S.] A vertebrate of the superclass Lyrifera. 
Lyrifera (H-rif'e-ra), n. ]>l. [NL., neut. pi. of 
li/rifer: see lyriferous.] A superclass of skulled 
vertebrates distinguished by the development 
of a scapular arch in the form of a lyrate appa- 
ratus curved forward. It includes the classes 
Pisces proper and Sflachii, or typical teleosto- 
rnous fishes and selachians. 
lyriferous (li-rif'e-rus), a. [< NL. lyrifer, < L. 
lyra, a lyre, + jerre = E. Maf*.] Having a 
lyriform scapular arch; of or having the char- 
acteristics of the Lyrifera. 
lyriform (H'ri-fdrm), a. [< L. tyra, a lyre, + 
forma, form.] Lyrate; lyre-shaped. 
The tail is ... lynform. A. Newton. 
lyrism (lir'izm), w. [< Gr. Zvpia/iAf, playing on 
the lyre, < /.vpi&tv, play on the lyre : see lyrist.'] 
The art or act of playing the lyre ; hence, mu- 
sical performance generally. [Bare.] 
The lyritm, which had at first only manifested itself by 
David's sotto voce performance of " My love 's a rose with- 
out a thorn." had gradually assumed a rather deafening 
and complex character. George Eliot, Adam Bede, liii. 
lyrist (lir'ist), . [< F. lyristf, < L. lyristts, < 
Gr. /.vpiarf/c, a lyrist, /.vpifeiv, play on the lyre, 
< hvpa, a lyre : see tyre 1 .] A performer on the 
lyre; a composer, singer, or reciter of lyrics. 
From her wilds leme sent 
The sweetest lyrut of her saddest wrong. 
Shelley, Adonais, st SO. 
LyruTUS (li-ro'rus), n. [NL., < Gr. /Uyxj, a lyre, 
+ oi'yxi, a tail.] A genus of Tetraonida: includ- 
ing the blackcock or black grouse, Lynirus te- 
trijc, in the male of which the tail is lyrate; 
the lyre-tailed grouse. Svttinnon, 1831. 
lysigenetic (Hs'i-je-net'ik),n. [< lyxiije nous, af- 
Same as lysiycnous. 
In the outer portion of this [the tissue of the squash- 
tendril], the vascular bundles already referred to arise, 
while the inner portion remains aa a pith region, and often 
shrinks away from the center, developing a lygigenttir air 
cavity. Anter. Jour. Sci., Sd ser., XXXI. 51. 
