Urotrichus 
Urotrichus (u-rot'ri-kus), . [NL. (Tomminck. 
1838), < Gr. oi-pa, tail, + fl/w'f (rpt x -), hair.] A 
genus of fossoriiil shrew-moles, of the subfam- 
ily Mi/oi/alin;i' and family Talpidss. They have 2 
incisors, i canine, 4 premolars, and 3 molars in each up- 
per half-jaw, and 1 incisor, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 
molars in each lower half-jaw. Urotrictms talpoides is a 
small Japanese species. This germs formerly contained 
the United States species U. gibbsi, now placed in Neii- 
rotrichus. 
uroxanthin (u-rok-san'thin), n. [< Gr. ovpov, 
urine, + fowftif, yellow, + -in 2 ,] Urine indican : 
a derivative of indol, present in minute quan- 
tities in normal urine. 
uroxin (ii-rok'sin), n. [< Gr. ovpov, urine, + 
ofi'f, sharp, + -i2.] Same as alloxantin. 
Uroxiphus (u-rok'si-fus), n. [NL., < Gr. ovpd, 
tail, + f<0of, sword.] A genus of hemipterous 
insects; the swordtails. The walnut sword- 
tail, U. caryee, is an example. 
urrhodin (u'ro-din), n. [< Gr. ovpov, urine, + 
pooivoq, made of or from roses, < podov, the rose.] 
A red coloring matter occasionally found in 
alkaline urine in cases of inflammation of the 
bladder. 
urry (ur'i), n. [Prob. < Gael, uireaclt, equiv. to 
uirlach, soil, dust, < nir, mold, earth : see we 6 .] 
A sort of blue or black clay lying near a bed 
of coal. [Local.] 
In the coal-mines they dig a blue or black clay, that lies 
near the coal, commonly called urry, which is an unripe 
coal, and is very proper for hot lands, especially pasture- 
ground. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
Ursa (er'sa), re. [NL., < L. ursa, a she-bear, 
fern, of ursus, bear : see Ursus."] A name of two 
constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the 
Great and the Little Bear Ursa Major, the most 
prominent constellation of the northern heavens, repre- 
senting a bear with an enormous tail. There is a rival 
figure for the same constellation a wagon. (See tcain.) 
Both figures are mentioned by Homer. The name of the 
bear is translated from some original Aryan language, 
since the constellation in Sanskrit is called rikgha a word 
which means in different genders a ' bear ' and a ' star.' 
As the seven stars of the Great Bear are in many languages 
6672 
UTSid (er'sid), n. A bear as a member of the 
Ursidfe. 
Ursidae (i-r'si-de), n.pl. [NL., < Hwcx + -idse.~\ 
A family of plantigrade carnivorous mammals, 
the bears, outwardly characterized by large 
size, heavy, stout, and clumsy form, a pig-like 
snout, rudimentary tail, and shaggy hair. The 
family belongs to the order Ferte, suborder Fis-npedia, 
and is the type of the arctoid series of the latter. (See Arc- 
toidea.) The bears are less exclusively carnivorous than 
most other representatives of the order, being f rugivorous 
as well, and almost omnivorous ; the dentition is corre- 
spondingly modified, the grinders being more or less tu- 
bercular, not sectorial. There are two true molars on 
each side of the upper jaw, and three on each side of the 
lower jaw, all tubercular, as is the last upper premolar ; 
there are also special cranial characters. The family was 
formerly of greater extent, including the racoon, badger, 
glutton, and other plantigrade Carniwra; it is now lim- 
ited to the genus Urtux and its immediate relatives, or the 
bears proper, inhabiting chiefly the northern hemisphere. 
There are about 6 genera, of which Melursus or Prochilus 
is the most distinct from Ursus proper. See Ursus and 
bear% (with cuts), and cuts under aswail, bruang. Planti- 
grade, scapholunar, and spectacled. 
ursiform (er'si-form), a. [< L. ursus, bear, + 
forma, form.] Having the form or aspect of 
a bear; related to the bears in structure; arc- 
toid. 
Ursinae (er-si'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Urstis + -inee.'] 
1. In mammal., the bears proper; the Ursidee in 
a strict sense. 2. In entom., the bears: noting 
all hairy or woolly lepidopterous larvte. See 
bear-%, 6, and ursine, a., 2. Burmeister. 
ursine (er'sin), a. and n. [= OP. ursin = It. 
orsino, < L. ursinus, of, pertaining to, or resem- 
bling a bear, < ursus = Gr. apurof, a bear (see 
arctic)."] I. a. 1. Of or pertaining to a bear or 
bears : as, an ursine genus ; related to the bear ; 
arctoid: as, the ursine series of Carnwora ; re- 
sembling a bear or what relates to a bear : as, 
an ursine walk. 2. In entom., thickly clothed 
with long, bristle-like, erect hairs: applied es- 
pecially to certain lepidopterous larvse Ur- 
sine dasyure, howler, sloth. See the nouns. Ursine 
otary, ursine seal, the northern sea-bear, an eared seal 
of the North Pacific, Callorhinus nrsinus. See cut under 
fur-teal. 
II. n. A bear ; any member of the family Ur- 
urtical 
now included in Ursidie. It is now restricted to such 
species as the brown bear of Europe, IT. arctos, and the 
grizzly and black bears of North America, U. horrihili'* :iud 
American Black Bea 
U. americanus ; for the polar bear, spectacled bear, sun- 
bear, and honey-bear (or sloth-bear) have been detached 
under tile names of Thalassarctox, Tremarctox, Helarctox, 
and Melursui (or Prochilus) respectively. See bear? (with 
cuts), and cuts under xcapholunar and Plantigrada. 
Urtica (er'ti-kii), n. [NL. (Malpighi, 1675; 
Brunfels, 1530), < L. urtica, a nettle, so called 
from the stinging hairs, < mere, burn: see us- 
tion.~] A genus of apetalous plants, the nettles, 
urson (er'son), n. [< F. ourson, a bear's cub, < 
ours, bear, < L. ursus, a bear : see ursine.'] The 
Canada porcupine, or tree-porcupine of eastern 
North America, sometimes called bear-porcu- 
pine, as by Harlan. The name was given or 
applied by Buffon. See JErethizon and caw- 
qiMtv, and second cut under porcupine. 
Ursula (er'su-la), n. [< NL. Ursula, specific 
name, < L. *ursula, dim. of ursa, a she-bear: 
see Ursuline.] A North American butterfly, 
Basilarchia or Limenitis astyanax (formerly L. 
Ursula). It is purple-black with slight blue and red 
The Constellations Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Draco. 
called the Septentrions, it is probable the figure of the 
bear, which by its tail would seem to have originated 
among some people not familiar with bears, may have 
been the result of a confusion of sound. Draco appears 
to have had formerly a longer tail, twisting down in front 
of Ursa Major. Ursa Minor, a constellation near the 
north pole, the figure of which imitates that of Ursa Major 
which its configuration resembles. It also has a rival 
figure of a wagon, and is sometimes called the Cynosure 
which seems to mean 'dog's tail.' At the time of the forma- 
tion of these constellations the pole must have been near 
a Draconis ; and during the greater part of history sailors 
have steered by Ursa Minor as a whole. See cut above. 
ursal (er'sal), n. [< L. ursus, bear, -f -n?.] An 
ursine seal, or sea-bear. [Rare.] 
urset, a. An obsolete variant of worse. 
Uds blood, and hang him for urse than a rogue that 
will slash and cut for an oman, if she be a whore. 
Dekkcr and Webster, Northward Ho, ii. 1. 
Ursula (Litnenitis astyanax), about two thirds natural size. 
blotches, and hence is called red-spotted purple. Its larva 
feeds on many plants, as willow, oak, blackberry, cherry, 
and species of Vaccinium. 
Ursuline (er'su-lin), a. and n. [< NL. Ursulinus, 
< LL. Ursula (see def.), a woman's name, < L. 
*ursula, dim. of ursa, a she-bear: see Ursa.~\ I. 
a. Of or pertaining to the Roman Catholic or- 
der or company of Ursulines. 
II. . One of an order or company of Roman 
Catholic women founded by St. Angela Merici 
at Brescia in 1537, for the nursing of the sick and 
the teaching of young girls. The Ursulines took their 
name from St. XJrsula, whose protection they invoked. At 
first they neither took regular vows nor adopted conventual 
rules, but in 1612 they were divided into the congregated 
Ursulines, who still adhere to the original organization, 
and the religious Ursulines, who take solemn vows, observe 
inclosure, and follow the rule of St. Augustine. The order 
was introduced into Canada in 1689, and into the present 
territory of the United States in 1727. 
TJrsus (er'sus), n. [NL., < L. ursus = Gr. ap/jrof 
= Ir. art = Skt. riksha, a bear.] A genus of 
plantigrade carnivorous mammals, the bears, 
of the family Ursidee. It was formerly coextensive 
with the family, and was even applied to some animals not 
type of the order Urticacese and tribe Urticese. 
It is characterized by opposite leaves furnished with sting- 
ing hairs and free or united stipules ; by the fruit.a straight 
achene; and by its unisexual flowers, the pistillate with 
four unequal segments. There are about 30 species, widely 
scattered over most temperate and subtemperate regions. 
They are annuals or perennials, in a few species woody at 
the base. They bear petioled toothed or lobed leaves, usu- 
ally with from five to seven nerves. The small and incon- 
spicuous greenish twin flowers are borne in small clusters 
or panicles. For the species in general, see nettle^ ; for U. 
ferox, see onga-onga. Nearly 400 former species are now 
classed elsewhere, especially under Laportea, Urera, Pilea, 
and Bcehmeria. England has 3 species, 2 of which, U. 
dioica and U. wrens] occur occasionally in the United 
States ; 6 others are natives of the United States, 5 in the 
west and southwest, and 1, U. gracilis, a tall wand-like 
nettle of fence-rows and springy places, ranging eastward 
and northward from Colorado to the Atlantic. 
TTrticaceae (er-ti-ka'se-e), n.pl. [NL. (Dumor- 
tier, 1829), < Urtica' + -acea.] An order of 
apetalous plants, of the series Unisexuales, un- 
like all the other orders of the series, except 
the Euphorbiacese, in the frequently herba- 
ceous habit and in the presence of a distinct 
free perianth. It bears cymose staminate flowers, 
the perianth free from the accompanying bract, with one 
stamen opposite each lobe, or rarely fewer. The one- 
celled ovary contains a single ovule, the style at first ter- 
minal, but usually soon left at one side by the oblique 
growth of the indehiscent fruit, which is commonly a 
small achene or drupe, or by consolidation a syncarp. 
The order includes about 1,500 species, belonging to 110 
genera, widely dispersed through warm and temperate 
regions, and classed in 8 tribes, of which the types are 
Vlmus, Celtis, Cannabis, Morus, Artocarpus, Conocepha- 
Ins, Urtiea, and Thelygonum. A great diversity in habit, 
fruit, and milky juice occasioned a former dismember- 
ment of the order into the separate orders Ulmacex, Cel- 
tidese, Jtorese, Artocnrpeee, Urticace&, and Cannalrineee, 
respectively the elm, hackberry, mulberry, breadfruit, 
nettle, and hemp families, each coinciding nearly with 
the similar tribe now recognized. Among these tribes the 
Urticese and about 6 other genera are principally herba- 
ceous ; the others are trees or shrubs, sometimes, as in 
species of Ficus and Ulmus, reaching a great size. Their 
leaves are usually alternate, in outline entire, toothed, 
lobed, or palmately parted, and with deciduous stipules 
which often inclose the terminal bud. The inflorescence 
is primarily centripetal, but ultimately centrifugal, of- 
ten in few-flowered clusters, sometimes forming a dense 
spike, raceme, or panicle, or with all the flowers closely 
massed on a fleshy receptacle. The order yields a num- 
ber of edible fruits as the fig, breadfruit* jackfruit, mul- 
berry, and hackberry in which the edible part may be 
either the ripened ovary, as the hackberry, or a fleshy 
calyx, as the mulberry, or the fleshy receptacle, as the 
fig, forming a syconium, or the thickened seed, as in spe- 
cies of Artocarpus. The order also includes several im- 
portant dyewoods, as fustic ; several ornamental as well 
as timber trees planted for shade or for hedges, as the elm, 
mulberry, and psage orange ; and many valuable fibers, as 
hemp and ramie. Species of some genera produce a nar- 
cotic resin, as hops and also hemp. (See hashish.) Several 
of the most notable trees belong here, as the banian, the 
bo-tree or sacred fig, the sycamore-fig, and the famed upas- 
tree of Java. (See Fims md Antiaris.) In the tribes Mo- 
rex and Artocarpese, and especially in the genus Ficus, 
an acrid emetic or poisonous milky juice abounds, either 
white or yellowish, in many furnishing india-rubber, in 
others becoming resinous, and yielding a gum. In a few, 
the cow-trees, it is innocuous, and is used as a beverage. 
See also Pseudolmedia, Broussonetia, Streblus, ZelJcova, 
Plancra, and Humulus. 
urticaceous (er-ti-ka'shius), a. In l>ot., of or 
pertaining to the Urticacese. 
urtical (er'ti-kal), a. [< Urtica + -al.] 1. In 
bot., of or belonging to the nettles; typified 
by the genus Urtica : as, the urtical alliance. 
