Y 
most fetal enemies of the whale tribe. Its 
strength is so great that it is said to have 
pervaded with its snout, or sword, the plank 
of an East Indiainan ; and a plank and snout 
in attestation of this circumstance, the lat- 
ter closely driven into the former, are to be 
seen in the British Mtiscum, having been 
communicated to Sir Joseph Banks by an 
East India Captain, of honour and veracity. 
When young this fish is used for food, but 
after it exceeds four or five teet in length. 
XIPHIDIUM, in botany, a genus of the 
Triandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Ensatas. prides, Jussieu. Es- 
sential chai'acter: corollasix-petalled, equal ; 
capsule superior, three-celled, many-seeded. 
There are two species, viz. X. album and 
X. creruleuin. 
XYLOCARPUS, in botany, a genus of 
the Octandria Monogynia class and order. 
Essential character: calyx four-toothed; 
corolla fonr-petalled ; nectary eight-cleft; 
filaments inserted into the nectary ; drupe 
jniceless, large, four or five-grooved ; nuts 
eight or ten, difform. There is but one 
species, viz. X. granatuin, a native of the 
East Indies. 
XYLOMELUM, in botany, a genus of 
the Tetraudiia Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Proteae, Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character : ament with a simple scale ; 
petals four, staminiferons; stigma club- 
shaped, obtuse. This is one of twenty 
new genera from the South Seas; the cha- 
racters of which are given by Dr. Smith. 
YAR 
XYLON. See Gossypium. 
XYLOPHYLLA, in botany, seaside 
laurel, a genus of thfe Pentandria Trigynia 
class and order. Natui al order of Tricoc- 
c®. Euphorlii®, Jussieu. Essential cha- 
racter: calyx five-parted, coloured; co- 
rolla none ; stigmas jagged ; capsule three- 
celled; seeds two. There are seven spe- 
cies. 
XYLOPIA, in botany, hitter-wood, a 
genus of the Polyandria Polygynia class and 
order. Natural order of Coadunat®. Ano- 
n®, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 
three-leaved ; petals six ; capsule one or two- 
seeded, four-cornered, two-valved ; seeds 
arilled. There are. three species. 
XYLOSMA, in botany, a genus of the 
Dioecia Polyandria class and order. Es- 
sential character : calyx four or five-part- 
ed ; corolla none, but a small annular cre- 
nulate nectary surrounding the stamens : ' 
male, stamens twenty to fifty : female, style 
scarcely any ; stigma trifid ; berry dry, sub- 
bilocular; seeds two, three-sided. Ibere 
are two species, viz, X. suaveolens and X. 
orbiculatum. 
XYRIS, in botany, a genus of the Tri- 
andria -Monogynia class and order. Natural 
order of Ensat®. Juiici, Jussieu. Essen- 
tial character : corolla three-petalled, equal, 
crenate ; glumes two-valved in a head cap- 
sule superior. There are four species. 
Y. 
■y Or y, the twenty-third letter of our 
’ alphabet : its sound is formed by ex- 
pressing the breath vyith a sudden expansion 
of the lips from tliat cqnfiguration by which 
we express the vowel u. It is a consonant 
in the beginning of words, and placed be- 
fore all vowels, as in yard, yield, young, Sic. 
but before no consonant. At the end of 
words it is a vowel, and is substituted for 
the sound of i, as in try, descry, &c. In 
the middle of worjds it is not used so fre- 
quently as i is, unless in words derived from 
the Greek, as in chyle, empyreal, &c. though 
it is admitted into the middle of some pure 
English words, as in dying, flying, &c. Y is 
also a numeral, signifying 150, or, accord- 
ing to Iforonius, 159; and with a dash a- 
top, as Y, it signified 1.50,000. 
YACHT, or Yatch, a vessel with one 
deck, carrying from four to twelve guns. 
YARD, a measure of length used in Eng- 
Spain, chiefly to measure cloth, 
stuffs, &c, See Measure. 
Yard land is taken to signify a certain 
quantity of land, in some counties being fif- 
teen acres, and in others twenty; in some 
