72 
GLOSSARY. 
tribe, which inhabits the mouths of rivers on the coasts of Africa 
and South America ; the sea-cow. 
Lamelliferous. A stone composed of thin plates or leaves like 
paper. Etym., lamella, the diminutive of lamina, plate, and 
fero, to bear. 
Landslip. A portion of land that has slid down in consequence of 
disturbance by an earthquake, or from being undermined, by 
water washing away the lower beds which supported it. 
Lapidifjcation — Lapidifying process. Conversion into stone. 
Etym., lapis, stone, and fio, to make. 
Lapilli. Small volcanic cinders. Lapillus, a little stone. 
Lava. The stone which flows in a melted state from a volcano. 
Leucite. A simple mineral found in volcanic rocks, crystallized, 
and of a white colour. Etym., Xevkoq, leucos, white. 
Lias. A provincial name, adopted in scientific language, for a par- 
ticular kind of limestone, which being characterized, together 
with its associated beds, by peculiar fossils, is formed in this 
work into a particular group of the secondary strata. See 
Table U. I, p. 392. 
Lignipehdous. A term applied to insects which destroy wood. 
Etym. lignum, wood, and perdo, to destroy. 
Lignite. Wood converted into a kind of coal. Etym., lignum, 
wood. 
Lithodomi. Molluscous animals which bore into solid rocks, and 
lodge themselves in the holes they have formed. Etym., Xidoc, 
lithos, stone, and domus, house. 
Lithological. A term expressing the stony structure or character 
of a mineral mass. We speak of the lithological character of a 
stratum as distinguished from its zoological character. Etym., 
Xidog, lithos, stone, and Xoyoc, logos, discourse. 
Lithophagi. Molluscous animals which bore into solid stones. 
Etym., Xidog, lithos, stone, and (payeiv, phagein, to eat. 
Littoral. Belonging to the sea-shore. Etym., littus, the shore. 
Loam. A mixture of sand and clay. 
LycopoDiACEiE. Plants of an inferior degree of organization to 
Coniferce, some of which they very much resemble in foliage, 
but all recent species are infinitely smaller. Many of the fossil 
species are as gigantic as recent coniferee. Their mode of re- 
production is analogous to that of ferns. In English tbey are 
called club-mosses, generally found in mountainous heaths in 
the north of England. 
Madrepore. A genus of corals, but generally' applied to all the 
