Page images
PDF
EPUB

SEGMENTS.-The transverse rings of which the body of an articulate animal or Annelid is composed.

SEPALS. The leaves or segments of the calyx, or outermost envelope of an ordinary flower. They are usually green, but sometimes brightly coloured.

SERRATURES.-Teeth like those of a saw.

SESSILE. Not supported on a stem or footstalk.

SILURIAN SYSTEM.-A very ancient system of fossiliferous rocks belonging to the earlier part of the Palæozoic series.

SPECIALISATION.-The setting apart of a particular organ for the performance of a particular function.

SPINAL CHORD.-The central portion of the nervous system in the Vertebrata, which descends from the brain through the arches of the vertebræ, and gives off nearly all the nerves to the various organs of the body.

STAMENS. The male organs of flowering plants, standing in a circle within the petals. They usually consist of a filament and an anther, the anther being the essential part in which the pollen, or fecundating dust, is formed.

STERNUM.-The breast-bone.

STIGMA. The apical portion of the pistil in flowering plants.

STIPULES.-Small leafy organs placed at the base of the footstalks of the leaves in many plants.

STYLE. The middle portion of the perfect pistil, which rises like a column from the ovary and supports the stigma at its summit. SUBCUTANEOUS.-Situated beneath the skin.

SUCTORIAL.-Adapted for sucking.

SUTURES (in the skull).-The lines of junction of the bones of which the skull is composed.

TARSUS (pl. TARSI).—The jointed feet of articulate animals, such as Insects. TELEOSTEAN FISHES.-Fishes of the kind familiar to us in the present day, having the skeleton usually completely ossified and the scales horny. TENTACULA or TENTACLES.-Delicate fleshy organs of prehension or touch possessed by many of the lower animals.

TERTIARY.-The latest geological epoch, immediately preceding the establishment of the present order of things.

TRACHEA.-The wind-pipe or passage for the admission of air to the lungs. TRIDACTYLE.-Three-fingered, or composed of three movable parts attached to a common base.

TRILOBITES.-A peculiar group of extinct Crustaceans, somewhat resembling the Woodlice in external form, and, like some of them, capable of rolling themselves up into a ball. Their remains are found only in the Palæozoic rocks, and most abundantly in those of Silurian age. TRIMORPHIC.-Presenting three distinct forms.

UMBELLIFERÆ.—An order of plants in which the flowers, which contain five stamens and a pistil with two styles, are supported upon footstalks which spring from the top of the flower stem and spread out like the wires of an umbrella, so as to bring all the flowers in the same head (umbel) nearly to the same level. (Examples, Parsley and Carrot.)

UNGULATA.-Hoofed quadrupeds.
UNICELLULAR.-Consisting of a single cell.

VASCULAR.-Containing blood-vessels.

VERMIFORM.-Like a worm.

VERTEBRATA: or VERTEBRATE ANIMALS.-The highest division of the animal kingdom, so called from the presence in most cases of a backbone composed of numerous joints or vertebræ, which constitutes the centre of the skeleton and at the same time supports and protects the central parts of the nervous system.

WHORLS.-The circles or spiral lines in which the parts of plants are arranged upon the axis of growth. WORKERS.-See Neuters.

ZOEA-STAGE.-The earliest stage in the development of many of the higher Crustacea, so called from the name of Zoëa applied to these young animals when they were supposed to constitute a peculiar genus. ZOOIDS.-In many of the lower animals (such as the Corals, Medusæ, &c.) reproduction takes place in two ways, namely, by means of eggs and by a process of budding with or without separation from the parent of the product of the latter, which is often very different from that of the egg. The individuality of the species is represented by the whole of the form produced between two sexual reproductions; and these forms, which are apparently individual animals, have been called zooids.

[blocks in formation]

ABERRANT groups, 379.
Abyssinia, plants of, 340.
Acclimatisation, 112.
Adoxa, 173.

Affinities of extinct species, 301.
of organic beings, 378.
Agassiz, on Amblyopsis, 112.

on groups of species suddenly
appearing, 289.

on prophetic forms, 301.
on embryological succession,
310.

on the Glacial period, 330.
on embryological characters,
368.

on the latest tertiary forms, 278.
-, on parallelism of embryological
development and geological suc-
cession, 396.

Alex., on pedicellariæ, 191.
Algae of New Zealand, 338.
Alligators, males, fighting, 69.
Alternate generations, 387.
Amblyopsis, blind fish, 112.

America, North, productions allied to
those of Europe, 333.

335.

boulders and glaciers of,

South, no modern formations

on west coast, 272.

Ammonites, sudden extinction of, 297.
Anagallis, sterility of, 236.
Analogy of variations, 127.
Ancylus, 345.

Andaman Islands inhabited by a toad,
350.

Animals, not domesticated from being
variable, 13.

domestic, descended from seve-
ral stocks, 14.

acclimatisation of, 112.

of Australia, 90.
with thicker fur in cold climates,
107.

Animals, blind, in caves, 110.

—, extinct, of Australia, 310.
Anomma, 232.

Antarctic islands, ancient flora of
355.

Antechinus, 373.

Ants attending aphides, 207.

[ocr errors]

slave-making instinct, 217.

-, neuters, structure of, 230.
Apes, not having acquired intellectual
powers, 181.

Aphides, attended by ants, 207.
Aphis, development of, 390.
Apteryx, 140.
Arab horses, 26.

Aralo-Caspian Sea, 311.
Archeopteryx, 284.

Archiac, M. de, on the succession of
species, 299.

Artichoke, Jerusalem, 114.
Ascension, plants of, 347.
Asclepias, pollen of, 151.
Asparagus, 325.

Aspicarpa, 367.

Asses, striped, 127.

improved by selection, 30.

Ateuchus, 109.

Aucapitaine, on land-shells, 353.
Audubon, on habits of frigate-bird,
142.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

Ligurian, 75.

,hive, cell-making instinct, 220.
variation in habits, 208.

-, parasitic, 216.

humble, cells of, 220.

Beetles, wingless, in Madeira, 109.

with deficient tarsi, 109.

Bentham, Mr., on British plants, 37.

on classification, 369.

Berkeley, Mr., on seeds in salt water,
324.

Bermuda, birds of, 348.
Birds acquiring fear, 208.
beauty of, 161.

annually cross the Atlantic, 329.
colour of, on continents, 107.
-, footsteps, and remains of, in
secondary rocks, 284.

fossil, in caves of Brazil, 310.
of Madeira, Bermuda, and Ga-

lapagos, 348, 349.

-, song of males, 70.
transporting seeds, 328.
waders, 345.
wingless, 108, 140,

Bizcacha, 318.

affinities of, 379.

Bladder for swimming, in fish, 147.
Blindness of cave animals, 110.
Blyth, Mr., on distinctness of Indian
cattle, 14.

-, on striped hemionus, 128.
-, on crossed geese, 240.
Borrow, Mr., on the Spanish pointer,

26.

Bory St. Vincent, on Batrachians, 350.
Bosquet, M., on fossil Chthamalus,

284.

Boulders, erratic, on the Azores, 328.
Branchiæ, 148, 149.

of crustaceans, 152.
Braun, Prof., on the seeds of Fuma-
riaceæ, 174.

Brent, Mr., on house-tumblers, 210.
Britain, mammais of, 352.

Broca, Prof., on Natural Selection,
170.

Bronn, Prof., on duration of specific
forms, 275.

, various objections by, 170.
Brown, Robert, on classification, 366.
Sequard, on inherited mutila-
tions, 108.

Busk, Mr., on the Polyzoa, 193.
Butterflies, mimetic, 375, 376.
Buzareingues, on sterility of varieties,
258.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »