The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin [trending books to read .TXT] 📗

of the Mollusca, or soft-bodied animals, characterised by having the mouth surrounded by a greater or less number of fleshy arms or tentacles, which, in most living species, are furnished with sucking-cups. (Examples, Cuttlefish, Nautilus.) Cetacea

An order of Mammalia, including the Whales, Dolphins, etc., having the form of the body fish-like, the skin naked, and only the fore limbs developed.

Chelonia

An order of Reptiles including the Turtles, Tortoises, etc.

Cirripedes

An order of Crustaceans including the Barnacles and Acorn-shells. Their young resemble those of many other Crustaceans in form; but when mature they are always attached to other objects, either directly or by means of a stalk, and their bodies are enclosed by a calcareous shell composed of several pieces, two of which can open to give issue to a bunch of curled, jointed tentacles, which represent the limbs.

Coccus

The genus of Insects including the Cochineal. In these the male is a minute, winged fly, and the female generally a motionless, berrylike mass.

Cocoon

A case usually of silky material, in which insects are frequently enveloped during the second or resting-stage (pupa) of their existence. The term “cocoon-stage” is here used as equivalent to “pupa-stage.”

Coelospermous

A term applied to those fruits of the Umbelliferae which have the seed hollowed on the inner face.

Coleoptera

Beetles, an order of Insects, having a biting mouth and the first pair of wings more or less horny, forming sheaths for the second pair, and usually meeting in a straight line down the middle of the back.

Column

A peculiar organ in the flowers of Orchids, in which the stamens, style and stigma (or the reproductive parts) are united.

Compositae Compositous Plants

Plants in which the inflorescence consists of numerous small flowers (florets) brought together into a dense head, the base of which is enclosed by a common envelope. (Examples, the Daisy, Dandelion, etc.)

Confervae

The filamentous weeds of fresh water.

Conglomerate

A rock made up of fragments of rock or pebbles, cemented together by some other material.

Corolla

The second envelope of a flower usually composed of coloured, leaf-like organs (petals), which may be united by their edges either in the basal part or throughout.

Correlation

The normal coincidence of one phenomenon, character, etc., with another.

Corymb

A bunch of flowers in which those springing from the lower part of the flower stalks are supported on long stalks so as to be nearly on a level with the upper ones.

Cotyledons

The first or seed-leaves of plants.

Crustaceans

A class of articulated animals, having the skin of the body generally more or less hardened by the deposition of calcareous matter, breathing by means of gills. (Examples, Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, etc.)

Curculio

The old generic term for the Beetles known as Weevils, characterised by their four-jointed feet, and by the head being produced into a sort of beak, upon the sides of which the antennae are inserted.

Cutaneous

Of or belonging to the skin.

Degradation

The wearing down of land by the action of the sea or of meteoric agencies.

Denudation

The wearing away of the surface of the land by water.

Devonian System Devonian Formation

A series of Palaeozoic rocks, including the Old Red Sandstone.

Dicotyledons Dicotyledonous Plants

A class of plants characterised by having two seed-leaves, by the formation of new wood between the bark and the old wood (exogenous growth) and by the reticulation of the veins of the leaves. The parts of the flowers are generally in multiples of five.

Differentiation

The separation or discrimination of parts or organs which in simpler forms of life are more or less united.

Dimorphic

Having two distinct forms: Dimorphism is the condition of the appearance of the same species under two dissimilar forms.

Dioecious

Having the organs of the sexes upon distinct individuals.

Diorite

A peculiar form of Greenstone.

Dorsal

Of or belonging to the back.

Edentata

A peculiar order of Quadrupeds, characterised by the absence of at least the middle incisor (front) teeth in both jaws. (Examples, the Sloths and Armadillos.)

Elytra

The hardened forewings of Beetles, serving as sheaths for the membranous hind-wings, which constitute the true organs of flight.

Embryo

The young animal undergoing development within the egg or womb.

Embryology

The study of the development of the embryo.

Endemic

Peculiar to a given locality.

Entomostraca

A division of the class Crustacea, having all the segments of the body usually distinct, gills attached to the feet or organs of the mouth, and the feet fringed with fine hairs. They are generally of small size.

Eocene

The earliest of the three divisions of the Tertiary epoch of geologists. Rocks of this age contain a small proportion of shells identical with species now living.

Ephemerous Insects

Insects allied to the Mayfly.

Fauna

The totality of the animals naturally inhabiting a certain country or region, or which have lived during a given geological period.

Felidae

The Cat-family.

Feral

Having become wild from a state of cultivation or domestication.

Flora

The totality of the plants growing naturally in a country, or during a given geological period.

Florets

Flowers imperfectly developed in some respects, and collected into a dense spike or head, as in the Grasses, the Dandelion, etc.

Foetal

Of or belonging to the foetus, or embryo in course of development.

Foraminifera

A class of animals of very low organisation and generally of small size, having a jellylike body, from the surface of which delicate filaments can be given off and retracted for the prehension of external objects, and having a calcareous or sandy shell, usually divided into chambers and perforated with small apertures.

Fossiliferous

Containing fossils.

Fossorial

Having a faculty of digging. The Fossorial Hymenoptera are a group of Wasp-like Insects, which burrow