OCR Text |
Show 72 GLOSSARY. tribe, which inhabits the mouths of rivers on the coasts of Africa. and South America; the sea-cow. LAl\IELI,IFERous. A stone composed of thin vlates or leaves like paper. Elym., lamella, the diminutive of lamina, plate, and fero, to bear. LANnsr.rP. 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. LA PIDIFICATION-Lapidifying process. Conversion into stone. Etym., lapis, !:!tone, and flo, 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., A.wKo~, leucos, white. LIAs. A provincial name, adopted in scientific language, for a particular kind of limestone, which being characterized, together with its associated beds, by peculiar fossils, is formed in this worlt into a particular group of the secondary strata. See Table II. I, p. 392. LroNIPEnnous. A term applied to insects which destroy wood. Elym. lignum, wood, and perdo, to destroy. LIGNITE. Wood converted into a kind of coal. Etym., lignum, wood. LITIIODOMI. Molluscous animals which bore into solid rocks, and lodge themselves in the holes they have formed. Etym., A.t8oc, lithos, stone, and domus, house. LrTnor.oorcAL. 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. Elym., A.tOoc, lithos, stone, and A.oyoc, logos, · discourse. Ll'nioPITAGI. Molluscous animals which bore into solid stones. Etym., x,eoc, lithos, stone, and q>ayEtY, phagein, to eat. LITTORAL. Belonging to the sea-shore. Etym., liltus, the shore. LoAM. A mixture of sand and clay. LvcoPODIACE.IE. Plants of an inferior degree of organization to Coniferre, 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 coniferre. Their mode of reproduction is analogous to that of ferns. In English they are called club-mosses, generally found in mountainous heaths in the north of England. MADREPORE. A genus of corals, but gcneralli applied lo all the GL088AltY, 73 corals distinguislted by superficial star-slHlpcd cavities. There nrc several fossil species. MAONE.SIAN. Lil\IES'~O.NE .. An extensive series of beds lying in geological posttlon, Immediately above the coal-measures so called. because the limestone, the principal member of the set:ies, contams much of the earth magnesia as a constituent part. See Table I I. K, p. 392. MAl\I~nL.LARY. A surface which is studded over whh rounded proJeCtiOns. Ety1~., mammilla, a little breast or pap. MAl\IMIFEnous. Ammals which give suck to their young. Et b ~ ym., mamma, a reast, and foro, to bear. 1\IAMMO~H. An ex.tinct species of the elephant (E. primigenius), of whwh the fossil bones are frequently met with in various countries. The name is of Tartar origin, and is used in Siberia for animals that burrow underground. MARL. A mixture of clay and lime; usually soft, but sometimes hard, in which case it is called indurated marl. MARSUPIAL ANIMALS.' A .tribe of quadrupeds having a sack or pouch under the belly, m whiCh they carry their young. The kangaroo is a well-known example. Etym., marsupium, a purse. MASTODON. A genus of fossil extinct quadrupeds allied to the elephant. So called from the form of the hind teeth or CYrinders which have their surface covered with conical mammilla~y crests: Etym., ~nuroc, mastos, mammilla or little pap, and oowv, odon, tooth. MATRIX. If a simple mineral or shell, in place of being detached, be still fixed in a portion of rock, it is said to be in its matrix. Matrix, womb. MEcHANICAL ORIGIN, Rocks of. When rocks are composed of sand, pebbles, or fragments, to distinguish them from those of an uniform crystalline texture, which are of chemical origin. MEDUS.tE. A genus of marine radiated animals, without shells ; so called because their organs of motion spread out like the snaky hair of the fabulous Medusa. MEGALOSAUR us. A fossil gigantic amphibious animal of the saurian or lizard and crocodile tribe. Etym., 1uyaA..,.,, megale, great, and uavpa, saw·a, lizard. MEOATIIEniUl\J, A fossil extinct quadruped, resembling a gigantic sloth. Etym., p.Eya, mega, great, and 011pwv, therion, wild-beast. MELASTOMA. A genus of MELASTOl\IACEA, an order of plants of the evergreen tree, and shrubby exotic kinds. Elym., JlEAa!:, melas, black, and uropa, stoma, mouth ; because the fruit of one of Lhe species stains the lips, |