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The class of Vertebrata that includes the fishes. The principal divisions are Elasmobranchii, Ganoidei, and Teleostei.

Any scheme, stratagem, secret design, or plan, of a complicated nature, adapted to the accomplishment of some purpose, usually a treacherous and mischievous one; a conspiracy; an intrigue; as, the Rye-house Plot. I have overheard a plot of death. Shak. O, think what anxious moments pass between The birth of plots and t…

principles of equity or honor; hence, worldly wisdom; dexterity of management; cunning; stratagem.

en competing lines, by which the receipts of all are aggregated, and then distributed pro rata according to agreement.

A grand division of the Invertebrata, including the sponges; -- called also Spongiæ, Spongida, and Spongiozoa. The principal divisions are Calcispongiæ, Keratosa or Fibrospongiæ, and Silicea.

several species of blister beetles infesting the potato vine. The black species (Lytta atrata), the striped (L. vittata), and the gray (L. cinerea, or Fabricii) are the most common. See Blister beetle, under Blister. -- Potato rot, a disease of the tubers of the potato, supposed to be caused by a kind of mold (Perono…

Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; -- usually in a bad sense. [Obs.] Bacon. He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer. Sir P. Sidney.

One who uses art or stratagem. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. I will depart my pris, or may prey, by deliberation. Chaucer. His own prize, Whom formerly he had in battle won. Spenser.

pleading in a particular case which the pleading on the other side does not deny. -- Pro rata. Etym: [L. See Prorate.] In proportion; proportion. -- Pro re nata Etym: [L.] (Law), for the existing occasion; as matters are.

To divide or distribute proportionally; to assess pro rata. [U.S.]

A hog. Puerco beds (Geol.), a name given to certain strata belonging to the earliest Eocene. They are developed in Northwestern New Mexico, along the Rio Puerco, and are characterized by their mammalian remains.

The strata of the Purbeck stone, or Purbeck limestone, belonging to the Oölitic group. See the Chart of Geology.

A fissure or mineral vein traversing the strata vertically, or nearly so; -- called also rake-vein. Gill rakes. (Anat.) See under 1st Gill.

See Ratable.

]. "To reave his life." Spenser. He golden apples raft of the dragon. Chaucer. By privy stratagem my life at home. Chapman. To reave the orphan of his patrimony. Shak. The heaven caught and reft him of his tongue. Tennyson.

of a mountain, arising from the passage of light from it to the eye through atmospheric strata of varying density.

Pertining to, or of the same horizon as, certain Mesozoic strata of the Rhetian Alps. These strata are regarded as closing the Triassic period. See the Chart of Geology.

n plant (Krameria triandra). It is used in medicine and to color port wine. [Written also ratany.] Savanilla rhatany, the root of Krameria Ixina, a native of New Granada.

The clouded tiger cat (Felis marmorata) of Southern Asia and the East Indies.