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Indistinctly crystalline; -- applied to rocks and minerals, whose state of aggregation is so fine that no distinct particles are visible, even under the microscope.

early so, and either colorless or slightly tinged with gray, or the like; - - called also rock crystal. Ornamental vessels are made of it. Cf. Smoky quartz, Pebble; also Brazilian pebble, under Brazilian.

A minute mineral form like those common in glassy volcanic rocks and some slags, not having a definite crystalline outline and not referable to any mineral species, but marking the first step in the crystallization process. According to their form crystallites are called trichites, belonites, globulites, etc.…

Pertaining to Cumberland, England, or to a system of rocks found there. Cumbrian system (Geol.), the slate or graywacke system of rocks, now included in the Cambrian or Silurian system; -- so called because most prominent at Cumberland.

ies belonging to the group Rugosa; -- also called cup corals. Thay are found in paleozoic rocks.

bladders or air vessels of certain algæ, as of the great kelp of the Pacific, and common rockweeds (Fuci) of our shores. D. C. Eaton.

An order of Crinoidea, mostly fossils of the Paleozoic rocks. They were usually roundish or egg-shaped, and often unsymmetrical; some were sessile, others had short stems.

A rapid, esp. one where the channel is narrowed between rock walls. [Northwestern U. S. & Canada]

A genus of trilobites, of many species, common in the Upper Silurian and Devonian rocks.

Hyrax Syriacus; that of Northern Africa is H. Brucei; -- called also ashkoko, dassy, and rock rabbit. See Cony, and Hyrax.

is), remarkable for its fragrance, especially toward the close of the day; -- called also rocket and dame's violet. Loudon.

To rust with violence; to move impetuously; to strike violently; as, the waves dash upon rocks. [He] dashed through thick and thin. Dryden. On each hand the gushing waters play, And down the rough cascade all dashing fall. Thomson.

Broken and detached fragments, taken collectively; especially, fragments detached from a rock or mountain, and piled up at the base.

of some of the ingredients of a compound; disintegration; as, the decomposition of wood, rocks, etc.

ess; decrease; diminution; waste; loss. Twit me with the decrements of my pendants. Ford. Rocks, mountains, and the other elevations of the earth suffer a continual decrement. Woodward.

oops can march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long, narrow pass between hills, rocks, etc.

Deformed; misshapen; shapeless; horrid. [Obs.] Sight so deform what heart of rock could long Dry-eyed behold Milton.

A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, fro

e genus Spirifer. Delthyris limestone (Geol.), one of the divisions of the Upper Silurian rocks in New York.

A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; esp., a cave used by a wild beast for shelter or concealment; as, a lion's den; a den of robbers.