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y pungent spice made by drying and grinding the fruits or seeds of several species of the genus Capsicum, esp. C. annuum and C. Frutescens; -- Called also red pepper. It is used chiefly as a condiment.

A genus of small dipterous files, including several very injurious species, as the Hessian fly. See Hessian fly.

A genus of delicate branching corals, made up of minute cells, belonging to the Bryozoa.

A large genus of composite plants, related to the thistles and including the cornflower or bluebottle (Centaurea Cyanus) and the star thistle (C. Calcitrapa).

ytheræa Centaurium and the Chlora perfoliata of Europe, but is also extended to the whole genus Sabbatia, and even to the unrelated Centaurea.

Allied to, or resembling, the genus Centriscus, of which the bellows fish is an example.

A genus of fossil ganoid fishes found in the old red sandstone or Devonian formation. The head is large, and protected by a broad shield-shaped helmet prolonged behind into two lateral points.

A genus of poisonous African serpents, with a horny scale over each eye; the horned viper.

A genus of ganoid fishes, of the order Dipnoi, first known as Mesozoic fossil fishes; but recently two living species have been discovered in Australian rivers. They have lungs so well developed that they can leave the water and breathe in air. In Australia they are called salmon and baramunda. See Dipnoi, and Archipte…

A genus of East Indian serpents, allied to the pythons; the bokadam.

A genus of plants of the Cactus family. They are natives of America, from California to Chili.

A large and valuable fish of the Mackerel family, of the genus Scomberomorus. Two species are found in the West Indies and less commonly on the Atlantic coast of the United States, -- the common cero (Scomberomorus caballa), called also kingfish, and spotted, or king, cero (S. regalis).

A genus of ruminants, including the red deer and other allied species.

A shark of the genus Cestracion, and of related genera. The posterior teeth form a pavement of bony plates for crushing shellfish. Most of the species are extinct. The Port Jackson shark and a similar one found in California are living examples.

A genus of Ctenophora. The typical species (Cestus Veneris) is remarkable for its brilliant iridescent colors, and its long, girdlelike form.

A genus of fossil corals, common in the lower Silurian limestones.

An order of free-swimming marine worms, of which the genus Sagitta is the type. They have groups of curved spines on each side of the head.

- Chain cable, a cable made of iron links. -- Chain coral (Zoöl.), a fossil coral of the genus Halysites, common in the middle and upper Silurian rocks. The tubular corallites are united side by side in groups, looking in an end view like links of a chain. When perfect, the calicles show twelve septa. -- Chain coupli…

A lizardlike reptile of the genus Chamæleo, of several species, found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The skin is covered with fine granmulations; the tail is prehensile, and the body is much compressed laterally, giving it a high back.

One of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus, allied to the spotted trout and salmon, inhabiting deep lakes in mountainous regions in Europe. In the United States, the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is sometimes called a char.