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An instrument formerly used in removing the laminæ of exfoliated bones.

Power of devising; invention; contrivance. I must have instruments of my own device. Landor.

A drawing instrument, combining a protractor and scale.

An instrument, formerly much used for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; esp., a sundial; but there are lunar and astral dials. The style or gnomon is usually parallel to the earth's axis, but the dial plate may be either horizontal or vertical.…

The instrument or medium used to effect chemical dialysis.

One of certain stops in the organ, so called because they extend through the scale of the instrument. They are of several kinds, as open diapason, stopped diapason, double diapason, and the like.

An instrument for measuring the transparency of the air.

An instrument designed for transmitting pictures by telegraph. Fallows.

A plate with an opening, which is generally circular, used in instruments to cut off marginal portions of a beam of light, as at the focus of a telescope.

An instrument for examining the thermal resistance or heat- conducting power of liquids.

An instrument for examining the dichroism of crystals.

A telephonic instrument for office or other similar use, having a sound-magnifying device enabling the ordinary mouthpiece to be dispensed with. Much use has been made of it for overhearing, or for recording, conversations for the purpose of obtaining evidence for use in litigation.

th a spade or a hoe; to open, loosen, or break up (the soil) with a spade, or other sharp instrument; to pierce, open, or loosen, as if with a spade. Be first to dig the ground. Dryden.

An instrument for measuring the dilatation or expansion of a substance, especially of a fluid.

An instrument for expanding a part; as, a urethral dilator.

An optical instrument, invented by Hipparchus, for taking altitudes, leveling, etc.

An instrument for determining the time of apparent noon. It consists of two mirrors and a plane glass disposed in the form of a prism, so that, by the reflections of the sun's rays from their surfaces, two images are presented to the eye, moving in opposite directions, and coinciding at the instant the sun's center is…

An instrument used for double writing, as one for producing embossed writing for the blind and ordinary writing at the same time. -- Dip`lo*graph"ic*al (#), a. -- Dip*log"ra*phy (#), n.

A part of a machine or instrument which directs its motion or action.

One who, or that which, discharges. Specifically, in electricity, an instrument for discharging a Leyden jar, or electrical battery, by making a connection between the two surfaces; a discharging rod.