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Sisters. [Obs.] Chaucer.

An instrument consisting of a thin metal frame, through which passed a number of metal rods, and furnished with a handle by which it was shaken and made to rattle. It was peculiarly Egyptian, and used especially in the worship of Isis. It is still used in Nubia.

Relating to Sisyphus; incessantly recurring; as, Sisyphean labors.

A king of Corinth, son of Æolus, famed for his cunning. He was killed by Theseus, and in the lower world was condemned by Pluto to roll to the top of a hill a huge stone, which constantly rolled back again, making his task incessant.

A silver coin of Persia, worth about twenty cents.

The supposed origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents; spontaneous generation; -- called also abiogeny, and opposed to biogenesis. I shall call the . . . doctrine that living matter may be produced by not living matter, the hypothesis of abiogen…

See Apsis.

To stand apart from; top leave off; to desist. [Obs.] Raleigh.

A standing aloof. [Obs.]

A chronic infectious disease of cattle and man due to the presence of Actinomyces bovis. It causes local suppurating tumors, esp. about the jaw. Called also lumpy jaw or big jaw. -- Ac`ti*no*my*cot"ic (#), a.

The hardening of a gland.

The digestion of fats.

Sensuous perception. [R.] Ruskin.

Reproduction without the union of parents of distinct sexes: asexual reproduction.

Any imperfect development of the body, or any anomaly of organization.

Impotence; sterility.

A morbid condition due to excessive increase of albuminous elements in the blood.

A person whose employment is to write what another dictates, or to copy what another has written.

A loss or decay of sight, from loss of power in the optic nerve, without any perceptible external change in the eye; -- called also gutta serena, the "drop serene" of Milton.

omes), followed by the division of the cytoplasm; direct cell division; -- opposed to mitosis. It is not the usual mode of division, and is believed by many to occur chiefly in highly specialized cells which are incapable of long-continued multiplication, in transitory structures, and in those in early stages of degene…