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of the larvæ of various species of snapping beetles, or elaters; -- so called from their slenderness and the uncommon hardness of the integument. Wireworms are sometimes very destructive to the roots of plants. Called also wire grub.

- Witch grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Panicum capillare) with minute spikelets on long, slender pedicels forming a light, open panicle. -- Witch meal (Bot.), vegetable sulphur. See under Vegetable.

A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band; a willow or osier twig; a withy.

eces of wood secured to a flexible backing, as of cloth. Knight. -- Wood cell (Bot.), a slender cylindrical or prismatic cell usually tapering to a point at both ends. It is the principal constituent of woody fiber. -- Wood choir, the choir, or chorus, of birds in the woods. [Poetic] Coleridge. -- Wood coal, charcoa…

ymphs, fair Hamadryades." Spenser. Woody fiber. (Bot.) (a) Fiber or tissue consisting of slender, membranous tubes tapering at each end. (b) A single wood cell. See under Wood. Goodale. -- Woody nightshade. (Bot.). See Bittersweet, 3 (a). -- Woody pear (Bot.), the inedible, woody, pear-shaped fruit of several Austral…

ave the property of expelling worms from the stomach and intestines. Wormseed mustard, a slender, cruciferous plant (Erysinum cheiranthoides) having small lanceolate leaves.

xtinct genus of artiodactylous mammals found in the European Tertiary formations. It had slender legs, didactylous feet, and small canine teeth.

several others are cultivated. Chinese yam, a plant (Dioscorea Batatas) with a long and slender tuber, hardier than most of the other species. -- Wild yam. (a) A common plant (Dioscorea villosa) of the Eastern United States, having a hard and knotty rootstock. (b) An orchidaceous plant (Gastrodia sesamoides) of Austr…

An oily secretion which naturally covers the wool of sheep. Yolk cord (Zoöl.), a slender cord or duct which connects the yolk glands with the egg chambers in certain insects, as in the aphids. -- Yolk gland (Zoöl.), a special organ which secretes the yolk of the eggs in many turbellarians, and in some other invertebra…

ina, the East Indies, and East Africa. It usually has short horns, large pendulous ears, slender legs, a large dewlap, and a large, prominent hump over the shoulders; but these characters vary in different domestic breeds, which range in size from that of the common ox to that of a large mastiff.

ales, remains of which have been found in the Gulf States. The species had very long and slender bodies and broad serrated teeth. See Phocodontia.

A spore provided with one or more slender cilia, by the vibration of which it swims in the water. Zoöspores are produced by many green, and by some olive-brown, algæ. In certain species they are divided into the larger macrozoöspores and the smaller microzoöspores. Called also sporozoid, and swarmspore.…