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A small fresh-water etheostomoid fish. The group includes numerous genera and species, all of them American. See Etheostomoid.

rous marsupial quadruped of Australia, belonging to the genus Dasyurus. There are several species.

The female offspring of the human species; a female child of any age; -- applied also to the lower animals.

osely resembling true lilies, but having tuberous rootstocks instead of bulbs. The common species have long narrow leaves and either yellow or tawny-orange flowers.

A neuropterous insect of the genus Ephemera and related genera, of many species, and inhabiting fresh water in the larval state; the ephemeral fly; -- so called because it commonly lives but one day in the winged or adult state. See Ephemeral fly, under Ephemeral.

A venomous Australian snake of the family Elapidæ, of several species, as the Hoplocephalus superbus and Acanthopis antarctica. -- Death bell, a bell that announces a death. The death bell thrice was heard to ring. Mickle. -- Death candle, a light like that of a candle, viewed by the superstitious as presaging death.…

A small beetle (Anobium tessellatum and other allied species). By forcibly striking its head against woodwork it makes a ticking sound, which is a call of the sexes to each other, but has been imagined by superstitious people to presage death.

Gradual failure of health, strength, soundness, prosperity, or of any species of excellence or perfection; tendency toward dissolution or extinction; corruption; rottenness; decline; deterioration; as, the decay of the body; the decay of virtue; the decay of the Roman empire; a castle in decay. Perhaps my God, though h…

p of Mammalia in which a decidua is thrown off with, or after, the fetus, as in the human species.

A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.

The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration. The degradation of the species man is observed in some of its varieties. Dana.

nces. They are very destructive to dries meats, skins, woolens, and furs. The most common species is D. lardarius, known as the bacon beetle.

re or representation in language; an enumeration of the essential qualities of a thing or species. Milton has descriptions of morning. D. Webster.

A microscopic plant of the family Desmidiæ, a group of unicellular algæ in which the species have a greenish color, and the cells generally appear as if they consisted of two coalescing halves.

first of a series of dependent propositions as a consequence of the denial of the last; a species of reductio ad absurdum. Whately.

The act of determining the relations of an object, as regards genus and species; the referring of minerals, plants, or animals, to the species to which they belong; classification; as, I am indebted to a friend for the determination of most of these shells.

presenting the specific character of minerals, plants, etc., to assist in determining the species to which a specimen belongs.

ptera vampyrus) of the Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic coasts. Several other related species take the same name. See Cephaloptera.

The fruit of certain species of bramble (Rubus); in England, the fruit of R. cæsius, which has a glaucous bloom; in America, that of R. canadensis and R. hispidus, species of low blackberries.

Pertaining to, or possessing the properties of, a species of caustic curves formed by refraction. See Caustic surface, under Caustic.