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l.), the pectoral and ventral fins, corresponding to the fore and hind legs of the higher animals. -- Unpaired, or Median, fins (Zoöl.), the dorsal, caudal, and anal fins.

The first produce or offspring; -- said of animals, especially domestic animals; as, the firstlings of his flock. Milton.

A name loosely applied in popular usage to many animals of diverse characteristics, living in the water.

A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela Canadensis); the pekan; the "black cat."

ts, each of which then becomes a separate and independent organisms; as when a cell in an animal or plant, or its germ, undergoes a spontaneous division, and the parts again subdivide. See Segmentation, and Cell division, under Division.

Animals which reproduce by fission.

The fleshy or muscular part of the side of an animal, between the rids and the hip. See Illust. of Beef.

nding to generate, wind in the stomach. Vegetables abound more with aërial particles than animal substances, and therefore are more flatulent. Arbuthnot.

The entire coat of wood that covers a sheep or other similar animal; also, the quantity shorn from a sheep, or animal, at one time. Who shore me Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece. Milton.

f the muscles, fat, and other tissues which cover the framework of bones in man and other animals; especially, the muscles.

Animal; not Dryden.

Free or lose from the usual attachment; as, the floating ribs in man and some other animals.

to sheep and birds, rarely to persons or (except in the plural) to cattle and other large animals; as, a flock of ravenous fowl. Milton. The heathen . . . came to Nicanor by flocks. 2 Macc. xiv. 14.

Menstrual discharges. Lev. xv. 24. Animal flower (Zoöl.) See under Animal. -- Cut flowers, flowers cut from the stalk, as for making a bouquet. -- Flower bed, a plat in a garden for the cultivation of flowers. -- Flower beetle (Zoöl.), any beetle which feeds upon flowers, esp. any one of numerous small species of th…

The young of any animal of the Horse family (Equidæ); a colt; a filly. Foal teeth (Zoöl.), the first set of teeth of a horse. -- In foal, With foal, being with young; pregnant; -- said of a mare or she ass.

n aggregation of bubbles, which is formed on the surface of liquids,or in the mouth of an animal, by violent agitation or fermentation; froth; spume; scum; as, the foam of the sea. Foam cock, in steam boilers, a cock at the water level, to blow off impurities.

The track or trail of an animal. To run a foil,to lead astray; to puzzle; -- alluding to the habits of some animals of running back over the same track to mislead their pursuers. Brewer.

ich goes to support life by being received within, and assimilated by, the organism of an animal or a plant; nutriment; aliment; especially, what is eaten by animals for nourishment.

The terminal part of the leg of man or an animal; esp., the part below the ankle or wrist; that part of an animal upon which it rests when standing, or moves. See Manus, and Pes.

The peduncle or stem by which various marine animals are attached, as certain brachiopods and goose barnacles.