Search the Dictionary

Any plant showing motions after irritation, as the sensitive brier (Schrankia) of the Southern States, two common American species of Cassia (C. nictitans, and C. Chamæcrista), a kind of sorrel (Oxalis sensitiva), etc.

cendants of the former Jews of Spain and Portugal. They are as a rule darker than the northern Jews, and have more delicate features.

The north or northern regions. Shak. Both East West, South and Septentrioun. Chaucer.

Of or pertaining to the north; northern. "From cold septentrion blasts." Milton.

s of the genera Circaëtus and Spilornis, which prey on serpents. They inhabit Africa, Southern Europe, and India. The European serpent eagle is Circaëtus Gallicus. -- Serpent eater. (Zoöl.) (a) The secretary bird. (b) An Asiatic antelope; the markhoor. -- Serpent fish (Zoöl.), a fish (Cepola rubescens) with a long, t…

Of or pertaining to Servia, a kingdom of Southern Europe. -- n.

peoples (Tungusic, Mongol, and Turkish), and which still survives in various parts of Northern Asia. The Shaman, or wizard priest, deals with good as well as with evil spirits, especially the good spirits of ancestors. Encyc. Brit.

Dung; excrement. [Obs.] [Written also shern.] Holland.

and graze. -- Sheep's beard (Bot.), a cichoraceous herb (Urospermum Dalechampii) of Southern Europe; -- so called from the conspicuous pappus of the achenes. -- Sheep's bit (Bot.), a European herb (Jasione montana) having much the appearance of scabious. -- Sheep pox (Med.), a contagious disease of sheep, character…

Any species of small burrowing snakes of the family Uropeltidæ, native of Ceylon and Southern Asia. They have a small mouth which can not be dilated.

To become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold.

Mexico. In a restricted sense the name is applied especially to the Snakes, the most northern of the tribes.

are insectivorous, but the common European gray shrike (Lanius excubitor), the great northern shrike (L. borealis), and several others, kill mice, small birds, etc., and often impale them on thorns, and are, on that account called also butcher birds. See under Butcher.

Of or pertaining to Siberia, a region comprising all northern Asia and belonging to Russia; as, a Siberian winter. -- n.

tiffer nap. -- Silk spider (Zoöl.), a large spider (Nephila plumipes), native of the Southern United States, remarkable for the large quantity of strong silk it produces and for the great disparity in the sizes of the sexes. -- Silk thrower, Silk throwster, one who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving. B…

tree. -- Silver bush (Bot.), a shrubby leguminous plant (Anthyllis Barba- Jovis) of Southern Europe, having silvery foliage. -- Silver chub (Zoöl.), the fallfish. -- Silver eel. (Zoöl.) (a) The cutlass fish. (b) A pale variety of the common eel. -- Silver fir (Bot.), a coniferous tree (Abies pectinata) found in mo…

external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long.

A leguminous tree (Dalbergia Sissoo) of the northern parts of India; also, the dark brown compact and durable timber obtained from it. It is used in shipbuilding and for gun carriages, railway ties, etc.

sed, thus skimming out small fishes. The American species (R. nigra) is common on the southern coasts of the United States. Called also scissorbill, and shearbill.

A kind of pine tree (Pinus Cubensis) found in Southern Florida and the West Indies; -- so called because it grows in "slashes."