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ed after the summits have passed into shadow, supposed to be due to a curving downward (refraction) of the light rays from the west resulting from the cooling of the air.

Any abnormal condition of the refracting powers of the eye. -- Am`e*trop"ic, a.

Produced by the refraction of light, as seen through water; as, anaclastic curves.

That part of optics which treats of the refraction of light; -- commonly called dioptrics. Encyc. Brit.

o the center of the eye. -- For Angles of commutation, draught, incidence, reflection, refraction, position, repose, fraction, see Commutation, Draught, Incidence, Reflection, Refraction, etc.

Unequal refractive power in the two eyes.

An anomalous state of refraction caused by the absence of the crystalline lens, as after operations for cataract. The remedy is the use of powerful convex lenses. Dunglison.

y on which another quantity in a table depends; as, the altitude is the argument of the refraction.

native bitumen. It is brittle, of a black or brown color and high luster on a surface of fracture; it melts and burns when heated, leaving no residue. It occurs on the surface and shores of the Dead Sea, which is therefore called Asphaltites, or the Asphaltic Lake. It is found also in many parts of Asia, Europe, and A…

stronomical clock. See under Clock. -- Astronomical day. See under Day. -- Astronomical fractions, Astronomical numbers. See under Sexagesimal.

axis of a crystal, the direction in which a ray of transmitted light suffers no double refraction. All crystals, not of the isometric system, are either uniaxial or biaxial. -- Optic axis, Visual axis (Opt.), the straight line passing through the center of the pupil, and perpendicular to the surface of the eye. -- R…

e naphtha produced by the destructive distillation of coal, from which it is separated by fractional distillation. The name is sometimes applied also to the impure commercial product or benzole, and also, but rarely, to a similar mixed product of petroleum. Benzene nucleus, Benzene ring (Chem.), a closed chain or ring,…

To suffer a fracture in the bilge; to spring a leak by a fracture in the bilge.

A prism whose refracting angle is very nearly 180 degrees.

One of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism; the color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that, whether lighter or darker; a pigment having such color. Sometimes, poetically, the sky.

A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc. A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars. J. Brende.

Specifically: A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment; as, a breach of contract; a breach of promise.

To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock. Shak.

mond or other gem of the finest cut, formed into faces and facets, so as to reflect and refract the light, by which it is rendered nore brilliant. It has at the middle, or top, a principal face, called the table, which is surrounded by a number of sloping facets forming a bizet; below, it has a small face or collet, pa…

Fractured; cracked; disunited; sundered; strained; apart; as, a broken reed; broken friendship.