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an acid found in, and characteristic of, oxalis, and also certain plant of the Buckwheat family. Oxalic acid (Chem.), a dibasic acid, existing combined in oxalis as an acid potassium oxalate, and in many plant tissues as the calcium oxalate. It is prepared on a large scale, by the action of fused caustic soda or potas…

One of a family of bats, including those which have thick external ears.

A South American freah-water fish (Myleies pacu), of the family Characinidæ. It is highly esteemed as food.

A South African plant (Prionium Palmita) of the Rush family, having long serrated leaves. The stems have been used for making brushes.

One of a family of clavicorn beetles, including those which have very long maxillary palpi.

The servant or officer, in a great family, who has charge of the bread and the pantry. [Obs.] Shak.

A tall rushlike plant (Cyperus Papyrus) of the Sedge family, formerly growing in Egypt, and now found in Abyssinia, Syria, Sicily, etc. The stem is triangular and about an inch thick.

Kindred; family; birth. [Obs.] Ld. Berners. We claim to be of high parage. Chaucer.

In large private houses, a sitting room for the family and for familiar guests, -- a room for less formal uses than the drawing- room. Esp., in modern times, the dining room of a house having few apartments, as a London house, where the dining parlor is usually on the ground floor.

Any species of Psittacus, Chrysotis, Pionus, and other genera of the family Psittacidæ, as distinguished from the parrakeets, macaws, and lories. They have a short rounded or even tail, and often a naked space on the cheeks. The gray parrot, or jako (P. erithacus) of Africa (see Jako), and the species of Amazon, or gre…

partner; as, to be in partnership with another; to have partnership in the fortunes of a family or a state.

species of small gallinaceous birds of the genus Perdix and several related genera of the family Perdicidæ, of the Old World. The partridge is noted as a game bird. Full many a fat partrich had he in mew. Chaucer.

The head of a family; in a large sense, the proprietor of an estate; one who is his own master.

The relation of a father to his child; fathership; fatherhood; family headship; as, the divine paternity. The world, while it had scarcity of people, underwent no other dominion than paternity and eldership. Sir W. Raleigh.

The father and ruler of a family; one who governs his family or descendants by paternal right; -- usually applied to heads of families in ancient history, especially in Biblical and Jewish history to those who lived before the time of Moses.

Having an organization of society and government in which the head of the family exercises authority over all its generations. Patriarchal cross (Her.), a cross, the shaft of which is intersected by two transverse beams, the upper one being the smaller. See Illust.

Government by a patriarch, or the head of a family.

of John; Macdonald, the son of Donald; Paulowitz, the son of Paul; also, the surname of a family; the family name. M. A. Lower.

A glucoside found in species of the genus Pavia of the Horse- chestnut family.

h-tree borer (Zoöl.), the larva of a clearwing moth (Ægeria, or Sannina, exitiosa) of the family Ægeriidæ, which is very destructive to peach trees by boring in the wood, usually near the ground; also, the moth itself. See Illust. under Borer.