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neutral, and without taste or odor, derived from petroleum by distilling off the lighter portions and purifying the residue. It is a yellowish, fatlike mass, transparent in thin layers, and somewhat fluorescent. It is used as a bland protective dressing, and as a substitute for fatty materials in ointments. U. S. Phar…

A sort of hand cannon, or portable firearm, used in France in the 15th century.

ing part of the temporal bone. Petrosal bone (Anat.), a bone corresponding to the petrous portion of the temporal bone of man; or one forming more or less of the periotic capsule.

Any one point or portion in a recurring series of changes, as in the changes of motion of one of the particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in distinction from a contrasted portion, as the portion on one side of a position of equilibrium, in contrast with that on the opposi…

That portion of fibrovascular bundles which corresponds to the inner bark; the liber tissue; -- distinguished from xylem.

ingle word, but usually two or more words forming an expression by themselves, or being a portion of a sentence; as, an adverbial phrase. "Convey" the wise it call. "Steal!" foh! a fico for the phrase. Shak.

A genus of large oceanic Siphonophora which includes the Portuguese man-of-war.

n. -- Physical geography. See under Geography. -- Physical point, an indefinitely small portion of matter; a point conceived as being without extension, yet having physical properties, as weight, inertia, momentum, etc.; a material point. -- Physical signs (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily state afforded by…

uropean town, especially an Italian town; hence (Arch.), an arcaded and roofed gallery; a portico. In the United States the word is popularly applied to a veranda. We walk by the obelisk, and meditate in piazzas. Jer. Taylor.

from the whole, in any manner, as by cutting, splitting, breaking, or tearing; a part; a portion; as, a piece of sugar; to break in pieces. Bring it out piece by piece. Ezek. xxiv. 6.

ication between foreign merchants and the Chinese. Its base is English, with a mixture of Portuguese and Hindoostanee. Johnson's Cyc. -- Pigeon grass (Bot.), a kind of foxtail grass (Setaria glauca), of some value as fodder. The seeds are eagerly eaten by pigeons and other birds. -- Pigeon hawk. (Zoöl.) (a) A small A…

The expanded upper portion of many of the fungi. See Mushroom.

The general and popular term for a firm, upright, insulated support for a superstructure; a pier, column, or post; also, a column or shaft not supporting a superstructure, as one erected for a monument or an ornament. Jacob set a pillar upon her grave. Gen. xxxv. 20. The place . . . vast and proud, Supported by a hundr…

a person duly qualified, and licensed by authority, to conduct vessels into and out of a port, or in certain waters, for a fixed rate of fees.

Fig.: A swelling or protuberance like a pimple. "A pimple that portends a future sprout." Cowper.

Consisting of several leaflets, or separate portions, arranged on each side of a common petiole, as the leaves of a rosebush, a hickory, or an ash. See Abruptly pinnate, and Illust., under Abruptly.

g the ovules or rudimentary seeds, and a stigma, which is commonly raised on an elongated portion called a style. When composed of one carpel a pistil is simple; when composed of several, it is compound. See Illust. of Flower, and Ovary.

g of a piston, or connected pistons, working in a cylindrical case which is provided with ports that are traversed by the valve.

A meager portion, quality, or allowance; an inconsiderable salary or compensation. "The small pittance of learning they received." Swift. The inconsiderable pittance of faithful professors. Fuller.

Any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space. Here is the place appointed. Shak. What place can be for us Within heaven's bound Milton. The word place has sometimes a more confused se…