METABOLISM n.
tritive material brought to them by the blood, or by which they transform their cell protoplasm into simpler substances, which are fitted either for excretion or for some special purpose, as in the manufacture of the digestive ferments. Hence, metabolism may be either constructive (anabolism), or destructive (katabolis…
METAZOA n.
Those animals in which the protoplasmic mass, constituting the egg, is converted into a multitude of cells, which are metamorphosed into the tissues of the body. A central cavity is commonly developed, and the cells around it are at first arranged in two layers, -- the ectoderm and endoderm. The group comprises nearly…
NUTRITIVE a.
nourishing; nutritious; nutrimental; alimental; as, nutritive food or berries. Nutritive plasma. (Biol.) See Idioplasma. -- Nutritive polyp (Zoöl.), any one of the zooids of a compound hydroid, or coral, which has a mouth and digestive cavity. -- Nu"tri*tive*ly, adv. -- Nu"tri*tive*ness, n.