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A cordlike organ composed of elastic fibers situated above the ventral nervous cord of annelids, like the earthworm. -- Neu`ro*cor"dal, a.

An elastic cartilagelike rod which is developed beneath the medullary groove in the vertebrate embryo, and constitutes the primitive axial skeleton around which the centra of the vertebræ and the posterior part of the base of the skull are developed; the chorda dorsalis. See Illust. of Ectoderm.

A thin layer, or sheet, of yielding or elastic material inserted between the surfaces of a flange joint.

The light elastic wood of the Aspidosperma excelsum, a tree of Guiana having a fluted trunk readily split into planks.

A variety of bronze possessing great hardness, elasticity, and toughness, obtained by melting copper with tin phosphide. It contains one or two per cent of phosphorus and from five to fifteen per cent of tin.

A small, hard, elastic plate, as of ivory, bone, or rubber, placed in contact with body to receive the blow, in examination by mediate percussion. [Written also plexometer.]

Consisting of, or resembling, air; having the properties of an elastic fluid; gaseous; opposed to dense or solid. The pneumatical substance being, in some bodies, the native spirit of the body. Bacon.

That branch of science which treats of the mechanical properties of air and other elastic fluids, as of their weight, pressure, elasticity, etc. See Mechanics.

The doctrine of, or a treatise on, air and other elastic fluids. See Pneumatics, 1.

s of a cord passing around it, one end being fastened to the treadle, and the other to an elastic pole above. -- Pole mast (Naut.), a mast formed from a single piece or from a single tree. -- Pole of a lens (Opt.), the point where the principal axis meets the surface. -- Pole plate (Arch.), a horizontal timber resti…

om a driver through unyielding intermediate pieces, or by direct contact, and not through elastic connections, nor by means of friction, gravity, etc.; definite motion. -- Positive philosophy. See Positivism. -- Positive pole. (a) (Elec.) The pole of a battery or pile which yields positive or vitreous electricity; --…

A slender elastic rod, as of whalebone, with a sponge on the end, for removing obstructions from the esophagus, etc.

an be applied to a piece, as a beam, column, etc., without straining the piece beyond the elastic limit. -- Proof sheet. See Proof, n., 5. -- Proof spirit (Chem.), a strong distilled liquor, or mixture of alcohol and water, containing not less than a standard amount of alcohol. In the United States "proof spirit is d…

A vegetable substance consisting of soft, elastic, yellowish brown chaff, gathered in the Hawaiian Islands from the young fronds of free ferns of the genus Cibotium, chiefly C. Menziesii; -- used for stuffing mattresses, cushions, etc., and as an absorbent.

A strong, durable, and elastic wood of a purplish color, obtained from several tropical American leguminous trees of the genus Copaifera (C. pubiflora, bracteata, and officinalis). Used for decorative veneering. See Copaiba.

To spring back; to start back; to be sent back or reverberated by elastic force on collision with another body; as, a rebounding echo. Bodies which are absolutely hard, or so soft as to be void of elasticity, will not rebound from one another. Sir I. Newton.

negative, double refraction, according as the optic axis is the axis of least or greatest elasticity for light; a biaxial crystal is similarly designated when the same relation holds for the acute bisectrix. -- Index of refraction. See under Index. -- Refraction circle (Opt.), an instrument provided with a graduated…

Resisting pressure or the effect of it; acting against impluse by elastic force. "[Muscles] soft and yet renitent." Ray.

The mechanical work required to strain an elastic body, as a deflected beam, stretched spring, etc., to the elastic limit; also, the work performed by the body in recovering from such strain.

The act of returning to, or recovering, a former state; as, the restitution of an elastic body.