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n; a paroxysm; as, a fit melancholy, of passion, or of laughter. All fits of pleasure we balanced by an equal degree of pain. Swift. The English, however, were on this subject prone to fits of jealously. Macaulay.

lax. [Obs.] (b) A prostitute. [Obs.] Shak. -- Mountain flax (Min.), amianthus. -- New Zealand flax (Bot.) See Flax-plant.

A plant in new Zealand (Phormium tenax), allied to the lilies and aloes. The leaves are two inches wide and several feet long, and furnish a fiber which is used for making ropes, mats, and coarse cloth.

rican forge, a forge for the direct production of wrought iron, differing from the old Catalan forge mainly in using finely crushed ore and working continuously. Raymond. -- Catalan forge. (Metal.) See under Catalan. -- Forge cinder, the dross or slag form a forge or bloomary. -- Forge rolls, Forge train, the train…

A name applied in New Zealand to the scabbard fish (Lepidotus) valued as a food fish.

e head a sensation of whirling or reeling about; having lost the power of preserving the balance of the body, and therefore wavering and inclined to fall; lightheaded; dizzy. By giddy head and staggering legs betrayed. Tate.

Iron ore in coarse powder, prepared for reduction by the Catalan process.

The larva or grub of a large South American beetle (Calandra palmarum), which lives in the pith of palm trees and sugar cane. It is eaten by the natives, and esteemed a delicacy.

The slender recoil spring which regulates the motion of the balance in a timepiece.

Balancers; the rudimentary hind wings of Diptera.

ey and other Oriental countries, a porter or burden bearer; specif., in Western India, a palanquin bearer.

r shape. The Sphyrna zygæna is found in the North Atlantic. Called also hammer fish, and balance fish.

A large and valuable food fish (Polyprion prognathus) of New Zealand. It sometimes weighs one hundred pounds or more.

A New Zealand lizard, which, in anatomical character, differs widely from all other existing lizards. It is the only living representative of the order Rhynchocephala, of which many Mesozoic fossil species are known; -- called also Sphenodon, and Tuatera.

an, a. -- Manila hemp, the fiber of Musa textilis. -- Sisal hemp, the fiber of Agave sisalana, of Mexico and Yucatan. -- Sunn hemp, a fiber obtained from a leguminous plant (Crotalaria juncea). -- Water hemp, an annual American weed (Acnida cannabina), related to the amaranth.

army or of a squadron drawn up in a crescentlike form. Sharpening in mooned horns Their phalanx. Milton.

A New Zealand starling (Heteralocha acutirostris), remarkable for the great difference in the form and length of the bill in the two sexes, that of the male being sharp and straight, that of the female much longer and strongly curved.

ade in hydrostatics since the time of Archimedes is due to Stevinus. Hallam. Hydrostatic balance, a balance for weighing substances in water, for the purpose of ascertaining their specific gravities. -- Hydrostatic bed, a water bed. -- Hydrostatic bellows, an apparatus consisting of a water-tight bellowslike case wit…

Icica) mostly tropical American. The gum resin is used for incense. In Jamaica the Chrysobalanus Icaco, a tree related to the plums, is called incense tree. -- Incense wood, the fragrant wood of the tropical American tree Bursera heptaphylla.

to be disposed. Their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech. Judges ix. 3. Power finds its balance, giddy motions cease In both the scales, and each inclines to peace. Parnell.