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THIS GLOSSARY IS NOT PART OF HUXLEY'S ORIGINAL TEXT.
This glossary has been added to the online edition in order to make it more accessible to modern readers using the text as an introduction to zoology. Original entries and hot-links were provided by Eric Eldred; they have been revised and amended by Rich Palmer. Please email any corrections or additions.
Glossary
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- abdomen
- the flexible rear portion of body, behind the walking legs; called the 'tail' in lobsters
- adhesion
- becoming or being fixed; normally separate parts are joined together
- aeration
- letting air or gas (oxygen) into a liquid
- allusion
- indirect mention
- ambulatory
- walking
- amiss
- missing or incorrect
- amputation
- cut off (part of the body)
- anatomically
- referring to parts rather than functions of the body
- animal
- being of the kingdom Animalia, not a plant, typically having power of locomotion, fixed form, limited growth, and non-photosynthethic metabolism
- annual
- yearly; done every year
- antenna
- jointed, flexible sensory appendages on head of a crustacean or insect (lobsters, like all crustaceans, have two pair); in Huxley, however, it often refers specifically to the second (typically larger) of the two pairs of antennae in crustaceans
- antennule
- the first, often smaller, of the two pairs of antennae in crustaceans
- anterior
- toward the front
- aperture
- hole, gap, slit, or other opening
- apparatus
- a machine; group of organs with a common function
- appellation
- a name or title
- appendage
- limb or elongate structure joined to the body of an animal
- aquatic
- living in or growing in or on the water
- arrest
- to stop the motion
- articulation
- a joint between movable parts of an animal
- ascertain
- to discover through examination or experimentation
- averred
- said, affirmed, declared in a positive way
- basal
- part closest to the body
- binomial
- two names (genus first, species second)
- biology
- science of living organisms, plants and animals
- botany
- biological science of plants
- branchiae
- gills or similar breathing organs
- branchial cavity
- space enclosing the gills
- branchiostegite
- lateral extensions of the carapace covering the gills that lie at the base of the legs (in a lobster, these flaps make up most of the side of the large, rigid, anterior part of the body)
- burrow
- hole or tunnel dug in ground for home
- calcareous
- chalky, composed of limestone, calcium carbonate, or calcium
- calcified
- made stony by deposition of calcium salts
- cannibalism
- animal feeding on others of the same kind
- carapace
- typically hard, chitinous or horny outer, covering of the head and thorax
- carbonate of lime
- calcium oxide salts
- carbonic acid
- a weak acid that forms when carbon dioxide and water are mixed (H2CO3); it provides the carbonation in carbonated beverages
- carrion
- dead and decaying flesh
- cavity
- hollow or hole in solid body
- cephalothorax
- anterior section of a crustacean, with fused head and thorax
- cervical
- neck
- chelae
- pincerlike claws of a crustacean
- chitinous
- made of chitin, a semitransparent horny substance composing much of the hard 'skin' of crustaceans
- claw
- sharp, often curved pincerlike structures at the end of a leg used for grasping, biting or crushing; like a pair of pliers except that only one finger moves
- cleft
- divided, split, a crack, crevice, or split
- coagulated
- transformed from liquid into a solid mass
- commencing
- beginning, starting
- concave
- curved like the inner surface of a sphere
- constitution
- make-up or structure
- contradistinction
- opposing or contrasting qualities
- Continent
- Europe proper (without British Isles)
- convex
- curved like the outer surface of a sphere
- coral
- unfertilized eggs of crayfish that turn a red color when cooked; stony substance secreted by colonial marine animals, often reddish
- cosmopolitan
- found throughout the world
- crabs'-eyes
- crustacean, mostly marine, with five pairs of legs
- crayfish
- freshwater crustacea of several genera including Astacus and Cambarus, resembling very small lobster
- Crustacea
- a class of arthropods (jointed-legged animals) with hard 'crust' (=outer covering or skin), a segmented body, chitinous exoskeleton, and paired, jointed legs; distinguished from other arthropods by having two pairs of antennae
- cumbrous
- annoying, cumbersome
- cursory
- short, hasty, not thoroughly done
- cuticular layer
- noncellular, often horny, protective outer covering, over epidermis or skin proper
- decipher
- read or interpret, from code into plain text
- despise
- regard as worthless or trivial; look down on
- dictum
- a saying
- disengaged
- released from something that entangles or holds fast
- dissolve
- to mix or pass into solution
- distended
- swelled out, stretched in all directions
- domestic
- tame, household
- dorsal
- of, toward, in, on, or near the upper surface
- duct
- tube through which fluid passes
- ecdysis
- shedding or stripping away of the outer skin; also known as molting
- egress
- exit, going out
- endoskeleton
- internal supporting bone framework of vertebrates
- ensuing
- resulting, consequence
- epidermis
- outer protective layer of skin
- etymology
- historical origin of word
- exoskeleton
- external, outside protective or supporting structure of many invertebrates; typically a hardened skin that must be shed to grow
- expediency
- appropriate for the purpose at hand
- external
- outside
- extremity
- bodily limb or appendage; the farthest point or degree
- extrusion
- pushed or thrust out; projection
- exuviation
- shed or cast off covering
- eye-stalk
- movable thin structure bearing the eye at the end
- fatal
- causing or capable of causing death or the end
- fecundating
- fertilizing, impregnating, making fruitful
- feeler
- sensory or tactile organ such as an antenna
- filament
- thread-like body
- fissures
- narrow grooves dividing organ into parts; deep cracks
- flank
- side; in mammals, the side of the body between the last rib and hip
- fluviatile
- river-dwelling (from flowing)
- forceps
- pincerlike grasping or clasping organ; like tongs
- forsake
- leave, give up, renouce, abandon
- fossil
- trace or remnant of organism from past geological age, embedded in rock or earth
- function
- action for which something is particularly fitted
- gastrolith
- small stony mass formed in the stomach
- gills
- respiratory organ, featherlike structure for getting oxygen from water into blood; found at the base of the legs, under the carapace of a lobster
- hatch
- come out of an egg
- hemorrhage
- bleeding, especially large amount
- herbage
- plant growth
- hinder
- farthest to the rear, last; or to slow down or interfere with
- hue
- particular color, shade
- hybernate
- pass the winter in an inactive, sleepy state (spelled "hibernate" now)
- ichor
- watery fluid
- idola
- something visible but without substance; idols
- impregnated
- to make pregnant, fertilize egg with sperm
- indolence
- laziness, inactivity
- inflicted
- caused or carried out
- ingress
- entrance, way in
- inhabitant
- permanent resident, one who lives there all the time
- insensibly
- imperceptibly; change so small it is not noticed
- integument
- skin, outer covering
- interior
- inside, inner, within
- interstitial
- of or occurring in small or narrow spaces between things; often referring to the tiny spaces between grains of sediment
- intolerant
- not able to stand or endure
- invertebrate
- an animal not having a backbone or spinal column
- investment
- outer covering, clothes, garment
- joint
- flexible connection between movable, often rigid, parts
- laminated
- composed of thin layers or sheets bound together
- lenticular
- shaped like a lens, convex on both sides
- limb
- a jointed appendage used for locomotion or grasping; leg
- lobster
- marine invertebrate of or related to genus Homarus, with five pairs of legs; usually first pair bears large claws
- locomotion
- act of moving from place to place
- longevity
- length of life
- longitudinally
- lengthwise, along the length not the width of something
- mandible
- the main biting or crushing mouthparts in a lobster
- manducation
- act of eating, chewing
- marine
- of the sea, salt water
- maturity
- fully grown, ripeness
- maxilla
- limbs of the head modified as mouthparts; two pairs lie just posterior to the mandibles; sometimes a limb of the first pair is called a maxillule and the second pair a maxilla
- maxillipede
- one of three pairs of crustacean head appendages located just behind maxillae and just ahead of the large clawed legs; these limbs are modified limbs of the thorax, not the head
- metamorphosis
- change in structure of animal as part of normal growth; transformation
- minute
- very small
- moieties
- halves; parts, portions, or shares
- mole
- small burrowing, insectivorous mammal
- monstrosities
- abnormal; deviating greatly from average in structure; hideous
- moult
- to shed, cast off, old covering and replace with new (British spelling of "molt")
- natural history
- the activities and life habits of an organism
- naturalist
- one skilled in the study of natural history
- nocturnal
- active at night
- nomenclature
- system of names
- organ
- part of an organism specialized for a particular function; typically made up of multiple kinds of tissues
- partaking
- taking part, participating
- patent
- expanded, spreading open
- peaty
- matter found in peat bogs, usually decomposed mosses
- pedicles
- small stalks (also, "pedicel")
- periphrase
- talking around; circumlocution; using other, more words
- perpetuated
- cause to exist for a long time
- phosphate of lime
- calcium phosphate
- pincer
- articulated, grasping claw; jaws working together in opposition like a pair of pliers
- plant
- organism of the vegetable kingdom, unable to move itself around
- plume
- feather or feather-like structure
- prehension
- act of grasping or holding
- prodigious
- great in quantity
- prostrate
- lying down flat, exhausted
- putrifying
- rotten, decomposing, decaying, foul-smelling
- ratiocination
- reasoning logically and methodically
- recondite
- not easily understood, abstruse
- reproduction
- process by which living things make others of the same kind
- respiratory
- breathing; organs that bring in oxygen and release waste carbon dioxide
- retraction
- drawing back (inside)
- retrograde
- backwards, reverse; for example, movement of a limb in the direction opposite to that of motion
- rivulet
- small stream of water
- rudimentary
- elementary, incompletely developed
- sac
- a pouch or bag-like structure, sometimes holding fluid
- science
- methodological study, observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, or theoretical explanation of natural phenomena
- segmented
- clearly divided into parts
- specimen
- a sample, an individual taken as representative of the rest
- sternal
- pertaining to the sternum, the region of the body between the paired limbs in lobsters (the bone between the ribs in the chest of humans)
- stone, the
- blockage of the urine by a mineral mass in the kidney
- stonewort
- green algae often covered by calcium carbonate deposits
- style
- slender, tubular, bristlelike process
- subserve
- to be useful to, serve some purpose
- substantive
- a noun; acutal thing
- succulent
- full of juice
- swimmeret
- one of many paired appendages on the abdomen used for locomotion or transport of eggs in lobsters
- telson
- middle lobe of the tail fin in lobsters; bears the anus
- terminal
- at the end, last
- terminates
- ends; comes to or having as an end
- terrestrial
- living on land, not aquatic
- thorax
- typically the middle part of the body that bears the walking legs; part of animal that corresponds to chest in man
- torpor
- inactivity, lethargy, not feeling
- transverse
- lying across, from side to side
- turpitude
- bad, shameful act
- unfathomable
- cannot be understood or measured
- unwonted
- unusual; not accustomed to; not ordinary
- utilitarian
- advocate of a philosophy that advocates the greatest good for the greatest number (Bentham, Mill)
- vent
- exit, opening for liquid; anal excretory hole
- ventral
- the belly side, underside, or side of the body closest to the substratum
- vernacular
- common language of a country, not technical or literary
- vertebrate
- having a backbone or spinal column
- viscid
- thick, sticky, adhesive liquid
- vole
- rodent like a mouse but with a short tail
- waistcoat
- British word for vest, clothing worn under coat
- want
- lack; being deprived of but needing
- watch glass
- shallow glass dish used to evaporate liquids, like the glass piece covering a pocket watch
- zoology
- biological science of animals
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