Spray, n.

The water that is driven from the top of a wave in a storm, which spreads and flies in small particles. It differs from spoon-drift; as spray is only occasional, whereas spoon-drift flies continually along the surface of the sea.

Snow-slip, n.

A large mass of snow which slips down the side of a mountain, and sometimes buries houses.

Fairy, n.

Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, wandering about in the drifts and chambers, always employed in cutting ore, turning the windlass, &c., yet effecting nothing. The Germans believe in two species; one fierce and malevolent; the other gentle.

Coom, n.

Soot that gathers over an oven's mouth; also, the matter that works out of the naves or boxes of carriage wheels. In Scotland, the useless dust which falls from coals.

A

A is the first letter of the Alphabet in most of the known languages of the earth; in the Ethiopic however it is the thirteenth, and in the Runic the tenth. It is naturally the first letter, because it represents the first vocal sound naturally formed by human organs: being the sound uttered with a mere opening of the mouth without constraint, and without any effort to alter the natural position or configuration of the lips. Hence this letter is found in many words first uttered by infants; which words are the names of the objects with which infants are first concerned, as the breast, and the parents.

Ascian, n.

A person, who, at certain times of the year, has no shadow at noon.

Puppet, n.

A small image in the human form, moved by a wire in a mock drama; a wooden tragedian.

Star, n.

An apparently small luminous body in the heavens, that appears in the night, or when its light is not obscured by clouds or lost in the brighter effulgence of the sun.

Plutonian, n.

One who maintains the origin of mountains, &c. to be from fire. The Plutonian theory of the formation of rocks and mountains is opposed to the Neptunian.

Sound, n.

1. Noise; report; the object of hearing; that which strikes the ear; or more philosophically, an impression or the effect of an impression made on the organs of hearing by an impulse or vibration of the air, caused by a collision of bodies or by other means; as the sound of a trumpet or drum; the sound of the human voice; a horrid sound; a charming sound; a sharp sound; a high sound.

2. Noise without signification; empty noise; noise and nothing else.

Animalcule, n.

A little animal; but appropriately, an animal whose figure cannot be discerned without the aid of a magnifying glass; such as are invisible to the naked eye.

Plant, n.

A vegetable; an organic body, destitute of sense and spontaneous motion, adhering to another body in such a manner as to draw from it its nourishment, and having the power of propagating itself by seeds; "whose seed is in itself." Gen.1. This definition may not be perfectly correct, as it respects all plants, for some marine plants grow without being attached to any fixed body.

Mullet, n.

A fish of the genus mugil. The lips are membranaceous; the inferior one carinated inwards; it has no teeth, and the body is of a whitish color. This fish frequents the shore and roots in the sand like a hog. It is an excellent fish for the table.

Worm, n.

In common usage, any small creeping animal, or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals of different classes and orders, viz. certain small serpents, as the blind-worm or slow-worm; the larvas of insects, viz. grubs, caterpillars and maggots, as the wood-worm, canker-worm, silk-worm, (the larva of a moth which spins the filaments of which silk is made,) the grub that injures corn, grass, &c., the worms that breed in putrid flesh, the bots in the stomach of horses, and many others; certain wingless insects, as the glow-worm; the intestinal worms, or such as breed in the cavities and organs of living animals, as the tape-worm, the round-worm, the fluke, &c.; and numerous animals found in the earth, and in water, particularly in the sea, as the earth-worm or lumbricus, the hair-worm or gordius, the teredo, or worm that bores in to the bottom of ships, &c.

Snow, n.

Frozen vapor; water particles congealing into white crystals in the air, and falling to the earth. When there is no wind, these crystals fall in flakes or unbroken collections, sometimes extremely beautiful.

Ground, n.

The surface of land or upper part of the earth, without reference to the materials which compose it. We apply ground to soil, sand or gravel indifferently, but never apply it to the whole mass of the earth or globe, nor to any portion of it when removed. We never say a shovel full or a load of ground. We say under ground, but not under earth; and we speak of the globe as divided into land and water, not into ground and water. Yet ground, earth and land are often used synonymously. We say, the produce or fruits of the ground, of the earth, or of land. The water overflows the low ground, or the low land.

Android, n.

A machine, in the human form, which, by certain springs, performs some of the natural motions of a living man. One of these machines, invented by M. Vaucanson, appeared at Paris in 1738, representing a flute player.

Blinkard, n.

That which twinkles, or glances, as a dim star, which appears and disappears.

Composer, n.

One who quiets or calms; one who adjusts a difference.

Petroleum, n.

Rock oil, a liquid inflammable substance or bitumen exuding from the earth and collected on the surface of the water in wells, in various parts of the world, or oozing from cavities in rocks.