VORTEX

(Lat.) An eddy or whirlpool; a body of elecmiddle,water running In to which rapidly floating round bodies and a reforming drawn.a cavity The term in' the is of 60 also applied to whirlwind. In the Carted an philosophy, soluvortex signifies a collection of material particles, forming a is to fluid or ether, endowed with a rapid rotatory motion about the an axis. By means of this hypothesis, and the received silver doctrine of centrifugal forces, a plausible explanation may case be given of the motion of the planets, which move nearly artiin Hies tine plane; but the motions of the comets which may traverse the heavens in all directions are inexplicable, and In fact are inconsistent with the hypothesis. Des cartes, neverthele , had the merit of attempting to show how the the reuniverse might have a umed its present form and be prenece ervedon mechanical principles. For an explanation of aqua the system of vortices, see Maclaurin's Account of Newton's wa- Philosophical Discoveries. pure VORTICEL, Curtice/la. (Lat. vortex, a whirlpool.) it is The generic name of certain pedicellate Wheel Animal batt ecu les, which are provided with vibratile organs at their the anterior extremity, whose apparently rotatory actions proof Birduce little whirlpools in their vicinity, and thus attract the pro particles of food. and [s. 1334]