Class

(klas.) [From L. cla is, a division.] An order or rank of persons who form a distinct division of the community among themselves, or who have similarity of interests or characteristics. - (Zool.) A group of animals po e ing the general characters of the branch to which they belong, but separated from other groups of the same branch by complications more or le evident in the general plan of structure. Each cla is subdivided into orders. (Bot.) One of the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, embracing all those species which are framed upon the same general plan of structure, however differently that plan may be carried out in particulars. All the known plants are grouped into 7 cla es: Thallogens, Acrogens, Rhizogens, Endogens, Dictyogens, Gymnogens, and Exogens. Each cla is subdivided into several alliances. [s. 194]