Belemnitidæ (belemnitide)

pl. [NL., IMG:content-1885.png:[blocks in formation] Belemnites. 1, Belemnoteuthis antiquus, ventral side. 2, Belemnites Owenii (restored): A , guard; C , phragmacone; D , muscular ti ue of mantle: F , infundibulum: 7,7, uncinated arms; K , K , tentacula; V , inkbag. 3, Belemnite, British Museum. ly equally developed and provided with hooks, an internal shell terminated behind by a rostrum of variable form, and a well-developed straight phragmacone. The species are numerous in the Secondary geological formations, and especially in the Cretaceous, and their remains are the cigar-like shells familiar to most persons living in regions where the Cretaceous seas once existed. The skeleton consists of a sub cylindrical fibrous body called the rostrum or guard , which is hollowed into a conical excavation called the alveolus , in which is lodged the phragmacone . This consists of a series of chambers, separated by septa perforated by apertures for the pa age of the siphuncle or infundibu lum. The pen of the common squid is the modern representative, though on an inferior scale, of the ancient do, rity, shelter. The origin of the word was not known, or felt, in Rom., and the forms varied; the It. batt if redo (after ML. bat if red us ) simulates battere, beat, strike (as an alarm-bell or a clock), and the E. form (after ML. belfredus ) simulates bell, whence the restriction in mod. E. to a bell-tower. The same first element also occurs in bainberg and hauberl; the second, with ac cent, in affray.] 11. A movable wooden tower used in the middle ages in attacking fortified places. It consist ed of several stages, was mounted on wheels, and was generally covered with raw hides to protect those under it from fire, boiling oil, etc. The lowermost story sometimes sheltered a battering-ram; the stories intermediate between it and the uppermost were filled with bowmen, arbalisters, etc., to Belfry used in the a ault of a medieval belie bell to give the alarm to the garrison, and also to summon the va als of a feudal lord to his defense. This circumstance helped the belief that the word was connected with bell. 3. A bell-tower, generally attached to a church or other building, but sometimes standing apart as an independent structure. The same dusky walls Of cold, gray stone, The same cloisters and belfry and spire. Long fellow, Golden Legend, ii. 4. That part of a steeple or other structure in which a bell is hung; particularly, the frame of timberwork which sustains the bell. See cut under bell -gable.-5. Naut., the ornamental frame in which the ship's bell is hung. [Eng.]-6. A shed used as a shelter for cattle or for farm implements or produce. (Local, Eng.] belfry-owl (bel'fri-owl), n. A name of the barn-owl (which see), from its frequently nesting in a belfry.