OPERCULUM

(Lat. operio, / cover.) The lid of any tiling: applied by botanists to the cap of the pitcher of Nepenthes, to the loose apex of such fruits as tliat of Lecythis, to the conical limb of the calyx of Eticalyptus, and to the body which closes up the theca of a mo . Operculum. In Zoology, tliis term is applied to the apparatus supported by four bones which protects the gills of fishes; also to the horny or calcareous plate which closes the aperture of univalve shells; and to the four calcareous pieces which defend the entrance to the tube of Balanites or bell-barnacles. OPHICLEl' DE. (Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) The largest bra wind instrument used in the orchestra of the trumpet species, and forming the ba to that cla of instruments: its compa is from double B b to \b above the line, in the ba clef, being three octaves. OPHIDIANS, Ophidia. (Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) The name of the order of reptiles which includes all the serpentiform species of that cla , corresponding to the Amphibia serpentes of Linnaeus. [s. 859]