Cestus

(sestus.) [From Gr. kestos, embroidered.] (Antiq.) A girdle said to have been worn by Venus, to which Homer ascribes the power of exciting love towards its wearer. It was, also, a marriage girdle among the ancients, with which the husband girded his wife at the nuptial ceremony, to be afterwards loosened by him on the bridal couch. See CÆSTUS. (se-ta'se-ah.) [Gr. ce tos, aw hale.] (Zool.) An O.of Mammals, which are formed for an exclusive restdence in the water, and have more or le the appearance of fishes, from which, however, they are broadly | distinguished by having warm blood, which is oxygenated by means of lungs, not gills; and by bringing forth living young, which are nourished with milk secreted by the mother. The windpipe opens at the top of the head by one or two blow-holes, through which the water taken into the mouth is ejected. There are at least 3 families: Balænidæ, or true whales; Physeter ide, or sperm-whales; and Delphinidæ, or dolphins. [s. 161]