union workhouse

[WORKHOUSE.] ū-ni-ō-ni-dæ, subst. [Mod. Lat. unio, gen it. union( is ); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -idæ.] 1. Zoology : A family of Conch if era, with several genera, universally distributed. Shell usually regular, equivalve, closed; structure nacreous; epidermis thick and dark; ligament external, large and prominent; margins even; anterior hinge-teeth thick and striated, posterior laminar, sometimes wanting. Animal with mantle-margins united between the siphonal orifices, and, rarely, in front of the branchial opening; anal orifice plain, branchial fringed; foot very large, tongue-shaped, compre ed, by iferous in the fry; gills elongated, subequal, united posteriorly to each other and to the mantle, but not to the body; palpi moderate, laterally attached, striated inside; lips plain. Sexes distinct. 2. Paleontology : The family commences in the Devonian. ū-ni-ô-ni-form, adj . [Mod. Lat. unio (q. v.) (gen it. union is ), and form a = form, appearance.] Having the shape or general appearance of the genus Unio (q. v.). "In which genus others of the uniform species have been placed." -Tate: Appendix to Woodward's Mollusca, P. 71.