cy clon a

[Eng. cyclon(e); -al.] The same as CYCLONIC (q. v.). ç-clone, s. [Gr. kyklōn, pr. par. of kyklod =to whirl round; kyklos a ring, a circle.] 1. Meteor . & Ord . Lang .: The term proposed in 1848, by Mr. Piddington, of Calcutta, in his "Sailors' Hornbook," more appropriately to designate the violent rotatory storms popularly known as hurricanes. [HURRICANE.] The word was so felicitous that it was at once adopted by scientific men, and, pa ing from them to the general public, soon firmly rooted itself in the language. The erroneous belief was formerly entertained that, as a rule, hurricanes blew in a straight line. Between the years 1835 and 1840, however, Mr. Red field, a naval architect of New York, Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Sir) William Reid of the Royal Engineers, Mr. Piddington of Calcutta, and Prof. Dové of Berlin, showed that the wind in a hurricane has really two motions: it revolves with great rapidity (80 or 100 miles an hour), while at the same time the whole rotating ma is slowly moving forward. A spinning top slowly altering its position on a pavement has similar motions. The cause of cyclones is believed to be as follows: The fierce rays of the sun falling within the tropics so heat the air that it rapidly ascends, colder air rushing in beneath it to take its place. The rotation of the earth produces A. As adj.: Pertaining to cycloidal scales; havthe revolving motion. There are no cyclones on the ing cycloid scales. B. As substantive: 1. Sing .: A fish having cycloid scales. 2. Pl . (Cycloidians): The English name of the artificial order of Fishes, called by Aga iz Cycloi dei (q. v.). Lat. labr ( um ) =a lip, and fem. pl. adj. suff. -idœ .] çy-clō-lăb-ri-dæ, s. pl . [Gr. kyklos a circle, Pharyngognathi. It contains the genus Wra e. Ichthy.: A family of spiny-finned fishes, tribe çy-clō-li-tēş, s. [Gr. kyklos a circle, and lithos = a stone.] Palæont .: A genus of Actinozoa, family Fungide. It ranges from the Cretaceous to the Miocene strata. çy-clō-lith, s. [CYCLO LITES.] Archæol.: A circle of stones, such as those at Stone henge in Wilts hire, England, Stennis in Ork ney, Scotland, . Popularly they are regarded as Druidic, but modern antiquarians consider this view untenable. According to Joseph Anderson, LL. D., who specially refers to Scottish stone- circles, they are connected with the interment of Cyclolith. bồil, boy; pout, jowl; cat, cell, chorus, 79 chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; equator. Those south of it whirl in the same direction as that in which the hands of a watch move, those north of the line in exactly the opposite direction. There are various cyclone-regions of the world, such as the Western States of the Union, West Indies, the seas round the Mauritius, and the China Seas. In the last named region cyclones are known as typhoons. The West India cyclones mostly originate in the Caribbean Sea. In the Western States of America cyclones have become more frequent, and terrible in results, devastating whole regions in their erratic and resistle course. Some claim that the cutting down of the forests of the West has had some influence in this direction. 2. Navigation : When a sailing-ship encounters a cyclone, the responsible navigators now try to ascertain how it is moving, and in what part of it they are at the moment. They sail out of it if they can; if they fail to do this, and pa through its center sea, they adjust the sails to meet a blast from the or vortex, in which there is little wind, but a rough opposite direction to that at which it struck them first, and in due time the other half of the cyclone comes up with a deafening roar. Before this was understood, many an old navigator hoisted sail when in the vortex, had his ship struck from an unexpected quarter when the other part of the cyclone came up, lost his ship, and, with his comrades, perished. [HURRICANE, TYPHOON.]