marsilea

(Named by Linnæus after Count F. L. Marsigli, founder of the Academy of Sciences at Bologna.] Bot.: Pepperworts or Rhizocarps, the typical genus of the order Marsileacee (q. v.). It consists of plants growing in mud, which have a creeping rhizome, filiform leaf-stalks, supporting a compound four-leaved blade; capsules stalked, dehiscing when ripe, with macrospores and microspores, the former male, the latter female. Found in the South of Europe, in Africa, India, Australia, Brazil, . Marsilea quadrifolia is an Indian water-plant common in the Punjaub and elsewhere. It is said to be eaten as a potherb by the natives. mar-sil-ě-ā-çe-æ, s . pl . [Mod. Lat. marsile (a); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -aceœ .] Bot.: An order of Acrogens, alliance Lycopod a les. It consists of aquatic plants with the root-stalk or stem creeping, the leaves filiform or bearing four obovate leaflets with circinate vernation. Fructification composed of coriaceous oblong or globose capsules containing two or more cells, the whole formed of a metamorphosed leaf. Within are parietal placentas, to which are affixed many membranous sacs enclosing macrospores and microspores. Found in temperate and tropical regions. [PILULAR I A.] sin, as; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = f mar silly mar-sil-lỹ, s. [From the name of the inventor.] (See the compound.) mar silly-carriage, subst . A naval gun-carriage having no fore trucks, the front transom resting immediately on the ship's deck. mar-sip-o-brăn-chi-1, s . pl . [Mod. Lat., from Greek marsipos =a pouch, and brangchia , pl. of brangchion=a fin, a gill.] Ichthy.: Purse-gills; an order of fishes, constitut ing Cuvier's Cyclo stomata, Müller's Cyclos tom i. mar-sü'-pi-al, a. & s. [Lat. marsupi ( um ); Eng. adj. suff. -al . ] A. As adj .: Pertaining to a bag or pouch; having a bag or pouch; belonging to the Marsupial i a (q.v.). B. As subst.: An individual belonging to the Marsupial i a (q. v.). marsupial-bones, s. pl. Compar. Anat .: Two small bones springing from the brim of the pelvis, and formed by the o ification of the internal tendon of the external oblique abdominal muscles. They support the marsupial pouch in the Marsupial i a. marsupial-sacs, s. pl. Zool.: Pouch-like sacs occurring in connection with the generative apparatus in some Acalephæ, Crustacea, and Lamellibranch i ate Mollusks. ( Owen .) mar-sū-pl-ā-li-a, mar-si-pi-ā-ta, s . pl . [Lat. marsupi ( um ) (q. v.); neut. pl. adj. suff. -ali a , -ata .] 1. Zoology : (1) ( Of both forms, chiefly the first): Marsupial or Pouched Animals. Mammals having a marsupium or pouch. Under the designation Mars up i at a, they were considered by Cuvier to be a sub-division of his order Carna iers (Carnivora), although their teeth were of various types, and many were vegetable feeders. Some have an analogy to the Insect i vor a, others to the Carnivora, and others to the Rodent i a, from all which they differ in po e ing a marsupium or pouch. [MARSUPIUM.] They are now generally termed Marsupial i a, and elevated into a sub-cla , called by Prof. Huxley and others, Didelphia (q. v.). The young are born of a small size and imperfect in condition, but are transferred to the marsupium, where they become attached to a long nipple which supplies them with milk. There is evidently in this arrangement a first faint approach to the oviparous one which characterizes birds. The majority of the species inhabit Australia and its adjacent islands, though the Didelphide (Opo ums) are American. Viewing the Marsupial i a as an order. Prof. Owen, in 1839, divided them into five tribes; Sarcophaga, Entomophaga, Carpophaga, Poephaga, and Rhizophaga. Subsequently he divided them by their dentition into the Diprodontia and the Poly pro dont i a. Dallas and others separated them into the Phytophagous, or Plant-eating, and the Rapacious Marsupial i a, the latter including the carnivorous and the insectivorous families. Prof. Martin Duncan, regarding the Marsupial i a as an order, divides it into two sub-orders, the Mars up i at a (q. v.) and the Monotremata. the form Mars up i at a): (a) The name given by Cuvier to the Marsupial i a, now Didelphia. ( b ) According to Prof. Martin Duncan and others, a sub-order of the order Marsupial i a [1]. He includes under it the families Macropod ide, Phascolomyide, Phalangist ide, Per am elide, Dasyuride, and Didelphide. 2. Paleontology : The oldest known mammalian species, Micro les tes antiquus , is believed to have been Marsupial. It is from the Upper Trias. Others occur in the Keuper of Wurtemberg, the Rhætic rocks, . It is believed that during the whole Secondary period all the mammals existing were Marsupial, though analogy would lead one to expect that the Monotremata will yet be found. mar-sū-pl-a-li-an, a. [Eng. marsupial; -ian.] The same as MARSUPIAL (q. v.).