pty as

[Lat., from Greek pty as =a fabulous serpent, said to spit venom into the eyes of those who meddled with it. ( Pliny: H. N., xxviii. 6, 18.)] Zool.: A genus of Colubrine, with two species, widely distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The body is elongate, more or le compre ed; tail rather more than one-third of the 3288 I. Ord. Lang.: The age at which persons are capable of begetting or bearing children; the period marked by the functional development of the gen erative system in both male and female, and their corresponding aptitude for procreation. In males this usually occurs in temperate climates between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, and in females a year or two before. In very hot and very cold climates puberty is reached somewhat earlier. "The powers of imagination and reflection do not display themselves till a much later period; the former till about the age of puberty , and the latter till we approach to manhood."- Stewart : Of the Human Mind , vol. i., ch. vii., 7. II. Technically : †1. Bot . The period at which a plant first begins to bear flowers. 2. Law : The age of puberty is fixed in the case of IMG:content-1703.png:[blocks in formation] Scots Law : A heritable right granted by a va al, to be held, not of himself, but of his superior. public-spirited, a . Having regard to the pub mucosus is the Rat-snake (q. v.). ptych-, pref. [PTYCHO-.]