ursus

(Lat.=a bear.] 1. Zoology : The type-genus of Urside (q. v.), with the range of the family. Dental formula, I., C., PM. 1, M. 3. Milk teeth comparatively small, and shed at an early age; body heavy; feet broad, and completely plantigrade; the five toes on each foot all well developed, and armed with long, compre ed, slightly-curved, non-retractile claws; palms and soles naked; tail very short; ears mod erate, erect, rounded, hairy; fur generally long, soft, and shaggy. Prof. Flower groups the species in the following sections: (1) Thala arctos. Head comparatively small, molar teeth small and narrow, soles more covered with hair than in the other sections. Ursus mar i tim us , the Polar or White Bear. (2) Ursus proper; U. arctos , the Common Brown Bear of Europe and Asia, a very variable species, U. syriacus (the Syrian), and U. is a bell in us (the Isabelline Bear), if really distinct species, are nearly related; U. tibetanus , japonicus , and ameri can us, the Black Bears of the Him a lay as, Japan, and North America; U. ornatus , the Spectacled Bear of the Peruvian Andes. (3) Helarctos. Head short and broad, molars comparatively broad, tongue long and extensils, fur short and smooth. U. malayanus , the Malay or Sun Bear. uro to burn.] 2. Palæont .: [BEAR (1), 8. , Ι. 1 (2).] ür-ti-ca, s. [Lat.=a nettle, a stinging nettle; Botany: Nettle; the typical genus of Urticaceae (q. v.). Herbs, rarely shrubs, with stinging hairs and a tenacious inner bark. Leaves opposite, with stinging hairs; calyx four-partite; males with four stamens, and the rudiments of an ovary; females with a subse ile, penicillate stigma; fruit an achene. Known species thirty-seven, from temperate and tropical climes. Urtica urent is sima , called in Timor the Daoun Setan (the Devil's Leaf) is said by the natives to produce effects continuing about a year, or even to cause death. U .(= Laportea ) crenulata , an Indian species, is also formidable. [LAPORTEA.] U. stimulans Java is le violent. The fibers of U. tenaci ima , called in Sumatra, Caloose, can be manufactured into very tough cordage; those of U. cannabin a may be similarly employed. The tubers of U. tuberosa are eaten raw, boiled, or roasted by the natives of India. U. simensis , the Sama of Aby in i a, though acrid, is eaten in that country. The leaves and the seeds of U. membranacea , an Egyptian plant, are considered emmenagogue and aphrodisiac. Flogging, with nettles was formerly practiced for arthritis and paralysis. The old U. heterophylla , the Neilgherry Nettle, is now Girardinia heterophylla . [GIRAR DINIA.] ür-ti-ca-çě-æ, *ür-tiç'-ě-æ, s . pl . [Mod. Lat. urtic (a); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -aceæ , -ea .] Bot.: Nettle worts; an order of Diclinous Exogens, typical of the alliance Urtica les. Trees, shrubs, or herbs, never milky. Leaves alternate, usually covered with asperities or stinging hairs; stipules membranous, often deciduous; flowers small, green, unisexual, scattered, clustered, in catkins or in close heads; calyx membranous, persistent-in the males it is four or five-parted, with four or five stamens inserted into its base opposite to its lobes; females with a tubular, four to five-cleft calyx, three to five staminodes, the style simple or wanting, the stigma simple, fringed, the ovary superior, se ile, one celled, with a single erect ovule; the fruit a simple indehiscent nut surrounded by the calyx. Nettle worts are widely distributed over the world, flour. ishing both in hot and in cold countries, and often following the footsteps of man. Known genera, twenty-three; species, 300 or more. ( Lindley .) Gen era, forty-three; species, 500. ( Sir Joseph Hooker .) ûr-ti-ca-çě-ous (or ceo us as shŭs), a . [URTICACEE. Having the character of a nettle; belong ing to the Urticacem. ûr-ti-cal, a. [URTICA LES.] Bot. Of or belonging to the genus Urtica or to the order Urticacese. ( Lindley .)