Joint

(joint.) [Fr., from L.junctura.) (Arch., dc.) A general term given to such appliances as serve to fasten together any two or more pieces of material used in building, wood-work, . (See HINGE).- In masonry, the term designates the vertical junctures at the ends of layers of brick or stone, and to the slant wise junctures of the vou oirs of an arch. (Bot.) The knot in the stem or stalk of a plant.-(Anat.) The place where any bone is articulated with another.-(Geol.) A natural fi ure which often traverses rocks in straight and well determined lines. The joints (Fig. 186) are straight cut chinks, often slightly open, often pa ing, not only through layers of succe ive deposition, but also through balls of limestone or other matter which have been formed by concretionary action, since the original accumulation of the strata. Such joints, therefore, must often have resulted from one of the last changes super induced upon sedimentary deposits. [s. 506]