aphrodisian

[APHRODISIAC.] Pertaining to love or venery. Davies gives an example from C. Reade ( Cloister & Hearth, ch. lvi.). ăph-ro-đi-tạ, tăph-ro-di-tē, s . [Gr. Αφροδίτη ( Aphrodite ), a name of Venus, given because it was believed that she sprung from the ἀφρός ( aphros ), or foam of the sea.] Zool. A genus of Annelids, the typical one of the family Aphroditidæ. The Sea-mouse is the Aphrodita aculeata . The scales on its back are covered and concealed by a substance resembling tow, which arises from the sides. These also give rise to groups of strong spines, which pierce through the tow, and are not merely brilliant in hue, but vary that hue according as the light falls on them, so as to exhibit the various rainbow colours. From this exceeding brilliance, coupled with its connection with the sea, in the deep water of which it resides, it has come to be known by one of the epithets of Venus, while its oval form and tow-covered skin have led to its being denominated the Sea-mouse.