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[WATER-WILLOW.] water-sapphire, s. Min.: A jeweler's name for the transparent variety of Iolite (q. v.), to distinguish it from the Oriental Sapphire (Corundum). water-scorpions, s . pl . (NEPIDE, NEPA.] water-screw, 8. An Arch i me dean screw (q. v.) pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, põt, IMG:content-0712.png:[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] Zool.: Cro opus fodiens , common over the continent of Europe as far north as the Baltic, found in many parts of Britain, but not known to occur in Ireland. About three inches long, tail two inches; generally black above and white beneath; but there is great variation in the color of different specimens, some of which have been described as distinct species. [OARED-SHREW.] *water-shut, s. A well-cover. "A large, well-squared stone, which he would cut To serve his style, or for some water -shut." Browne: Britannia's Pastorals . IMG:content-0713.png:[blocks in formation] Bot.: The genus Potamogeton (q. v.). water-spirit, s. Anthrop.: A spirit supposed to reside in lakes, rivers, and the sea. Water-spirits were believed to be the active agents in all cases of drowning and shipwreck, and to avenge the rescue of drowning persons on their rescuers. Hence arose the wide superstition that it was unlucky to save a shipwrecked person or one who had fallen into the water. (Cf. Scott : Pirate , ch. vii.) The belief in water-spirits was almost universal at an early stage of culture, and still lingers in a poetic form on the banks of the Rhine. (Cf. Heine's Lorelei .) [WATER WORSHIP. See also extract under WATERMAN, 11.] "From this point of view, it is obvious that, to save a sinking man is to snatch a victim from the very clutches of the water - spirit , a rash defiance of deity which would hardly pa unavenged."- Tylor : Prim. Cult . (ed. 1873), i. 110.