sperm ology

[Eng, sperm; suff. -ology.) That branch of science which deals with sperm or seeds; a treatise on sperm or seeds. sper-mo-phile, s. [SPERMOPHILUS.] Zool.: Any individual of the genus Spermophilus (q.v.). They are squirrel-like in form, with rather short tails. "The labor of the moles is supplemented by that of the gophers, spermophiles , and badgers."- Field , Dec. 26, 1885. sper-moph-il-us, s . [Pref. spermo- , and Greek philo =to love.] Zool. & Palæœont .: Pouched Marmots, a genus of Sciuridae, sub-family Arctomyine, with twenty-six species, confined to the Nearctic and Pale arctic regions. Cheek pouches large; pollex rudimentary or absent. They appear first in the European Miocene, and connect the Squirrels with the Marmots. [SISEL, SPERMOPHILE.] sper-mo-phöre, sper-moph-or-ŭm, s. [Greek spermophoros =bearing seeds: sperm a =seed, and phoros=bearing.] Botany : 1. A cord bearing the seeds in some plants. 2. The placenta. sphæridia