L Y C
L Y C
3LYCODONTES, in natural hiftory, the name given by Dr. Hill to thofe fofliic bodies, called by the generality -of authors lufomta. They have had this laft name from an erroneous opinion of their being generated in the toad, but being now known to be the teeth of the lupus pifcis, or •wolffijh^ it is proper that they fhould be called by another name. See Tab. of Foffils, C'lafs 8.
Many authors have taken thefe for mere ftones, and the ge- nerality of writers have ranked them among the gems ; but as they appear, on comparifon, to be the very fame in fhape and form, with the teeth of the recent jaws of this fifh, and have been feveral times found yet remaining in the fof- JSle jaws, bedded in the ftrata of ftone ; they certainly are the grinders, or denies miflares, of this fifh, and not improba- bly fome of them of other fifh alfo.
The lyeodonies are all of the fame general figure, though of many varieties in the different degrees. The more common kind is rounded, rifing to an orbicular prominence at the top, and is hollowed within. Of thefe many refemble a fntall acorn cup, and their hollow is found commonly filled up ■with the matter of the ftratum in which it is immerfed : this alfo is ufually the cafe in regard to the other kinds, but they are all fometimes found alfo with their hollows empty. Another fort of them are of an oblong figure, but rounded in the fame manner with the others at the top. Thefe have by fome been fuppofed to refemble a fmall boat in fhape ; and of thefe fome are found of an equal diameter all the way, others are larger in the middle than elfewhere, and others at one end ; fome of them are alfo found re- markably raifed in the middle, and fome emulating a conic form. They are generally pretty deeply hollowed, but fome are very little fo, and fome fcarce at all ; and fome have been found hollowed at the 'top, as well as at the bottom. Many of them have an outer circle of a different colour from the reft, and this is fometimes ftriated with very fine lines; fome are found very long in proportion to their breadth, and in fome degree refembling the bodies called ftliquajlra ; and finally, there are fome perfectly round, but thefe are more rare.
The lyeodonies are naturally of a fine polifh, and are worn in rings for the fake of their imaginary virtues, without any addition to this from the workman. Some of them have been found, however, a little rough and uneven, and fome few ft riated.
They are of various fizes, from that of a pin's head, to fuch as meafure between two and three inches round, and are of a great variety of colours ; fome being black, others blueifh, others brown ; many of a light chefnut colour, many of a liver colour, fome of a reddifh black, and fome few whitifh. They are moft frequently of one fimple co- lour in each, but fometimes they are very beautifully mottled and variegated. The yellowifh ones are often found irregu- larly variegated with black. Some of them are edged round with a circle of a different colour, and others have a beau- tiful fpot in the center, furrounded with a number of cir- cular lines ; thefe are of all others the mofl elegant. They are found in many parts of England, but more plentifully in Germany, and moft of all fo in the ifland of Malta. With us thty are ufually bedded in ftone ; in Germany they are not unfrcquently found bedded in a blue clay, and in Malta in the medicinal earth of that ifland, in which they lie in various duffers, and are commonly called ferpenis eyes. Kill's Hift. of FofT. p. 644.
EYCOGALA, in botany, a name by which Micbeli has called feveral of the fpecies of mucor, a kind of fungus confifting of fmall bladders, with feeds on their inner fur- face affixed to capillary filaments. See Mucor.
LYCOIDES, a term ufed by medical writers to exprefs the •liforders which arife in the human body by a long retention of the feed. Thefe are fometimes madnefs, and very often dangerous quinfies and fwellings, and inflammations about the neck and throat. If we confider the natural tendency of the diforders of this kind to affect the neck, and the remarkable fwelliug of the necks of bucks, and fome other animals, at ruting time, it may give fome rational hints towards underftanding the alteration of the voice in boys who arrive at puberty.
Blancard derives the word lycoides from *!/*«, luptis, and
- «3y, forma , from a fuppofition that wolves are fubject to
this diforder.
LYCOPERDON, puff-ball, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe. The whole plant, while young, is of the fleftiy fubftance of the muihrooms, but when ripe, it becomes hollow, and full of an extremely fubtile powder.
The fpecies of lycoperdon, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, aie thefe. 1. The great alpine lycoperdon with a lacerated bark, 2. The fmaller lycoperden with a lacerated bark. 3. The common orbicular lycoperdon. 4. The femi-orbi- cular lycoperdon. 5. The fmall fpherical clufter lycoperdon. 6. The fmall oval clufter lycoperdon. 7. The fmalleft lyco- perdon (landing on a pedicle. 8. The lycoperdon with a long fcabrous pedicle. 9. The lycoperdon with a long tumid pedicle. 10. The greyifli white pear fafhioned lycoperdon. 4
ir. The white rough pear fafliioned lycoperdon. 12. The alh coloured pear fafhioned lycoperdon. 13. The Virginian pear fafhiorled lycoperdon with a fpungy bottom. 14. The trifid Virginian lycoperdon. 15. The fmooth, oblong and inwardly marginated lycoperdon. 16. The white fpharical lycoperdon, variegated with brown fcales. 17. The rough and warty fphasHc lycoperdon. 18. The blood red fpha^ric lycoperdon. 19. The fnow white fphaerical lycoperdon, with numbers of fmall flat faces on the furface. 20. The white globular lycoperdon with a broad feflile bafe. 21. The (linking oval lycoperdon placed crofswife, and without a. bafe. 22. The fmall warty lycoperdon* 23. The lycoperdon of the form of a chemical receiver. 24. The finger fa- fhioned lycoperdon. 25. The white club fafhioned %cipfr-> don. 26. The mortar fafhioned lycoperdon. 27. The fil- iated bladder lycoperdon. Tourn. Lift. p. 563.
LYCOPERSICON, woolfs peach, or love apple^ in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe. The flower confifts of one leaf, and is of a rotated form, and divided into feveral fegments at the edge. The piftil arifes from the cup, and is fixed in the manner of a nail into the middle of the flower : this finally becomes a large, flefhy, foft fruit, of a roundifh figure, di- vided into feveral cells, and ufually containing flat feeds. The fpecies of lycoperftcon, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort^ are thefe. I. The common lycoperftcon, called mala a urea i 2. The lycoperficon with red fruit not ftriated. 3. The; yellow fruited lycoperficon. 4. The white fruited lycoperft- con. 5. The pale flefh colour fruited lycoperftcon. 6. The yellow cherry fruited lycoperftcon. 7. The red cherry fruited lycoperftcon. 8. The hard ftriated fruited lycoperftcon, called by fome mala Mthhpica. 9. The fhrubby American lycoper- ftcon with large iinuated leaves. Tourn. Inft. p. 150. The firft fpecies of this plant is cultivated in many of our gardens, and its fruit is eaten by the Spaniards and Italians, and by the Jew-families in England, as we do cucumbers, with oil and vinegar, or elfe ftewed in foops. They are propagated by lowing their feeds in March on a. moderate hot-bed. "When they come up, they are to be tranfplanted into another hot-bed of about the fame tem- perature, where they are to be fet at three inches diftance. In this place they muft be watered and fhaded, and muft have as much frefh air as may be ; and in May they are to be tranfplanted into pots, or borders, and the branches, when they grow long, muft be fupported with fticks, other- wife the fruit, when it grows large, will break them. They require frequent watering, and in Auguft ripen their fruit, which grows to a large fize, and makes a very pretty figure. But they fhould not be planted near habitations, for the leaves and ftalks, when rubbed by the clothes in people's parting by, yield a verv ftrong and very offenfive fmeU. Miller's Gard. Diet.
LYCOPHTHALMUS, the wolf's eye-Jlom, a name given by fome authors to fuch pieces of agate, or any other femi-pellucid ftone, as chance to have circular (pots in them, refembling in colour the eye of that animal.
LYCOPODIOIDES, in botany, the name of a genus of modes, the characters of which are thefe. It produces its feeds in fpikes, in the manner of the lycopodium, or wolf's- claw mofs, but that in two ways ; for fome of the capfules inclofe a powder, which feems only a farina ; others feem to contain true feeds ; thefe always ftand to the number of three in each capfule. It differs from the lycopodium alfo, in its general appearance and manner of growth, the leaves being all placed in the fame plane, and expanded in the manner of fins, with an intermediate feries of fmall leaves, which cover the upper fide of the middle rib, or ftalk. Of thefe mofles there arc two orders; the firft compre- hends fuch as are creeping, or procumbent. Of thefe the following are all the known fpecies. i .The creep- ing fcaly, or imbricated lycopodioides. This is found In fhady and rocky places, but is not met with in England. It is the mofs called by many authors mufcus dentiadatus minor, or the fmall toothed mofs. Some have faid that they found it in England, but they all feem to have miftaken fome other fpecies of mofs for it, 2. The creeping pinnated lycopodioides with birds foot leaves. This grows in Mala- bar, and the ifland of Ceylon. 3. The creeping denticu- lated lycopedioides with fpikes (landing on (lender pedicles. This is called mufcus dentkulatus, and mufcus dentiadatus major, by authors, and has been faid alfo to grow in Eng- land, but erroneoufly. It is frequent on the high moun- tains in Swiflerland. 4. The creeping denticulated lycopo- dioides with footlcfs fpikes. This is found in lhady phices in Penfvlvania, and other parts of North America. D'tllen. Hift. Mufc. p. 469.
The fecond order of the lycopodioides comprehends thofe which are erect, or have fome erect, and fome procum- bent, or creeping branches, with erect (hoots rifing from them. Of this order the following are all the known fpecies,
1. The fhrubby lycopodioides with Ioofe and naked fpikes. The leaves of this ftand out in the manner of fmall fpines. It is a native of the Eaft-Indies. 2. The larger upright
fern-
