Part 226

Am`phi*drom"ic*al (&?;), a. [Gr. 'amfi`dromos running about or around.] Pertaining to an Attic festival at the naming of a child; -- so called because the friends of the parents carried the child around the hearth and then named it.

Am*phig"a*mous (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; + &?; marriage.] (Bot.) Having a structure entirely cellular, and no distinct sexual organs; -- a term applied by De Candolle to the lowest order of plants.

Am`phi*ge"an (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; + &?;, &?;, the earth.] Extending over all the zones, from the tropics to the polar zones inclusive.

Am"phi*gen (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; + -gen: cf. F. amphigène.] (Chem.) An element that in combination produces amphid salt; -- applied by Berzelius to oxygen, sulphur, selenium, and tellurium. [R.]

Am"phi*gene (&?;), n. (Min.) Leucite.

Am`phi*gen"e*sis (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; + &?; generation.] (Biol.) Sexual generation; amphigony.

Am*phig"e*nous (&?;), a. (Bot.) Increasing in size by growth on all sides, as the lichens.

Am`phi*gon"ic (&?;), a. Pertaining to amphigony; sexual; as, amphigonic propagation. [R.]

Am*phig"o*nous (&?;), a. [Gr. &?; + &?; a begetting.] Relating to both parents. [R.]

Am*phig"o*ny (&?;), n. Sexual propagation. [R.]

Am`phi*gor"ic (&?;), a. [See Amphigory.] Nonsensical; absurd; pertaining to an amphigory.

Am"phi*go*ry (&?;), n. [F. amphigouri, of uncertain derivation; perh. fr. Gr. &?; + &?; a circle.] A nonsense verse; a rigmarole, with apparent meaning, which on further attention proves to be meaningless. [Written also amphigouri.]

{ Am*phil"o*gism (&?;), Am*phil"o*gy (&?;), } n. [Gr. &?; + -logy.] Ambiguity of speech; equivocation. [R.]

Am*phim"a*cer (&?;), n. [L. amphimacru&?;, Gr. &?;; &?; on both sides + &?; long.] (Anc. Pros.) A foot of three syllables, the middle one short and the others long, as in cst&?;ts. Andrews.

||Am`phi*neu"ra (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. &?; + &?; sinew, nerve.] (Zoöl.) A division of Mollusca remarkable for the bilateral symmetry of the organs and the arrangement of the nerves.

||Am`phi*ox"us (&?;), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; + &?; sharp.] (Zoöl.) A fishlike creature (Amphioxus lanceolatus), two or three inches long, found in temperature seas; -- also called the lancelet. Its body is pointed at both ends. It is the lowest and most generalized of the vertebrates, having neither brain, skull, vertebræ, nor red blood. It forms the type of the group Acrania, Leptocardia, etc.

Am*phip"neust (&?;), n. [Gr. &?; + &?; one who breathes, &?; to breathe.] (Zoöl.) One of a tribe of Amphibia, which have both lungs and gills at the same time, as the proteus and siren.

Am"phi*pod (&?;), n. (Zoöl.) One of the Amphipoda.

{ Am"phi*pod (&?;), Am*phip"o*dan (&?;), } a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Amphipoda.

||Am*phip"o*da (&?;), n. pl. [NL., FR. Gr. &?; + &?;, &?; foot.] (Zoöl.) A numerous group of fourteen -- footed Crustacea, inhabiting both fresh and salt water. The body is usually compressed laterally, and the anterior pairs or legs are directed downward and forward, but the posterior legs are usually turned upward and backward. The beach flea is an example. See Tetradecapoda and Arthrostraca.

Am*phip"o*dous (&?;), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Amphipoda.

Am*phip"ro*style (&?;), a. [L. amphiprostylos, Gr. &?; having a double prostyle: cf. F. amphiprostyle. See Prostyle.] (Arch.) Doubly prostyle; having columns at each end, but not at the sides. -- n. An amphiprostyle temple or edifice.

||Am`phi*rhi"na (&?;), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; + &?;, &?;, nose.] (Zoöl.) A name applied to the elasmobranch fishes, because the nasal sac is double.

||Am`phis*bæ"na (&?;), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;; &?; on both ends + &?; to go.] 1. A fabled serpent with a head at each end, moving either way. Milton.

2. (Zoöl.) A genus of harmless lizards, serpentlike in form, without legs, and with both ends so much alike that they appear to have a head at each, and ability to move either way. See Illustration in Appendix.

The Gordius aquaticus, or hairworm, has been called an amphisbæna; but it belongs among the worms.

||Am`phis*bæ"noid (&?;), a. [NL., fr. L. amphisbaena + -oid.] (Zoöl.) Like or pertaining to the lizards of the genus Amphisbæna.

{ ||Am*phis"ci*i (&?;), Am*phis"cians (&?;), } n. pl. [Gr. &?; throwing a shadow both ways; &?; + &?; shadow.] The inhabitants of the tropic, whose shadows in one part of the year are cast to the north, and in the other to the south, according as the sun is south or north of their zenith.