Part 755

Loc"u*la*ment (?), n. [L. loculamentum case, box, fr. loculus a compartment, dim. of locus place.] (Bot.) The cell of a pericarp in which the seed is lodged.

Loc"u*lar (?), a. [L. locularis.] (Bot.) Of or relating to the cell or compartment of an ovary, etc.; in composition, having cells; as trilocular. Gray.

Loc"u*late (?), a. [L. loculatus.] (Bot.) Divided into compartments.

Loc"ule (?), n. [Cf. F. locule. See Loculus.] (Zoöl.) A little hollow; a loculus.

Loc"u*li*ci`dal (?), a. [L. loculus cell + caedere to cut: cf. F. loculicide.] (Bot.) Dehiscent through the middle of the back of each cell; -- said of capsules.

{ Loc"u*lose` (?), Loc"u*lous (?), } a. [L. loculosus. See Loculament.] (Bot.) Divided by internal partitions into cells, as the pith of the pokeweed.

Loc"u*lus (?), n.; pl. Loculi (#). [L., little place, a compartment.] 1. (Zoöl.) One of the spaces between the septa in the Anthozoa.

2. (Bot.) One of the compartments of a several-celled ovary; loculament.

||Lo"cum te"nens (?). [L., holding the place; locus place + tenens, p. ||pr. of tenere to hold. Cf. Lieutenant.] A substitute or deputy; one ||filling an office for a time. || Lo"cus (?), n.; pl. Loci (#), & Loca (#). [L., place. Cf. Allow, Couch, Lieu, Local.] 1. A place; a locality.

2. (Math.) The line traced by a point which varies its position according to some determinate law; the surface described by a point or line that moves according to a given law.

Plane locus, a locus that is a straight line, or a circle. -- Solid locus, a locus that is one of the conic sections.

Lo"cust (?), n. [L. locusta locust, grasshopper. Cf. Lobster.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of long-winged, migratory, orthopterous insects, of the family Acrididæ, allied to the grasshoppers; esp., (Edipoda, or Pachytylus, migratoria, and Acridium perigrinum, of Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the United States the related species with similar habits are usually called grasshoppers. See Grasshopper.

These insects are at times so numerous in Africa and the south of Asia as to devour every green thing; and when they migrate, they fly in an immense cloud. In the United States the harvest flies are improperly called locusts. See Cicada.

Locust beetle (Zoöl.), a longicorn beetle (Cyllene robiniæ), which, in the larval state, bores holes in the wood of the locust tree. Its color is brownish black, barred with yellow. Called also locust borer. -- Locust bird (Zoöl.) the rose-colored starling or pastor of India. See Pastor. -- Locust hunter (Zoöl.), an African bird; the beefeater.

2. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.) The locust tree. See Locust Tree (definition, note, and phrases).

Locust bean (Bot.), a commercial name for the sweet pod of the carob tree.

Lo*cus"ta (?), n. [NL.: cf. locuste.] (Bot.) The spikelet or flower cluster of grasses. Gray.

Lo`cus*tel"la (?), n. [NL., fr. L. locusta a locust.] (Zoöl.) The European cricket warbler.

Lo*cus"tic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, the locust; -- formerly used to designate a supposed acid.

Lo"cust*ing (?), p. a. Swarming and devastating like locusts. [R.] Tennyson.

Lo"cust tree` (?). [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.) A large North American tree of the genus Robinia (R. Pseudacacia), producing large slender racemes of white, fragrant, papilionaceous flowers, and often cultivated as an ornamental tree. In England it is called acacia.

The name is also applied to other trees of different genera, especially to those of the genus Hymenæa, of which H. Courbaril is a lofty, spreading tree of South America; also to the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua), a tree growing in the Mediterranean region.

Honey locust tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Gleditschia ) G. triacanthus), having pinnate leaves and strong branching thorns; -- so called from a sweet pulp found between the seeds in the pods. Called also simply honey locust. -- Water locust tree (Bot.), a small swamp tree (Gleditschia monosperma), of the Southern United States.

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Lo*cu"tion (l*k"shn), n. [L. locutio, fr. loqui to speak: cf. F. locution. ] Speech or discourse; a phrase; a form or mode of expression. " Stumbling locutions." G. Eliot.

I hate these figures in locution, These about phrases forced by ceremony.

Marston.

Loc"u*to*ry (lk"*t*r), n. A room for conversation; especially, a room in monasteries, where the monks were allowed to converse.