in the phrase of Paracelsus, imports the air. It has also some other significations amongst the alchemists.

in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of vermes zoophyta. The body has no shell or covering, and is capable of reviving after being dead to appearance for a long time; it has no joints or external organs of sensation. There are five species, mostly obtained by infusions of different vegetables in water, and only discoverable by the microscope. See ANIMALCULE.