Cantharis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Blister \Blis"ter\, n. [OE.; akin to OD. bluyster, fr. the same
     root as blast, bladder, blow. See {Blow} to eject wind.]
     1. A vesicle of the skin, containing watery matter or serum,
        whether occasioned by a burn or other injury, or by a
        vesicatory; a collection of serous fluid causing a
        bladderlike elevation of the cuticle.


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              And painful blisters swelled my tender hands.
                                                    --Grainger.
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     2. Any elevation made by the separation of the film or skin,
        as on plants; or by the swelling of the substance at the
        surface, as on steel.
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     3. A vesicatory; a plaster of Spanish flies, or other matter,
        applied to raise a blister. --Dunglison.
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     {Blister beetle}, a beetle used to raise blisters, esp. the
        {Lytta vesicatoria} (or {Cantharis vesicatoria}), called
        {Cantharis} or {Spanish fly} by druggists. See
        {Cantharis}.
  
     {Blister fly}, a blister beetle.
  
     {Blister plaster}, a plaster designed to raise a blister; --
        usually made of Spanish flies.
  
     {Blister steel}, crude steel formed from wrought iron by
        cementation; -- so called because of its blistered
        surface. Called also {blistered steel}.
  
     {Blood blister}. See under {Blood}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cantharis \Can"tha*ris\ (k[a^]n"th[.a]*r[i^]s), n.; pl.
     {Cantharides} (k[a^]n*th[a^]r"[i^]*d[=e]z). [L., a kind of
     beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. kanqari`s.] (Zool.)
     A beetle ({Lytta vesicatoria}, syn. {Cantharis vesicatoria}),
     having an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green
     color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister
     beetle, of the apothecary; -- also called {Spanish fly}. Many
     other species of {Lytta}, used for the same purpose, take the
     same name. See {Blister beetle}, under {Blister}. The plural
     form in usually applied to the dried insects used in
     medicine.
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