The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bacillariae
Bacillariae \Bac"il*la`ri*[ae]\, n. pl. [NL., fr. L. bacillum, dim. of baculum stick.] (Biol.) See Diatom.
Bacillariae
Diatom \Di"a*tom\ (d[imac]`[.a]*t[o^]m), n. [Gr. dia`tomos cut in two. See Diatomous.]
(Bot.) One of the Diatomace[ae], a family of minute unicellular Alg[ae] having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous division. By some authors diatoms are called Bacillari[ae], but this word is not in general use.
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A particle or atom endowed with the vital principle.
The individual is nothing. He is no more than the diatom, the bit of protoplasm.
--Mrs. E. Lynn Linton.